New Zealand and its politics

Harris, Percy A. (Percy Alfred), Sir, Headley Brothers, London, U.K., 1909

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The original publication details are as follows:

Title: New Zealand and its politics

Author: Harris, Percy A. (Percy Alfred), Sir

Published: Headley Brothers, London, U.K., 1909

NEW ZEALAND AND ITS POLITICS.

NEW ZEALAND

AND ITS POLITICS.

BY PERCY A. HARRIS, B.A.

XonDon:

HEADLEY BROTHERS,

BISHOPSGATE STREET WITHOUT, E.C.

NOTE.

Since the appearance of the articles which comprise this book in the Westminster Gazette, the author has received numerous requests for their reproduction in a more permanent form. In assenting to this course he wishes to acknowledge the kindness of the Editor of the Westminster Gazette for granting his permission for the reprint.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

PAGE

I. —INTRODUCTORY 9

II. —LICENSING 15

III. —INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION 23

IV. —OLD AGE PENSIONS 33

V. —THE LAND 43

VI.—WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE 52

VII. —STATE TRADING 60

VIII.—THE TARIFF 68

9

NEW ZEALAND AND ITS POLITICS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

N° student of social problems can land in New Zealand without some feeling of emotion. The Colony has been the field of so much economic experiment that it has come to be regarded as a kind of miniature political laboratory. It is as well, however, to admit at once that it is dangerous to generalise too much from the results achieved on so small a scale and on such virgin soil.

Not seventy years have elapsed since the good ship Tory landed here the first batch of immigrants ; when the subsequent history of the Colony is remembered, the name of that ship must be admitted to be singularly inappropriate.

The first years of settlement were largely occupied with difficulties with the natives,

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New Zealand and its Politics.

and it can be fairly said that New Zealand has only existed as an economic state for half a century.

The New Zealand politician is therefore working on a fair field, untrammelled by many of the mistakes of predecessors or the blunders of the past. And such a field ! The Canadian has to conquer the difficulties of the Arctic winter, the Australian to battle with the constant fear of drought or the danger of extreme heat ; but the New Zealander has a climate equable and healthy, a soil fertile and varied, and a mineral and timber wealth that only wants the hand of man to yield untold wealth. If failure there has been, the colonist cannot blame New Zealand. Cattle and sheep prosper in almost every part, great plains yield generous crops of corn to but moderate labour ; river-beds have given gold to miners’ cradle and the floating dredge, to say nothing of the far-famed ore of such mines as the Waihi. On the West Coast of the South Island is steam-coal that can almost compete with that of Wales, while a weed, the native flax-plant, and a gum that oozes from the

Introductory.

16

kauri-tree only want picking to earn a constant living to a whole army of workers.

Nor can it be said that New Zealand has suffered from the class of its immigrants. The last colonised, its founders had learned from the mistakes of other experiments. Here were no convict settlements as in Australia : no attempts were made to frame a society on a subject race with hordes of South African blacks or Chinese as in America.

The Gibbon Wakefield colony at Port Nicholson, in the North Island, was composed of honest men and decent citizens, carefully selected ; the Canterbury colony was organised on the basis of the English village, and the best of the squire, the farmer, and the labourer came over with the blessing of the Church ; while Otago was founded by sturdy, independent Scotchmen. Black sheep, of course, have drifted in, but the distance of New Zealand from other countries has protected her from the lowest type of immigrant. Its own native problem has been slight. The Maoris are a fine race, physically strong, poetic, and amenable to

New Zealand and its Politics.

17

law. The early wars were long and fierce, but they seem to have left behind little race feeling. The Maori has settled down under the Constitution, an integral part of it, and forming no race problem, except it be the prevention of his extinction.

New Zealand has a beauty, too, that attaches the colonists to its soil. There is little of the dreary monotony of the Australian bush. From the greater part of Canterbury plains can be seen the snow mountains glittering in the sun, fine ranges that rival the Swiss Alps, and attract the mountaineer from every part of the world. Much of the best land of the country is skirted by the sea. The coast of much that I have seen reminds me of Devonshire at its best. Some of the finest dairy country is just north of Dunedin, where the rugged cliffs and rocks form bays of great beauty.

