PRODUCTION AND WAGES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1939, 13 February 1919, Page 2

PRODUCTION AND WAGES.

Till'] greatest bcnelil to the relurnod soldier ami sailor is a. policy Unit will eH'ecl. a general improvement in (he conditions of life llmnighou'j (he country, Mr Lloyd George declared in an election manifesto. You cannot have improved wages and improved conditions of labour all round unless you increase production. The war has demonstrated that this can he done by improved organisation, I had a good deal of experience of it at the Ministry of Munitions, where it was my duly'to see that the output of the engineering shops was increased, in spile of the fact that there was less labour available, owing to the numbers of young men who had gone to the front. By improved organisation, by stopping Avaste, by improved machinery, by the suspension of the old restrictions on output, the output of the engineering shops was increased enormously. The men and women had much belter wages than they had ever been paid, and the Slate benelited. The experience of the munition shops has been the experience almost all round. Jn spile of the fact that over 0,000,000 young men have been drawn into the army and navy, the output over the whole field of industry has been increased. I Avant the workman to contribute of his sagacity and practical experience to the smooth ami successful Avorking of the concern in which he and his fellows spend their lives. There is one condition lor the success of all efforts to increase the oulput of this country—confidence. Bolshevism is the poison of production. Kussia proves (hat. Kussia. will not begin building up a productive system until Bolshevism has Avurked itself out. You must give conlidem-o to all classes, confidence to those who have brains, to those who have capital, and to those Avilh hearts and hands (u work. I say to Labour: You shall have justice; you shall have fair treatment, a fair share of the amenities of life, and your children shall ha\ r e equal opportunities with the children of the rich. To Capital I say: You shall not lie plundered or penalised; do your duty by thos# who Avork for you, and (lie future is free for all the enterprise or audacity you can give us. But there must he an equal justice. Labour must have happiness in its heart. We will put: up Avith no SAveating. Labour is to have its just reward. And' Avhen the whole nation sees that Avealth lies in production, that production can be enormously increased, Avith higher Avage.s and shorter hours, and Avhen the classes feel confidence in each other, and

trust each other there will be abundance to requite the toil and to addon the hearts of all. We can change the whole face of existence.