The Westport Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, DEC. 29, 1892.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3200, 29 December 1892, Page 2

The Westport Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, DEC. 29, 1892.

Tiie name of Mr J. A. Millar has disappeared from public notice since the strike of 1800, of which he was the 3hief instigator ; with the exception that ho stood for Port Chalmers at the last election, and was badly beaten. It was then a matter for some wonder that he should have had the assurance to offer himself after his display of ignorance and its usual concomitant arrogance. The question of the relative positions and power of labour and capital, which he has made his life study, has proved conclusively that he was as ignorant as the most thick-headed of the dupes who found the funds to keep their autocrat in ease and luxury, lie has now issued what may be termed a " Labour manifesto," which proves that he has adopted most of the opinions of those who, orior to the fact, pointed out to him that a successful strike was an impossibility, and could only result in disaster to those who by the rules of their unions were morally bound to obey the leaders whom they had themselves appointed. The mani-

frsto states that since the strike employers have combined and spared no pains to stem hack the tide of labour federation, but have also devoted thoir energies to the destruction of individual unions. Mr Millar and those who acted with him are responsible to the working men for this fact ; their abortive attempt at coercion showed employers their weak spots. Mr .Millar threatened to paralyse the whole trade of the colony if the Union Company, against whom the unions had no complaint, refused to restrict thoir business, as ho dictated. This naturally led to every sensible man in the colony feeling that the wings of this autocrat must be clipped, and combination met by combination. The result, as we know, was that the unionises were completely routed and brought to submission all along the line. Mr Millar's explanation of the defeat is : " Everyone of us will at once admit that it was the unemployed labourers who took our places, also the fact that we were compelled to seek work from employers when our money gave out." He no longer calls these men "scabs" and "blacklegs," but suggests that a great effort should be made to bring them all within the ranks of unionism, and as a natural sequiter under the command of such men as himself. This is a very far look ahead, and let us hope that if ever such a combination is brought into existence clearer heads than that of Mr Millar will direct its unwieldly power. The writer goes on to say : " The factors which produce wealth are labour applied to land. Capital immensely assists the former in being more productive than it would be did not capital exist. We assert the truthfulness of this axiom, and therefore, say that it is the duty of Government to so organise labour in the process of wealth production, by giving it the opportunity of being applied to nature's storehouse, in order that the unemployed difficulty, that all of us dread, may be forever banished." We have no desire to criticise the language in which MiMillar expresses himself so long as it is possible to trace his meaning, neither are we prepared to dispute his hypothesis that land is the original source of all wealth. We can only deduce one meaning from the above quotation, and that is that Governments should be the great cultivators of the soil. He admits that capital immensely assists the land in productiveness. He might have added that land cannot be made productive without its application. This being so we are reduced to the assumption that Mr Millar's proposal amounts to this, that the Government shall supply everv unemployed man with land and capital to work it. Ho is conveniently silent, as is often the custom of greater thinkers than himself, as to details. He neither informs us as to how Governments are to acquire the land or on whom thev are to call to provide the capital, and when they have done both, how they are to secure that the land will be properly worked and the capital not wasted. Does Mr Millar's proposal imply vast Government farms dotted all over the country, worked under the direction of officials, who are to be responsible for the proper cultivation of the land and the judicious application of the capital provided by the rest of the population? Perhaps he will issue another manifesto, filling in the details of the Socialistic map he has outlined. Mr Millar is sadly exercised that there is competition in the labour market. If this wore not so in any country, the chance of that country to compete with its produce or manufactures in the markets of the world would be non-existent. The high rate of wages which would be demanded could only have the one result—there could be no progress, for the good and sufficient reason that capital would immediately seek employment in other lands, and the labour of Mr Millar's ideal country would have to follow. Mr Millar is evidently as ignorant of political economy as he has aheady proved himself" of the power and interests of the class he aspires to lead. Tie cannot surely expect after his proved incapacity, but that his manifesto will be treated as so much waste paper—not only by the immediate victims of his ignorance, who are not likely to forget the misery ho brought upon them, but by those also who looked on at the working out of the labour catastrophe of 1890, and suffered thereby in a less degree.