PROFITEERING

Taranaki Daily News, 30 July 1919, Page 7

PROFITEERING

REV. J. G. CHAPMAN'S CHARGES^ "There ia nothing wrong in making money if you make it honestly and fairly," said the Rev. J. G. Chapman at Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, on Sunday night (reports the Dominion). "But what is wanted to-day is more principle in the acquirement of money and more justice and human fellowship in the distribution of money. The acquirement jand distribution of money—-that is the vital problem that is agitating the whole world to-day. Where is the social justice in a system of government that allows the Marquis of Bute to live luxuriously, by drawing £IOO,OOO per year in royalties paid on coal dug from his estates, while the men who make his fortune breathe coal-dust, destroy their lungs, and are paid a mere pittance? Where is the social justice in a system that gives .bread and dripping to children whose fathers' brawn and brains have provjded the wealth that furnishes other children with all the luxuries of the land?

. "Someone may tell me of the. 'sacred rights of- property.' Who owns these rights? We have the answer in the Bible: 'The wealth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.' There are other rights than the 'sacred rights of property'—the right of the honest industrious worker to fair play and fair pay, the right of the poor to homes where they can at least have a chance of decency and health and the other good things with which this glorious world is so abundantly provided. "During the last week we have read of two prosperous and reputable business houses in Wellington adopting systems of profit-sharing. In all fairness, we must credit those firms with honesty of purpose in seeking to promote better feeling between Labor and Capital. But we all know that systems of profit-shar-ing will never solve .the industrial and social problems of our day. As the Hon. T. M. Wilford remarked only a few, days ago, profit-sharing "and copartnership arc at the best only partial palliatives. The arrangement benefits the employees of the business, but it in no way benefits the public- In fact, the tendency of profit-sharing is in the direction of profiteering. It stands to reason that the employees, having become shareholders, are desirous of making increased profits. The buyer and the consumer get no advantage; "I have been told that I should not discuss this matter of profiteering in the pulpit, that lam not an expert. lam glad of that; there arc too many experts. I have been told that I have no business training. J certainly know more about business nnjl business methods now than I did before I began to discuss profiteering. The information that has been placed before me in letters and other communications would fill a book. One man' who wrote to me said ho knew personally where towels costing fls per doz. were being sold at 30s per dozcij; lam inf6rmed that in some business houses the stulT that has deteriorated qn the shelves is pushed off upon customers by the firm offering the. employees a commission to get rid of it. Yesterday I was shown some gold inedals. Each medal contained 7s Od worth of 13-carat gold, and cost as to make, a total cost of 12s fid, ■ A firm outside Wellington lias sold these medals quite recently for 20s, but a Wellington house) before the war, charged 3iis for them. That was a profit of 22s Cd on an outlay of 12s Od- Then it does seem incomprehensible to me that flour ground in the south can be bought cheaper in Auckland than in the district where it is produced. "You read in the newspapers of an increase of per week in the wages of bakers and pastrycooks in. Auckland. The wprkers got this extra money, and the public had to pay, as it always does. The small cakes formerly retailed at Is per dozen were raised to Is 4d per dozen pies , went up from 2d to 3d, and block cake, was increased frpm JOd <o Is per pound. These increases have been decided upon by the master bakers, one pf whom explained that owing to the creased prices, of sugar, eggs, butter, arid also labor, the public had to be charged mdre,: , Sugar has advanced very slight•ty*' Eggs have not gone up lately, j Butter has not gone up. Then there is | the increase in wages. An official of the union states: 'I am willing to admit that the master pastrycooks are entitled to- some advance in prices, but not to 40 or SO per cent.' The increase of 5s a week wages represents, on the output of a journeyman pastrycook, an extra charge of less than one farthing per dozen cakes. In other words the employers pay the workers an extra farthing per dozen, and charge the public'an extra 4d per dozen. Yet we are told that labor is the cause of increased prices.' "What is the effect of such an increase on th? employees? The.workers will argtje that they should have a share'of % employer's increased profit. , This is just what has happened in.Australia." A bakers' union . received rtit iner«asß,pf Ss a weeic in wages . The waster, bakers promptly raised, the price of bread! The union went back to the court and asked for a further 10s per week in' view of .the, increased profits inade by the employers. The court granted this second increase; The Judge said the' employers were well able to afford it. In our own Arbitration Cdurt the other day, "during fin; hearing of'a tailoring dispute, l Mr Reardon said | thfet increases in wages had not been resensible for the vast' increase in prices. Fbr every adaitioiial : shilling given the employee, ho stated,'the employer took £l. ■ If that is true,'there is only one fitting terni for 'such a proceeding—iniquitous. ■■■■■■>,>■ . 'j have in my possession a!- larro amount of evidence of 'profiteering. What I rtarrel 'lit is the lorig : siilTeriii** t>? the public: '' How long will they ondflre this H6Wd{t!6ti' bf things? •''Surely it ! is-the dirty of; thß -Government to protect the from these prices. The greedy capitalist is digging his own grave. He 'is the eause of liearly all this nrirest and, ferttlentj-andbe isMnviting (rouble. The time will come when the \vi, m will turn, an'tT 'frhen it'turns it will lie found to be'a reptile with teeth. 'The- root of the evil is the love of Mammon. The great need nf the times l» to give wealth its right position and hold it as a slave, not as a master, to be used for good and not for evil—not for the gratification of greed, but for raising- the standard of human existence, and causing to every citizen and every child, a full, secure, and htfppy life."