CURRENT TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3626, 12 November 1920, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

(By Alrgus). Five thousand pounds sterling for the life story of a man acquitted of a; of a charge of poisoning his wifeli The story was sold by auction at a gathering of pressmen in attendance* at the trial of Greenwood at Kid* welly. Evidently British journal ; "m. is threatened with decadence on account of emulation of American stand-s----ards. Hospital Carnival Week is nearly over, and in spite of unfavourableweather throughout, the £IOOO aimed at has practically been attained. The; commercial travellers' effort to-mor-row will constitute the final rally, and if they act up to the traditions of the craft, they will see that the deficiency is fully made up —that there will be £IOOO raised, with something tospare.

The terms on which the Discharged' Settlement Loan of £6,000,000 is being raised should appeal to* investors, and more particularly to those who have a limited amount o£ capita! for investment fora short term* The raising of this loan is not going to increase taxation for its repayment, for the money will be spent in such a way that the productivity of the Dominion will be increased, and the soldiers assisted will repay th-j loan and the interest thereon. Practically the whole sum raised will be reproductive, as the administration charges in connection with the expenditire of the loan on the settlement of soldiers on the land will be comparatively small. Applications from intending investors will be received up till 25ti. inst.

In view of the years of agitation by civil servants for political rights,, one iof "the.-•• most' important amendments, to the Legislative Act of this session- was that of Mr Massey, giv-' ing to public servants the right to contest Parliamentary elections. The amendment caused no comment, and was passed, without discussion, on the voices. A few years ago, when the agitation for civil rights for public servants was at its zenith, the adoption of such a measure would have created some excitement, and it is rather remarkable that it should now have passed the House without discussion and have caused no comment by the Press. In fact, so little attention was given to the passing of the new law, that a good many public servants are not aware that they have at last attained what they I have been advocating for years.

When is' there going to be a satisfactory solution of the problem of the cost of living? The Arbitration Court makes new awards and grants new bonuses to meet, increases in the

cost of commodities, and the manufacturers, merchants, and retailers further increase the cost of living to compensate themselves fo having to pay increased wages. Under such a system, there cannot possibly be a remedy. The system adopted at pre-

sent provides only for a Court, the function of which is to make wages awards in proportion to the cost o? living; but there is no Court to regulate the cost of living in proportion to wages paid. The trouble appears to be that wages arc regulated according to the cost of living, but the cost of living is never regulated in accordance with wages paid. In too many cases, the prices of commodities are increased in anticipation of

an increase in wages, and by the time wages catch up with the rust of living, preparations are being made to further increase the price of commodities. The dog may go on chasing its tail indefinitely, and may catch and hold it for a while, but will never be able to maintain the connection by making both ends meet permanently; and under the present iniquitous system, wages and the cost of living will continue to revolve in the same vicious circle indefinitely. When all is said and done, values are merely relative, and it should be. easy enough for nil Governments to fix a basic wage and :i basic cost for all' commodities. • If this were done, awards, should suffice almost permanently and the cost of living would remain stationary. The old theory of supply and demand regulating prices has been exploded, as is proved by the fact that prices of woollen goods were never higher than at present in spite of the fact that there has been a big surplus of wool for about twelve months past. A minimum wage and a maximum cost of living! Is there a Government strong enough to arrcngo tuc combination and so confer a permanent benefit on humani'v? T ' ->ie triibunal can fix a minlmnjn wage, why J cannot, another tribunal fix. a maxt- ! mum cost for commodities?'