The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1921. THE ROAD TO RUIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 July 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1921. THE ROAD TO RUIN.

It is hardly to be expected that the average working man of the extreme kind should have any clear understanding of economic laws and their operation. In the general way what knowledge he may possess on this 'subject is that of a dangerous type which obscures the real principles and takes the form of a mirage wherein he sees dazzling prospects of wonderful 'benefits that can be grasped by merely putting forth his hands and helping himself—legitimately, of course, but none the less disastrously on that account. To him, capital is the root of all evil, so that to make his paradise perfect, capital must be raided out of existence to supply present needs; the future must look after itself. Herein is the road to ruin. It is so easy to provide a remedy at the expense of other people, without counting the resultant cost; so difficult and unthinkable to’put a shoulder to the wheel and help to overcome a dislocation ■caused by circumstances over which there was no control. Times are none too good, money is scarce, the pinch of unemployment is being felt because of deliberate restriction in output, with wages so high that the cost of production has killed the market. It is a thud for sacrifices — not, of course, by the workers, but by the employers, the capitalists. The only remedy that the Auckland Labor Representation Committee can suggest is to voice the oft-repeated cry: “Make a levy on capital.” In calling on the Government to raid the accumulated wealth in the country this committee is merely acting on the stereotyped labor lines. Apparently they do not propose that all the wealth of the country is to be raked in so as to provide funds for public works that would give unlimited employment. At present they would be satisfied by the raid being on a graduated scale; they would even exempt up to £3OOO, a wise provision for leaving something for a rainy day in the future. Have not the workers themselves submitted to a raid on their capital—-their manual powers of production—by shorter hours, going slow, downing tools, and other similar means? Why should the wealthy be spared? This Labor Committee claims that the levy they ask for would produce fifteen millions at least that could be spent on developing hy-dro-electric works, land settlement and homes for the people. They have a horror of borrowing money for such purposes, more especially at the present “extortionate” rates of interest, so they urge the Government to defy all the laws of right, justice and economy, and to seize what money is wanted in order to save a financial disaster, while hinting at a further levy to wipe out the war debt. No wild cat scheme could be more plausible, nor more certain to produce the disaster which these laborites profess a desire to avoid. If the wealth of the country consisted of actual money or bullion locked up in strong rooms it might be possible to raid it like a thief in the night, but these stand and deliver advocates must know perfectly well that the great bulk of capital, or wealth, in this country is represented by investments in land, buildings, factories, equipment, industrial and other enterprises, in all of which money is locked up and cannot be set free without bringing ruin and disaster- in its train. Farmers would be forced to sell at a great sacrifice—all the greater because it would be general -±hjj bauks uaable to

come to the rescue—and mortgagees would be in the same plight. Factories and all industries would he put out of action, the trade and commerce of the country ruined, and only those employed on public works be enabled to pay their way. It has to be remembered that the Government has already fairly well drained the liquid assets of the country by taxation and the raising of loans, the taxation alone last year amounting to over twenty millions. The banks hold large deposits, but against these must be placed the large advances necessitated by the financial stringency, and how severe that is can be judged by the fact of money having to be borrowed to enable income tax to be paid. What Labor has to realise is that the only real and effective way in which the present stress can be successfully met is that recently pointed out by Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., when speaking to the British Union of Railwaymen: “They must settle down to the country’s work. Peace demanded that the trade union policy which checked the source of credit was a mistake.” Work, economy and selfsacrifice will tide over the temporary depression, but the course advocated by the Auckland committee would thrust the country well on the downward road to ruin.