But what perhaps attaches the New Zealander most to his country are the wonders of the bush—the tree fern, the flowering rata, and the hundreds of native evergreen shrubs, that grow in the bright, moist climate with an almost tropical profusion.

Introductory.

18

But the Colony has this advantage over the East, that almost every English tree and plant grows and prospers. Near a settlement of a few years can be seen the willow spreading over the streams ; bright yellow gorse covers every piece of waste land and sows itself so rapidly as to become a nuisance ; grass and every kind of English flower, fruit, and vegetable grow as well as in the home land.

If native birds are few, the imported ones have made themselves thoroughly at home, and in many a paddock can be heard the blackbird, the thrush, or the chirp of the sparrow, which has made itself almost as much a pest as its compatriot the rabbit.

The climate in these small islands is almost as varied as in the United States. In the extreme north it is semi-tropical, while in many parts of the south, or middle, island, there are, away from the sea, regular falls of snow.

But I have said enough to show that New Zealand has been well favoured by nature, and that any failure of man to build up a sound and healthy society is his own, and

New Zealand and its Politics.

19

that any success is not a little due to environment. But none the less the laws and institutions of the country are of fascinating interest, and I will endeavour to describe their working with the impartial eye of an outsider, who, having lived three years amongst them, returns after six years to study them afresh.

CHAPTER 11.

LICENSING.

J ARRIVED at the Bluff—not only the most southern port in New Zealand but, I believe, the most southern in the British Empire—early on a fine frosty morning. Invercargill, the principal town of the district, with some 13,000 inhabitants, is seventeen miles inland, and with a friend I took the first train up there. We had had a seven o’clock breakfast, and we were both very cold, and on our arrival at the hotel my companion immediately called for a whisky and soda. The answer he received made me realise that though I had been travelling hard for just on six weeks I was still in the midst of the eternal drink question. I had struck a Prohibition area, and, with another Local Option poll due in a few

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New Zealand and its Politics.

21

months’ time, Licensing was being discussed almost as much as at a Peckham election. Three years ago, by the requisite majority, the total prohibition of the sale of alcohol had been carried, and not a glass or a bottle of anything but a Temperance drink can be bought in the town. Six months’ notice was given to the licensees, and after the lapse of that time, without a penny of compensation being paid, the licences simply lapsed.

The process is simplicity itself. At every triennial election, at the same time as they record their votes for representation in Parliament, the electors have the right to vote for continuance, reduction, or total abolition of the licences in the electoral district ; they can vote for any two of these three alternatives. To carry abolition, or to restore licences after abolition, three-fifths majority is necessary ; while for continuance or reduction merely an absolute majority is required. Many districts actually voted by a bare majority at the last election for Prohibition, but without the requisite threefifths, and the number of licences remained unchanged.

it

Licensing.

22

The figures for 1905 are instructive: 198,768 votes for no-licence, 182,884 for continuing the existing licences, and 151,057 for reduction. The total number of electors on the roll is only 476,473, so I think it is very clear that a majority of the people are in favour of Prohibition.

There seems a very general consensus of opinion that Prohibition is carried by the women’s vote. For a member of Parliament they may record their votes with their fathers, husbands, or class, but in licensing they are said to vote almost solid for prohibition or reduction. Some of the brewers’ friends who have been consorting so much recently with Suffragists at English byeelections might well remember this. Anyhow, it does seem to point to Woman Suffrage being the right road to licensing reform.

Out of the sixty-seven electoral districts only six actually have carried Prohibition by the necessary majority.*

• Since writing the above article, the triennial Ijcenstog polls have taken place. A tremendous uit/rrest wa»»l utwit in the election and no effort was spared by the li/jnor party to retain licences. Tlie result, however, lias Itoi a striking victory for temperanc*. Eight additional districts have been added to the Prohibition area, making

New Zealand and its Politics.

23

In Invercargill I made careful inquiry as to the success of the scheme ; but feeling runs high, and amidst the mass of conflicting evidence it is difficult to disentangle the truth.

