The Daily News. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1921. RIGHTS AND WRONGS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 February 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1921. RIGHTS AND WRONGS.

In these troublous times, just as it was nearly a century back, there is much evidence of the universally arrogated virtue called “independence.” It would almost seem that Carlyle was endowed with the gift of prophecy when he said: “Liberals, Economists, Utilitarians enough I see marching with the bier of the Body Politic, and chanting loud paeans, towards the funeral pyre, where, amid wailings from some, and saturnalian revelries from the most, the venerable corpse is to be burnt. . . Independence of all kinds is rebellion; if unjust rebellion, why parade it and. everywhere prescribe it?” The/only sure foundation on which true freedom can be established is reverence for law, order and good government, and the only means for preserving society in a state of health and well-being is the recognition that no section ean claim what it terms “rights,” which, if exercised, will inflict wrongs on other sections—“where each, isolated, regardless of his neighbor, turns against his neighbor, clutches what he can get, and cries ‘Mine!’ and calls it peace because in the cut-purse and cutthroat scramble, no steel knives, but only a far cunninger scheme ean be employed.” Take, for example, the present attitule of the watersiders in their contention that they are acting “within their rights” by resorting to the “goslow” policy and pin-pricking, and note the effect —direct and indirect. As an island community New Zealand is dependent on ocean transport for marketing produce, as well as for numerous commodities required by the people in every-day life, and brought by vessels from overseas. Every day. every hour, that these transports are delayed means additional expense that has to be passed on to the consumers or borne by the producers. Owing to the limited tonnage available for cargo that required insulated space, and to the fact that the Imperial Government has the control and first eall on that space, any delay in loading and unloading restricts the services of such vessels and inflicts hardships on the people, besides producing congestion. There is moreover, another economical aspect which may seriously affect the producers of cheese, namely, that a favorable market mag i/e

lost through the holding up of steamers by the selfish tactics of the waterside laborers. It is possible that Canadian competition may adversely affect the Home cheese market, hence the urgency of speedy transference of New Zealand cheese to Britain, as a glut on the market would certainly affect the price, besides which storage charges, interest and freights will soar in volume, all because the watersiders dominate the situation, recognise no “rights” but those they claim for themselves, and pursue a policy that is harmful to the rest of the community. According to a recent message from Wellington, it is feared that , unless matters improve there will be a general stoppage of waterside work, and in that event the whole industrial life of the Dominion will be paralysed—and .the matter in dispute is an additional penny an hour to the bonus and limitation of overtime to such hours and on such days as the watersiders think fit. Perishable goods, such as fruit is being left unloaded and sent back to the port of shipment, thus not only increasing the price, but probably causing most unjustifiable waste. “Rights” that inflict such evils might not. have looked out of place in the Paris Com mune, but in a democratic country like New Zealand, where the greatest good for the largest number should be the aim of every section of the community, such a “cutthroat scramble” is incomprehensible. There is only one true right, and that is the antithesis of wrong. No man has a light to injure his neighborby so doing he forfeits his manhood. Those who adopt “go slow” tactics and “pin, pricking” methods deliberately inflict wrongs on the community and it is the duty of the State to protect the people. The problem is 1-y no means easy to solve, but if the foundations of Society are to l e preserved there must be evolved means fcr preserving the edifice from the attacks thereon by those who seem bent on producing chaos. Allowance must, of course, be made for the aftermath of the war upheaval, but it would seem that the time has arrived when a definite stand should be made in defence of the common rights of the people, and the upholding of the vital principle that there ean only be one Government in the country, and that those who live under the protection of the law will not be allowed to be a law unto themselves. A country divided against itself cannot stand and in these times of stress it is imperative there shall be a united effort to speed up all activities and to eliminate all retarding influences. If the Body Politic is to be preserved, direct action must become a memory of the past.