CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 April 1917, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

NATIONAL EFFICIENCY BOARD. ' '. To the Editor. Sir, —The National Efficiency Board,. or their representatives, have visited New Plymouth and gone again, taking very little with thorn. They strongly remind one of Maebeth's apparitions, '"Come like Shadows, so depart." The visit was advertised; hence it might be supposed to be of public interest, yet the public are to know nothing about it until the Board has arrived at some conclusion as to -what report and recommendation they will make to the Government, who gave them their brief authority, and, of course, set out the subjects on which enquiry was to be made. Looked at broadly, one would be inclined to think tfcat some good might result from an inquiry as to how efficiency may be promotedt Looked at in detail one is utterly amazed at the very limited items of reference—Agricultural Show.% Picture Shows and Racing. Many other items might have been added to this list of non-essentials, The greatest waster, and the most fruitful source of inefficiency—intoxicating drink—was not mentioned, and, in fact, was ruled out. I went to the so-called enquiry in New •Plymouth, but Mr. Moss very courteously gave me to understand that the questions of inefficiency caused by drink was not within the compass of the present enquiry. It is just what migllt be expected from a Government which is largely influenced, apparently dominated, by a wealthy brewer, Mr.' Myers. It is not wortli while troubling over the conduct of the enquiry; t was announced by advertisement, and yet only a fenwere heard and these strictly in camera, 'only one witness at a time "admitted to an interview with the Commissioner and his secret*n\ Oth»r s mnv comment on that; I will not. I would,, however, Sir ask-you to allow me a few lines in which to point out the greatest cause of inefficiency, and how efficiency may be promoted, in the matter of drink. What do we mean by efficiency! Is it not when land, labor, and capital are all used to the best advantage, every part at its best for the,best possible cause,.to secure the liberty, and hence the prosperity, of our own nation and of other nations too? ''Does alcoholic drink tend to the best use of land? New Zealand consumes over ten million gallons of beev annually. The brewers' advertisement (see Times, London, 21/12/16) says that it takes about 10 ounces of barley to make a quart of beer. Another authority in another notable beer drinking country says 8.5 ounces of barley for a .quart of beer. Even taking the lower estimate it would take 10,-ISO acres of good land; al«o (1.10 acres is used in this country for the growing of hops; so w< ~a,e mors limu ll.ltuo acres of good 'and not used in a manner to promote efficiency. We will pass by .at present the men, horses and machinery used in cultivating this large area. Next, howdoes this drink business contribute to the waste of labor? In'lilU there were 13,4£0 convictions for drunkenness, and of course that is onlv a tithe of the total cases of intoxications-poisoning by .iltohol—in the country, and all these •'poisoned" individuals were quite inef-, ficient while under the influence of the drink; and for some time after they were said to be sobered "they were not efficient workers in their respective callings. Because we are so familiar with this state of things we are unable to estimate our regular daily loss through the workers being more or less unfit for their duties, or the duties being inefficiently fulfilled. We have, an ample il-ns-tration of all this in Russia. There ( "the gain to industrial efficiency' (through the abolition of vodka), is estimated at percentages varying from 12 to 20 per cent., and even higher figures for the agricultural industry. The Kostroma Government Temstvo issued a, pamphkt on the- effects of the abolition of the drink, which errds thus: "ff there will be no more liquor, Russia will be the richest country in the world." American business men have found out the loss of efficiency through drink. Here is a scrap from 'T'leosophy in New Zealand"; "The Philadelphia" Quartz Company givcs\ a -ten per cent, increase in wages to total abstainers, for by this means the output is' increased and the efficiency of'the men assured." B; J, Hendricks, writing in Harper's Monthly, says:—"One hundred and fifty steel arid iron manufacturers are fighting alcohol, recognising that drinking, even in moderate quantities, decreases efficiency and increases accidents." Much morcj volumes, might be said in this direction, but I fear to trespass on your space. This is as plain as anything can be, and really we need not go outside New' Plymouth to prove it, that drink, in aiyy quantity, is a bar to efficiency; and.yet our boasted National Government does not,, will not, see it, and tries'to shuffle off a measure of responsibility on to a National Efficiency Board who' are limited in the scope of their enquiries.—l am etc, GEO. H. MAUNDER. New Plymouth, April 3, 19,17,

HELP THE BOYS

To the Editor.

. Sir,—Tho Ponsonby Boys' Drum and Fife Band Jiave decided to include New Plymouth in their tour, and the Ngamotu Seaside Committee liave been asked to make arrangements .necessary during their stay here. They are an excellent organisation of 35 players, and render a first-class programme of music. Their services are at tnc disposal of all patriotic functions throughout the year free, and as the past year has been a very streuous one for .the boys,, the management decided to give the' lads a holiday. We are anxious to billet the lads during their stay in our town so as to curtail the expenses of' the tour as much as possible. A number of persons have come forward and put up about half the boys. I shall therefore be glad to hear from any kind persons who could take one or two. They will arrive by the 3.p.m. train on Saturday, the 7th instant, leaving by the delayed train on Easter Monday evening.—l am et(! - R. 0. ELLIS. '