The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1920. ANOTHER ENEMY OF EMPIRE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3493, 22 May 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1920. ANOTHER ENEMY OF EMPIRE.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News.”

I - In these columns Ayest.erda_y Wes-tated ltheru stood on the social,- industrial, land political horizon two clearly de- } fined outstanding ogrcs. One of them, akin to Bolshexiism, was discussed -at 1 length, and the other, modern commercialism, or profiteering, is examined lhereunder. Neither the word commercialism nor profitecr will be found in last centu:‘y’s dictionaries, indicating that both are receirtly developed exierescencies upon the economics of modern life. But it is only since the great ’war caused almost complete Llis-;):'gan-isation of then current trading 'lne'tho(l.<-\ ,and systems ‘that commercialisni and profiteering have developed into almost I as great a danger, if not. greater, than livas the great war. It is now an un- . deniable fact that the appall.ing.act of Prussian n_lilitar'isln, was largely influenced by the success of Germau_\_"s trade invasion of the world; it was believed that one bold stroke by ‘[llo military party would complete the suc- | ecss of trading penetration and place jithc Whole world at Gcrmany’s feet. ‘About the penetrzrfing and enslaving power of eomniercialisni Germany imado no inistake, it was the miliitary enterprise that was wh'oll_\;' reEsponsible for Gerinan downfall, a crash that took with it all ‘that unprecedented ineasure of suec>ss v.-h‘ic.'ll {had been e.clx_ie\'erl. Cumznerc-i:ll'ists the Iworlcl over saw in Ge‘-many’s r;.:mi..lerlcialist collapse their opportunity, and -I there are few peoplje rlzivimg :3-«lay ' who ha\'e not all the c:;pe.rien-.::‘_- 'l‘-my l1I(”I.‘tl of what cmnmereialism it, the V-zorcl .v;(-eds no dictionary d'2‘i:'.ri‘ien. V IL Ln’.t<ns on t(i’l3otll -the prod v.‘!'3'}l' and eou.~ulwr; its devotees work rtnd hunt lir f_n.'.rei:llly powel'l"ul p:1el:s, ':on1~.1v;n----}l;.v' 1.~‘.110W1l as trusts, combines, 1“.og;s, ‘and syiiclieates. each term vnn~i'.:irlg‘l much tlzr same thing. 'l‘he_y (,’¢‘.}l‘;!‘-i(,‘ll.“c',‘l opt-1-rtioris in the sountry ::’r‘ thnrl genesis, and gradually push out their‘ l)l('0«l—.<1.(?I{i11g‘ ‘tentacles to every nth.-1"! country that. lends itself to their _-"l,lll'l*fl ing influence. One of such org':illis:l- - will (‘.omnlen<:e buying up all the wheat produced that their agents (‘am lay hands upon, and they store it up, refusing to let the l)2ll{0l‘ have it unless he pays fifty per cent more for it than he ever paid before, and they, in addition. make the baker enter into 3. contract to purchase all his wheat requirernenls. in the shape of flour, from them. They thus have the baker and the general consumer of bread safely and completely nianacled. In addition. they have get. control of the wheat market; all bakers are pledged to buyl from them, therefore wheat growers’ have no one else in the country to sell. ._thei.l‘ wheat to; they rnust. sell it to the wheat trust. Then comes the i’armers’l turn to gain bitter experience of the‘ eommereialist controller of the wheat‘ market. He may not have discoveredl why, but he soon learns that when he goes to sell his crop he is told that there is a glut of wheat, it is pointed out that there is ample wheat in store to carry on with, therefore wheat can rsiily he purchased at a 25 per cent or ‘ 50 per cent drop on the previous sea— t

son's market price, and as Seasons foliii‘ low each other so does the screw put upon the wheat i’arlner receive an additional aurn. The trust. tnlies care not i kill. its farmer Victim out.right., it gives l him at price that barely allows him decent existence, enough to induce him ' to go on producing and hoping for bet--ter -timos;\the cunning of the trust ‘is I obvious. The trust. loses no ~opportunity to lay upon “the shoulders of ‘the producers the blame for the high cost! of living wickedly brought about byi their fleecing of -the baker, and the ‘ general spectacle is presented of labour ; and producer having the relationship? of “Kilkenny Cats.” The ogre of conrmercialism grins while he continues to extend and withdraw -his tentacles. each time bringing back their loads of human blood, for he is a remorseless gourmand, he lets neither hxnnan happiness, health, and even very life ‘itself stand in the way of his ihellish 611ploitation; the god of War never knew how to consume half the human life that modern commercial Moloch can consume with neither fuss nor noise; i it goes on slapping the health and; stamina of. the World, and neither of » its two victims ‘seem to know how to 3 forge a weapon of defence. What we l have .sta‘ted about the cornering of l wheat and the fleecing of consumer! first, and then -producer, describes exactly what is taking place with Wool ‘ and meat, and what will soon be takiug place with butter and cheese. 1