The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1913. IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 196, 8 January 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1913. IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Hie Coloniiil Secretary, according to a cablegram received yesterday, is reported to have invited the Dominions to state "whether tliev desire closer association with tlie Imperial Defence Committee."' No colonial Government is likely to make, an off-hand reply to a question which involves the whole problem of imperial relationships, and we may assume that Parliament will be consulted be-fore this country is committed to a new policy, or, indeed, to the retention of an old one. lint without entering upon a detailed discussion of .Mr. Uarcourt's suggestion, it may be said that the self-governing .States of the Empire will want to understand the J position clearly before they accept direct representation on the Defence Committee. If a member of our own Ministry sat with tlie representatives of Britain. Canada. Australia and South Africa in London, the Government in Wellington would be almo-t bound to accept his recommendat ions. and Parliament, in its turn, would hesitate to question the wisdom or justice of a decision based perhaps on information of a confidential character. Representation. in fact, would involve responsibilities, although an actual majority of the members of the committee would be nominated by the Home Government. This point has been discussed in Canada lately, and a -writer in the last number of "Tlie

Round Table" says that the Canadians realise that they would be "uninfluential in determining in any crisis in Europe or elsewhere whether peace should continue or war be declared." He addsthat "there would be nothing in the nature of tribute in any appropriations voted or any navy established by free : action of the Canadian Parliament." Rut it is a question for the Dominions to consider, ibeforo they rep]}' to Mr. ITarcourt, how far their right by "free action" could bo maintained after they had accepted direct representation, perhaps on a population basis, on a central body. It is a question of being bound or free.

MEETING THE VISITOR. The visit of General Godley to Taratuki for the purpose of meeting farmers and discussing with them the working of Die defence scheme is bound to do good, and fjr suggesting the visit the member for Stratford in to be commended. The Commandant met the daiiynien who saw him yesterday at Stratford in a very reasonable spirit, and showed that whilst determined to bring shirkers into line and make the scheme effective, lie would not be a party to inflicting hardship upon any dairyman.- Elasticity in the carrying out of the scheme there must be 1 particularly in districts like Taronaki, and any attempt to unduly inconvenience the farming community would but tend to estrange the support of a elass that has always loyally stood for the military tiaining of the youth of the couatrry. The Tariki farmers showed that ,tW had a real grievance against the Department in that having made sacrifices in order to allow their sons and eiiiployees to attend drills' the instructor had failed to put in an appearance. This should not be. If the staff are overworked, as stated by General Godlev, that is no reason why the lads should be 'brought to a centre on a fool's errand. They should be notified in time. To break faith with them in this way will do more to unpopularise the system than all the anti-training speeches and writings could possibly do. We presume now that the mattei' has been brought so forcibly before him the General will take measures to prevent a recurrence of the trouble. The system, of course, is only in its infancy, and that everything cannot be made smooth-sailing at once is clear. It is, as a matter of fact, really surprising what the Commandant and his staff have achieved already, and if they continue to meet parents and employers in the same considerate and reasonable spirit as was evinced yesterday there can be little doubt as to the ultimate success of the Bcheme.

INCREASING THE COST OF LIVING. In pursuance of his promise to tell the people of the Unted States how the Stock Exchange is used to increase the cost of living, Mr. Thomas W. Lawso* contributes to the November issue of Everybody's an article in which some very sensational allegations are 'made against "big business." Mr. Lawson states that in the past forty years the nominal wealth of the American Republic has increased from 25,000,000,000 dollars to 131,000.000,000 dollars. Sixty billion dollars of the nation's wealth to-day is represented in stocks and bonds. Forty billion dollars of this amount, Mr. Lawson says, is in the hands of ten thousand people, and forty billion out of the sixty billion dollars in stocks and bonds, upon which the people of America have to pay interest, represents jio real capital at all. It is really counterfeit and fictitious, and was created by a trick worked on the Stock Exchange. The modus operandi of the trick is simple. The market .price of stocks is manipulated by the 'big corporations. The price which they ask for their stocks on the market becomes, without question, the "market price." and the business world lias to use that price as the basis for its transactions. Prices arc fictitiously raised by bogus transactions 011 the floor of the Stock Exchange, the corporation's buying brokers taking the stock offered by the corporation's selling brokers. The buying and selling is done at constantly increasing prices, and at the same time "the system" orders its banks, trust companies and insurance companies to lean the people's deposited savings upon the stocks and bonds at their inflated "market value." When the price of the stock has been boosted until one billion of capital has attained a stock value of two billions or so, the two billions worth of stock is "unloaded" upon the people for two billions of real money. Then "the System" unloads another billion of stocks which have no existence, but which "the.-System's" brokers agree to deliver in future. Such sales are termed in Stock Exchange parlance "short sales."