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The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1920. FOOD, PRODUCTION, AND UNREST.

The increased price of milk and butter, as well as the prospect, of dearer flour and bread, cannot fail to bring home to all the community the seriousness of the higher cost of living, especially in face of the experience in the past that all increases in the cost of commodities act and react in a vicious circle by reason of higher wages for the workers causing a general all-round augmentation in the expense of production. The first lesson householders have to learn is how best to economise. This can be done in two ways—by purchasing only absolute essentials, and by growing as much foodstuff as they possibly can, especially potatoes, the low price of which for last season's crop is not likely lo tempt gr6wers to repeat the experience (if being shut out from 1 he Australian markets. It is estimated that the Dominion's wheat crop for the 1919-20 season is several million bushels less than for the previous season, and indications _ave thet

the price of wheat and flour may rise considerably, with the result that bread may become a penny or more dearer, hence the desirability of utilising for potatoes and other garden produce every available plot of land. The more serious problem, however, is that of industrial unrest, the constant rise of wages, and the resultant diminution in production. Instead of any rational approach being made to the solution of this vital problem, it is becoming more complicated, as well, as more serious. The industrial candle can be burning at both ends for a limited period, but the time arrives when light becomes darkness. That is the danger with which the world is now faced, and whether it will be averted depends entirely on the recognition by the workers that sandy in their demands, the utmost inorgy in their production activities, and the jettisoning of dangerous principles ;;,nd leaders can alone, prevent a disaster unparalleled in the world's history. In an admirable paper on the new , Labor movement recently read by pMi\ W. Pryor, secretary of the N.Z. Employers' Association at Ohristchureh, the influence of Bolshevism on the Labor movement in the Dominion was referred to "at some length. There is no question that the leaders of the N.Z. I Labor Party have admitted their ] Bolshevik tendencies, and the party has publicly announced its sympathy with the Soviet movement. Any impartial student of Soviet Russia, who lias followed the evolution of Bolshevism, cannot fail to arrive at the conclusion . that the system in practice there is not self-government by the workers but a di...ialorsliip of the commissaries, to whose will the mass is entirely subjected. Mr. Pryor traced the industrial side of Bolshevism through its four phases: (1) All power to the Soviets; (2) nationalisation, the State jbeing the sole employer; (3) the return of the capitalist to the industrial life of the country on his ownjerms; (4) conscription of labor. At the outset it was "All power for the Soviets—power for those who knew not how to control themselves, who acknowledged no head, and who would not submit to discipline of any kind. The last phase is complete submission to a single will—military conscription of labor. Those who in New Zealand are striving to exercise powerful influence in tlndirection of Bolshevism may well ponder whither it has led in Eus- , sia—to conscription of labor, which means that men must go to work as they are told and be-

comfi mere machines, living in ; dire want, and with no hope of , bettennont until the Soviet rc- , gime has passed into history. The ■ great majority of the workers of the Dominion are, without doubt, satisfied they are being as well treated as circumstances permit, „ yet the professional Labor agitators point to Bolshevism as if it were the panacea for all industrial - ill. These men exist on the 1 manufacture of grievances and . industrial turmoil, and the great attraction of Bolshevism for them is the possibility it holds out of '• dictatorial power. They care no,f thing for the real welfare of the workers, and Mr. Pryor asserts ' that, except for the strife raised by these fomentors of trouble, there is little bona fide industrial .. unrest in New Zealand to-day. He i ■ considers that the spirit of '' wautls ing a say'' in matters concerning the business in which they arc employed is apparent among the - workers, and to the extent to which it is encouraged and guided along the right lines, it will bring satisfaction and contentment, and prove of benefit to the Dominion 10 as a whole. Until this unrest is tf eliminated by the adoption of I j" practical measures the necessary, o- increase in production cannot be expected to materialise. Without m that increased production the cost of living must- keep on rising. It , is, therefore, time the rational workers got together and evolved a plan to satisfy the reasonable requirements of capital and labor - that would result in more efficient management, increased productivity, a fair return for capital, and such- improvements in the mater<j ial conditions of the workers as ,f will ensure industrial peace.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19201013.2.15

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1920, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
861

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1920. FOOD, PRODUCTION, AND UNREST. Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1920. FOOD, PRODUCTION, AND UNREST. Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1920, Page 4

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