WHO PRODUCES WEALTH?

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2558, 22 March 1923, Page 4

WHO PRODUCES WEALTH?

FALLACY OF SOCIALIST DOGMA.

“Labour produces all wealth and Labour should therefore enjoy all the yealth”—that is the catch cry of the extremist who misleads the worker for his own ends.

Just examine your workshop for a moment and see whether it is true. Brown is stronger than White and a quicker worker, producing twice as much; he is more skilled and r earns more money. That is quite fair. But then along comes Black who ( invents a machine that will do the work of a thousand men. He then produces a thousand times as much as a manual worker. Now which class of labour has produced all the wealth; —that of Brown, White or Black? To whom does the , belong, if it is to go to the worker producing it?

Go a little further and think of the man who provides the money and takes ; the risk of establishing the industry, and the manager. The extremists who declare that labour produces all wealth carefully avoid explaining the necessity of money and management. There is the absurd impression among them that the manager is over-paid, he produces nothing, and anyone could do his job. Both are stupid ideas. Any workman could be a manager in name, of course, but any workman could not be a successful manager unless he has the ability and knowledge which must be gained by experience.

Why does one industry flourish and never leave any doubt about you getting your full wages every week, while another may perhaps fail? ' Both employ exactly the same class and quality of trade union labour. The difference is of course, either in the management or the service of capital to those industries. If the management is good and the capital available, the industry flourishes. Manual labour will not save a badly managed industry —but ample capital, good direction, wise buying and clever selling will cause the industry to succeed.

Yet the advocates of soviet, who live on the workers, claim that all wealth made by an industry is made by the manual worker! They do hot .offend you though by stating that,the failure of the other industry is also the fault of the manual workers. Yet if the first statement were true the second must also be right. The fact is that capital, management and labour are the i three indispensable factors in production. EVIL OF CLASS DIVISION. Wealth consists of all things we require to maintain life and supply comfort and development of our being. Every person is interested in seeing wealth produced as fully as possible. Industry and commerce are not the affairs of a section alone, but the vital concern of everybody, although we fail at times to realise it. The socialist dogma of “Labour produces all wealth” sets up a false theory which has the effect of retarding production. By this dogma society is divided 1 into two classes —Labour, that produces everything, and Capital, that produces nothing. The only result is to create needless conflict between the owners of capital whom labour cannot do without, and the owners of labour power, whom the capitalist requires. This division, with its resultant dislocation, strikes, lockouts, etc., prevents wealth from being produced to the extent which our human wants call for. Houses, clothing, food and other necessities are often withheld from the people simply because tihe partners —Capital and Labour —quarrel over the conditions of production. The truth is neither produces wealth apart from the other. Division simply means less production and more want for the people. \V)hen the parties engaged in wealth production fully recognise that it is work requiring the spirit and character of complete cooperation of Capital, management, and Labour, then greater wealth will accrue to the benefit of all concerned. The unsocial socialist doctrines of class division gets us nowhere, excepting into trouble. Social unity, the pull together and greater mutual confidence all round are the lines of action to secure what all want, a larger supply of wealth. (Contributed by the N.Z. Welfare League.)