The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 1921. PAYING THE PENALTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 June 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 1921. PAYING THE PENALTY.

Those who break laws—written and unwritten —must be prepared to pay the penalty. Some may escape for a time by subtle means, though not many, but that does not affect the general rule. Today, the world is suffering because the economic laws have been set at defiance deliberately, flagrantly, and obstinately. It was inevitably only a question of the shape the penalty should take and the extent of its measure. The war has been made the scapegoat for the sins of the community against all sorts of laws, more especially those concerning the welfare of nations, and embraced in the term economic. The recent war was a contributing cause to tlii present deplorable state of affairs, inasmuch as it gave a powerful impetus, not only to the rapidly developing fires of unrest and discontent, but also to the spirit of greed, selfishness, and lawlessness which was in evidence long before the war. Profiteering and speculation followed. 'No economic laws could stand a double strain of this nature, t.he result being that unemployment, one of the most serious problems that can arise, is baffling the wisdom of statesmen and growing more acute day by day. There has been a departure from the simple basic law of promoting the general welfare of the people. Thg feverish rush for munitions, armaments, and all the material Required for the great war struggles brought about work at high pressure at greatly increased wages. Those who could took full advantage of their opportunity to reap a golden harvest, workers as well as others. Metaphorically speaking, they sowed the wind, and to-day the whirlwind is being reaped. Meanwhile the purchasing value of the pound sterling was being reduced, and paper currency flourished as never before. As to the inevitable result there were warnings in plenty, which were flouted or fell on deaf ears. The day of reckoning has arrived, and it bids fair to leave a deeply-seared mark on Britain and the Dominions, as well as on other countries. A recent cable from London quoted from an editorial in the Morning Post on the question of emigration,; wherein it was stated that all schemes to relieve unemployment had failed, and strongly advocating the provision of a scheme for emigration on a hitherto unprecedented scale, and at an unprecedented cost to the country. Australia has her own la'bo'r problems to solve, but, like most other countries, is sadly in need of money for public works, so that if she is to receive and utilise surplus British labor, she will require the money necessary to support the immigrants, and if that is provided—which is most improbable—the question is whether it could not just as effectively be made use of in Britain. The wages question will not be solved in this way, and the miners’ strike has furnished convincing proof as to the question being at the root of the trouble. The closer the problem is studied the more evident becomes the need for all-round sacrifices. Employers must be content with less profits, and employees must put their backs into their work and be prepared to accept reduced wages. Governments must effect such drastic economies as to lighten the burden of taxation, production must be increased, and the cost of living brought down; there must be an end put to bolstering up or subsidising particular industries. The clamor for high wages, shorter hours, and a five days week shows the trend of labor is to do as little as possible and be paid as much as can be squeezed out of the employers, and the latter pass it on wherever possible. A straightening of the present economic tangle ean only be accomplished by such a united effort and determination as was evinced in war-time, and if all classes are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices and set to work with an unbending will, stability can be reached. Mere palliatives and expedients will only make matters worse.