The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1917 THE SHIPPING PROBLEM.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 23 June 1917, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1917 THE SHIPPING PROBLEM.

(With which is incorporated The Taihape Post and Waimarino News).

The responsible nature of the statements made by the Chairman of the Bank of New Zealand on subjects which concern the masses of the people very nearly as much as they do producers, merchants and financiers, should not be under-estimated. They are something more than the opinions of one man, for they are gathered through an intimate connection with the insttution tnat knows more from experience and actual contact with the financial side of this country's means of living than even the Government itself can very well know. The Bank has its business relationships, with the meanest as. well as the, greatest, but despite this fact, a man in Mr. Beauchamp's position is coming in closer contact with one class more than another, and,his views must, sequentially, be tinctured accordingly; it may happen quite involuntarily, but •human nature cannot avoid it. This is mentioned to enable us to more accurately .Understand that although the opinions expressed by the Bank of New Zealand must carry great weight they should not, by any mistake be taken as infallible. In dealing Avith the cost or living question, Mr. Beauchamp becomes an apologist for high prices, contenting himself with finding, or reciting, excuses for high prices of the necessaries of life rather than with discovering some means whereby the scourge may be abated. He states clearly that the cost of living is steadily rising and is pressing with growing severity upon those with limited salaries, and we do not think that if it were realised just how hard it was pressing on the masses of the people having limited salaries or wages, or whatever else remuneration may be termed, he

would suggest any cutting down of these people's standard of living. As a matter of fact we can scarcely synchronise statements made under the caption "cost of living" with those made under "National Economy." In the one he is quite definite about rising prices pressing heavily upon people with limited salaries, that the purchasing po'wer of the two or three sovereigns that come the workingman's way is greatly reduced, as compared with 1914, ana he is equally as definte in stattng that "In spite of the increased cost of living and other seeming handicaps the spending >ower of the community appears to be in no way restricted." Mr. Beauchamp is quite honest about what he says; it is his environment that has led him to make statements that are almost directly antagonistic. When he realised that prices were pressing severely on people with limited incomes he had voyaged out of his environment and entered for the moment that of the masses of the people, but by the

time he came- to the subject of National economy he had drifted back to that environment in which he moves ordinarily. We welcome the truth as it appears to any man or class in the community because, without it improvement will be long-de-layed. Whereas, with the views of all classes in all environments a comparison is made which leads to a better understanding. It was far from Mr. Beauchamp's intention to be unkind, but his remedy for the cost of living complaint is really nothing short of cruel irony. 4 * He knows better than most people the decreased value of the sovereign, and yet he urges a reduction in the standard of living. The fact is the diminished value of the sovereign makes no difference to the environment in which he moves, j and he simply had that class of people ' in mind when he prescribed the rem-

edy, being temporarily oblivious to the vanishing value of the three sovereigns of the working classes which now barely keep body and soul together after paying for rent and firing. We would suggest that it is the backbone of the nation, the people with limited wages, that need an apologist; 'to waste sentiment on such as constitute shipping combines and meat trusts is detrimental to our lands'very best interests. Mr. Beauchamp was little less fortunate in his remarks on shipping. He realises that shortage of shipping facilities are going to have a baneful effect on our primary industries, and he says that we cannot go on piling up perishable produce in cold stores indefinitely, because there

is a limit to storage Capacity, and that long-stored produce deteriorates in quality and value. This, he says, constitutes a serious and perplexing problem. He tells us that Britain, France, and Italy have to be fed, and that it is quite natural to withdraw shipping from this far-away place and concentrate it within a nearer radius. I But he by no means satisfies his readers that there is the shortage of ship-

ping he assumes. He says the shortage at the end of 1916 was 200,000 tons, that being the net decrease in merchant tonnage occasioned by the war, at the same time he mentions the fact that America's entry into the war has made available 900,000 tons of held-up German shipping. Do not the real secret of shipping shortage, and of high' cost of livng centre around freights by which shipping companies 'double their capital with single year's profits? The increased cost of what we require at port of shipment should, it seems to most civilsed people, be a reason why freights should have v 'been kept down to their lowest payable limit; no opportunity for exploitation has been lost, even the rate "o'fexchange has not been overlooked in this connection. It will take a good many apologists to make clear that OUr primary producers and the people of this country are being 'fairly, even honourably dealt with by trust-owned shipping. We are not satisfied 'that our produce is being left to deteriorate in our. stores because it is essential to withdraw ships; if that is so why are ships loaded up with trust-bought mutton and lamb that is not required by soldiers, while the more valuable wether mutton which Britain, France and Italy are so much needing to feed their armies is left to deteriorate? Apologists will talk around the truth and they may succeed in obscuring it with some people, but it still remains immovable and will not be explained away. There is no secret about where our safety lies, but the men that could effectively take action will be dragged back by self interest.