THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1947. MORE LEAP-FROG

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26631, 29 November 1947, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1947. MORE LEAP-FROG

The announcement that authority is to be sought to approach the Court of Arbitration for a new general wage order recalls to mind the recent comment of Mr J. H. Collins, vice-president of the Wellington Trades Council, that the present system of applying for wage increases was not only useless, but a permanent occupation. It is difficult to see what purpose can be served by this latest move by the New Zealand Federation of Labour except to permit some of its officials to continue in this permanent occupation. If Mr T. Hill .was entitled to refer—as he did —to the recent decision of the Court of Arbitration as “ an insolent insult to the trade union movement,” it may be suggested more appropriately that this application is an insult to the court, to the Government and to the nation. It must be with a measure of something like disgust that the general public will regard this development in “the game of leap-frog between costs and wages ” —to use a phrase of Mr P. G. Connolly—and it will certainly be with a growing comprehension that such methods are' futile. The mere granting of a wage increase order does not automatically put more money into the pockets of the worker. So much has been made sufficiently clear by the experience of the last two months. All that does happen is that the worker’s morale is lowered when he sees that promised assistance is merely an illusion. By commencing at this early stage to press for another wage increase, the Federation of Labour will succeed only in increasing industrial discontent, and that irrespective of whether its overtures are granted or rejected. Perhaps the real purpose of the extreme section of the federation will be well enough served by such a result. The evidence presented on both sides during? the hearing of the recent application for a general wage order was very full. The probable effect of the removal of the subsidies on certain corhmodities was considered by the court, and in giving its decision it showed that it was convinced that the profit margin could not be lowered any further without grave risk to the economic structure of the country. This opinion has been completely ignored by a section of the Federation of Labour which pins its faith blindly to a political creed which may have had some validity fifty' years ago. The policy of the federation, as explained by Mr K. McL. Baxter a few weeks ago, was one of “ progressive increased production and rigid restriction of increased profits to ensure an advance in the living standards of the working people, with regular adjustments of wages to stimulate industry and ensure the consumption of the increased volume of goods.” This is an interpretation of economic principles such as Alice might have had offered to her in Wonderland. It would seem to be useless to attempt to discuss the fallacies of such a view. It is time that the Labour Government should accept its responsibilities to the country as a whole, as for too long it has temporised and compromised with the selfishness of militant unionism. The Government knows that general wage applications are useless to solve the problems of the country, and it should be aware that in the Labour movement there is growing support for this opinion. If the Government does not soon come to grips with the fanatics who are endeavouring to use it for their own ends, it will wreck itself, and, more seriously, it will involve the country in the threat of ruin at the same time.

THE FRENCH CRISIS Since the victory of General de Gaulle’s Rally of the French People at the local elections last month, the Government of M. Ramadier has had a most trying time. It had already existed precariously in power for a longer term than any other recent French Government, and even without the success of the Gaullists it was unlikely that it could have held its position much longer. But with the hardening of opinion on the extreme political Right and Left, the lot of a Prime Minister seeking to follow the middle way became impossible and a few days ago M. Ramadier tendered the resignations of himself and of the abbreviated Cabinet which represented his last bid' to stave off defeat. The prospect for any incoming Government was most unpromising, for in addition to the heated situation in the Assembly, a wave of strikes had broken out in Marseilles and was spreading rapidly throughout the country. The 75-year-old veteran M. Blum, who has been three times Prime Minister of France, failed to win support and further consultations resulted in M. Schuman, former Finance Minister in the Ramadier Cabinet, coming into the limelight. With a Cabinet of representatives of the M.R.P., and the Socialist and Radical Parties, in which the M.R.P. held the majority of the portfolios, he secured a promising vote from the Assembly. His pledge to give the task of saving the Republic precedence over the work of government, to defend freedom and to put an end to the political exploitation of distress, met with approval on all sides with the significant exception of the Communists.

From this turmoil General rie Gaulle remains aloof. He is apparently convinced that his way is the only way to save France and he will make no compromise although the opinion _ has been expressed that if he chose to lend his support to the Government his prestige would probably be sufficient to enable it to make an effective attempt to approach the problems of economic and political stability. The Communists, however, appear to be bent on making trouble. Already 1,000,000 workers are on strike and transport and industry are being forced to a standstill. If they can maintain this national unrest, they may succeed in forcing de Gaulle to take action sooner than he desires and to take power by a coup d’etat rather than by constitutional means. It would seem to be clear that the Communists are prepared to bring France to the brink of ruin if they

can upset the General’s plans, and he is already embarrassed by his premature success at the local elections. The issue at stake is more than political power in France. The Economist, for example, inclines to the belief that the frustration of the Marshall Plan is the first objective of the Communist leader, M. Thorez, who is even now in Moscow. If this is correct, the development of the French political situation is of the utmost importance to Europe, especially to Great Britain, and to the United States. At present the Communists have the initiative but General de Gaulle holds the key to the situation. If he refuses to compromise and to assist the Government, he is taking the biggest risk of his career, a risk which may mean disaster for France if his decision is wrong.