Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1908. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9145, 14 May 1908, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1908. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE witness who expressed the opinion before the Arbitration Court in Auckland that the minimum wage in all employments should be £5 a week merely expressed what is no doubt the opinion of many workers. Though it is perhaps natural to dismiss such a proposal as absurd and not worth serious notice matters have reached such a stage in the Dominion that the idea that wages can be raised indefinitely needs consideration here more than elsewhere. Before discussing the practical effect of such an increase in wages we may point out that it is not money wages which are of importance, but real wages, that is wages measured by their purchasing power. This distinction between real and money wages has long been a familiar one to students of political economy, and it should have been brought home to even the most ignorant in this country during the last few years as it merely expresses the fact that increased wages are of no value if prices rise at the same or a greater rate than wages. It is commonly maintained that the rise in wages during the last few years has been more than nullified by the simultaneous rise in the cost of living, and it is doubtful whether a further rise to a £o minimum, even if practicable, would produce any better results. If for the sake of argument we suppose the change effected, the immediate consequence would be an enormous rise in the cost of production of all goods made in New gZealand. If spite of protective tariffs our manufacturers would not be able to compete with imported articles, and therefore the workers in all trades producing goods which can be imported would be at once thrown out of employment. To remedy this state of affairs it would be necessary to increase the protective tariff to an enormous extent. Such a course would not be impossible if the country had no exports, but the very great increase in the cost of production which would bo caused by the rise in wages would make it impossible to gxport, so as to sell at paying prices. Every blow at our exports means that there will be less money to spend on employing labour and buying goods, and therefore the number of unemployed would increase with great rapidity, and the country would be reduced to great straits within a very short period.

SIR Joseph Ward made an interesting statement during his tour of the West Coast to the effect that Government had decided to withdraw the embargo it had hitherto placed on tiie utilisation of water power, £and would next session introduce legislation to permit of private persons or companies obtaining leases on equitable terms. For some time past Ministers have declared that the water-power in this country should be used for the people by the people, in other words that Government should retain the monopoly of all water-power. This idea has, however, proved impracticable as almost all the schemes proposed involved expenditures of half a million or greater sums. As such amounts were not available Sir Joseph Ward has at last realised the unwisdom of a dog in the manger’policy by which Government though unable to undertake the work prevented private enterprise from stepping in. For once Sir Joseph’s business instincts have proved stronger than the'Socialism of other members of the Cabinet, and we hope that his action in this case will be followed when similiar conflicts arise in the future.