The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1919. AN OMINOUS CALAMITY.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 September 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1919. AN OMINOUS CALAMITY.

.With which iis incérporateé “The Taihape Pbsj‘. ' and Waimarino . . .N°‘W°.-” ‘. - .

l The British Prime Minister has seen, lbeen convinced, and has proclaimed that the war would bring about a new world. No statesman, or even ordinary {observer could fail to see and realise tll'a.t the- masses of the whole civilised world were being aroused from a ’lethargy that had fallen upon them very many centuries ago. Mr Lloyd George was so impressed with the ‘great social storms that were rising I well above the horizon of national life that nothing less- than a Vision of a ‘new world did he see in them. He, ‘amongst a. very few, correctly inter(preted these signs of ,?early coming struggles for better Conditions of life, and he no less reco»ginse_d= the elashings of interests that would bring in their Wake mu-ch human suffering, and w.ould ‘erect such barriers across the roads I loading to peaceful resumption of civil life and peaceful trade that. are supremely essential to attaining a. state of .production which is necessary in the { highest degree if the British Empire is ever again to return to her old pla.ce amongst the nations of the Earth. While the war yet raged, Mr Lloyd, George told the world of the inhuman i condition into which the masses of the ipeoplo, had been crushed in ‘the acute '-seizure of a greed att'ecti«on that was [passing over British Society. Amongst other things, Lloyd George said that FBI-itain had to how her proud head ‘ in Shame "in the presence, even, of the i unspeakable Turk and the semi-barbar- } 0115 Russian; that the British who loudly boasted about their principles of justice, humanity, and freedom, crushed down their own people t'oaloathesome condition that would bring shame to even Turks and Russians, ‘These are quotations from the British Prime Minister which scarcely fringe his utterances on the same subject. they are mentioned so that it may be niade undeniable that he clearly foresaw the industrial upheavals -that were ti) follow, and which commenced in Coalmines -and -on railways -as soon as the last shot of war was fired. The historic Coal Commission is scarcely dissolved when railway employees onter the arena, siripped for the struggle that is fraught with no less terrible possibilities -than a. coal strike would have possessed. Following the railwaymen’3 eitorts, busnlen, tiamwaymen, transporters, and wharfworkers will throw in their weight and strength against :1: continuance of that state which Lloyd George has proclaimed compels proud Britain to how the national head in shame before the impossible Turk. In our considera. tion of what is happening in Britain W 0 -may, by searching introspection, profitably ascertain whether a similar spirit does not force its way to a,‘ dangerous extreme in New Zealand. This Dominion lms, not reached‘ the depths of social infamy that a-re ram-

panf. in Britain, but are New Zen.land-

ers striving along the roads which can only end in similar deg_ra'dation, national shame. and d‘i'shonour‘3 Are there not in this little land many “Earls ‘ of Humdrum” -who, if they had their ]way, would quickly convert it into a “sleepy hollow?” Are there not preI sent in this connnunity the “Conservative Graballs” and the “Independent Fudges?” We have the Squire Westerns and the Earls of Fitzsham, who tolerate no newspaper except. their “F=itzsham Advcl'tisers.”- We have towns «of “Dum'drudge’ ’ and villages of “Drudgewell” progressing apace, for nothing that has yet been recorded ’by the historian who wrote B'ritain’s ‘shame has more -than equalled the de- ; grading hovels in which many of New lZealand coal-miners still live. -“Te can i now boast of our “Lords of Driveover” with their huge estates that are held in contravention of the law, and we have the usually accompanying (lens of filth, rendered such’ -by absence of modern Fsanitation; places where‘ the whole. family, parents, lads growing into manhood, and girls into womanhood all crowd into one sleeping -apartment; where .-the woman is a toiling slave and the man a chccrless serf. It -must. be patent to every thoughtful, humanminded person that,the time has now gone for ever when the few will be able’ to crush down the many, and if the peace of the world and the progress of‘ nations are to be. maintained, the struggle against Starvation -conditions =must be taken into very serious consideration by all future nGov_ernments. It seems that therctis a rampant readiness to saerificeUlnanhood in winning a war, but an almost insurmountable determination not to pay debts incurred in prosecuting the war. _ Even in paying our soldiers we have the “-Lords’ of Fitzsham” true to their class, striving to perpetuate classes and masses; who consider the services of 111911 who by political “push” s-ecureld conl-m-is-sixens, should be more highly paid than even the great army of those who éevcined political push, but who 11:-ve earned a gre-art crop aOf military distinctions by their‘; personal bravery. Merit, character, and loyalty to the State must, and will, prevail, for, as the struggle for possession of millions proceeds, the army of exploited becomes so large‘ that the slaves outnumber thelmilliona.i‘re’s'- by many thousands to one, and the result is obvious——— the millionaire will go. It is too early yet to intelligently discuss the pros and cons of the -great strike that has been so dramatically precipitated in Britain. But what -may be noted is that the railwaymen are led by one of the most patriotic, hurnane, honest men in l3ritain, a man whom Lloyd George has been glad to have as a. friend and advisor. Mr J’. H. Thomas is as deadly opposed to Bolsheviks, and their ways as he is to the vilest machinations of Satan, and it is such a man that. is convinced -he, and his railwaymen, are fighting for a perfectly reasonable. righteous principle. This man points out anomalies 'that. will now, and on all occasions whenever present, operate to wards preventing the establ'ishr_nent of industrial systems in which constant

‘peace with highest cfl‘iciency is only possible. The Empire is face to face with this coming of the new world, which Lloyd George so plainly foreI saw; how is the Empire going to comport itself in the cil-cumsrtances? That ‘thoughtless section of profiteers who rant and rave beéause their processes of extortion are likely to be inter» fered with by the strike, will most likely become so idiotically clamant as to endanger industrial peace progress in New Zealand. .‘§~‘,urely this is a time for :thinking, rather than for precipitate laction. A general election is drawing near, is it not advisable that every effort. should be bent towards electing‘ a Parliament. that will have the confidence of the majority of the people? It is a remarkable fact that a ‘Government that only represents a minority of electors is frequently boasting that it will put down any efl"ort of a minor. ity to rule hr dictate. Even our Courts of Justice afiirm that the shopkeeper who can only get a small profit .t'rolnl one customer is law.i:'ully entitled to‘ charge another Customer one ~hun<lred per cent more than’ the article is worth, or what it cost. That may be law, but it can never be justice, and] it seems that until the word justice-1 takes its true place in all social and industrial niatters there can never be prolonged or satist'actory social and industrial peace. In the grea-t. struggle] just commenced in Britain all the learning and intellect -is not on em‘ S3OO, therefore it must not be presumed that either side is hoping to achieve smteess I by blufiing. The Stl'il{f‘.l'S are in earnest. and the 'G~overn-ment is pl-obzrbly in earnest in threatening to call the m-ili- E t-ary into an endeavour to terminate the Strike. At present it cannot be seen whether the nation will not drift into civil war, but there are yet 1-ea-,

sons for hoping tfiaf best 0011115015 ‘Vin prevail. and -that the Empire ma)’ Y” be saved from convulsions tnlmt may end in national ruin, What will HlO new world be like fhaf T.lo_Vd G9ol'§§3 predicted would come? ,While 81-Ifain is f_ightillg over the British indus_h-ial cow, one side .ho]Hing'oTl ‘EO its head, the other hanging to its tail, fm'ci_gn nations are milking it. -.