The first thing it is necessary to understand is that the co-called New Zealand "Prohibition ” does not mean the prohibition of the consumption of alcohol ; it only prohibits its sale. The electoral areas are often small, and nothing is easier than for a man to walk over to the border, which in Invercargill is only a couple of miles off, and where either a bottle or keg can be bought and carried home. Stories are many of visits to neighbouring townships with mysterious black bags.

An unpleasant feature is the springing up on the outskirts of the prohibited area

fourteen in all, while in six districts a further reduction of the number of licences has been carried. In not a single district have licences been restored. Perhaps the most striking part of the result is the growth of the temperance vote in the chief centres.

Ol Ulc iciupciCiucc VUIC ill LUC ClllCi V.CUUV3. In Dunedin and Auckland not only was reduction carried, but an absolute majority voted for Prohibition, while in Wellington, the capital, Prohibition was carried in the two principal suburban districts.

The latest figures to date (1908) are as follows: —For Continuance, 186,300 ; For Reduction, 161,800 ; For No Licence, 209,100 ; Total Valid Votes, 410,100.

Licensing.

i 9

of depots which do a roaring bottle trade. A local brewer is said to have been converted to Prohibition and to have stated his intention to vote for it at the next poll, as his brewery, being just outside the Invercargill district, has benefitted at the expense of those which had, before Prohibition, either their buildings actually in towns or in another place altogether. The Act, too, does not prevent the importation of alcohol, and it is quite a common thing for men to club together and order, in their individual names, all their requirements from abroad.

The hotel where I had been staying had had a licence, and the proprietor took me into what had been the bar, and where all the old paraphernalia for the sale of drink still remained; the decanters and jars that once had held wines and spirits wore picturesque labels of lime-juice cordials and Temperance drinks. Round the side of the room, however, were rows of numbered lockers ; these are leased to various citizens, who keep in them whatever they fancy in the way of alcohol.

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New Zealand and its Politics.

“ Yes,” said the proprietor. “ A man brings here a friend, pays threepence for a bottle of soda, and he can drink and ‘ shout ’ as much of the bottle from his own locker as he likes. Before Prohibition I could control him by refusing to serve ; now I can do nothing till he’s actually drunk, and then I can ‘ chuck him ’ out at my own risk.”

These are the objectionable features of the Act—weaknesses which it should not be beyond the wit of man to remedy ; in fact, a very short amending Act could abolish depots and the locker system. I have dwelt on them because it is well for Temperance Reformers to understand the shortcomings of mere Local Prohibition. But, with all its loopholes, this qualified prohibition has promoted temperance ; it has removed the temptation to drink ; and though men who want it can still get alcohol, they have to seek it.

The figures for the last three years are more eloquent than any words. In the year ending June 1906 there were 145 convictions for drunkenness; June 1907, 113 convictions ; and June 1908, only 86

Licensing.

26

cases. On the other hand, in the town of Dunedin, where the licences remain intact, for full year 1905 there were 534 convictions ; for full year 1907, 654 cases ; while for halfyear alone ending June 1908, 468 cases.

These figures are significant. While in Dunedin, with all the old temptations to drink left intact, the convictions for drunkenness have been steadily on the upgrade, in Invercargill, with the temptations removed, the convictions have been as steadily on the downgrade.

There is, of course, much wild talk on both sides as to the effect of Prohibition, and I have tried to get at not only the opinion of the partisan, but at that of the ordinary citizen.

The experience of tradespeople is perhaps the most instructive. I was told by more than one that the closing of the licensed premises has meant apparently increased takings in the shops, and more regular payments. Many a housewife has found the closing of the bars has meant that her husband has come home on a Saturday with his wages intact. Is it a wonder that she

New Zealand and its Politics.

27

should have become an enthusiast for Prohibition, and have used her vote mainly to that end ?

Undoubtedly there is some grumbling at the working of the Act, and many a growl can be heard at the difficulty that it puts in the way of getting drink, but with it all there seems to be a growing sentiment that the limitations to the sale of alcohol do mean a healthier and more virile race. For that end New Zealand is prepared to make some sacrifice.

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CHAPTER 111.

INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION.

r J~*O ascertain the economic effect of any labour legislation is always difficult. Often a new law corresponds with a cycle of prosperity, and the effect is vitiated by currents over which no legislation has any control. To make the inquiry more difficult, both parties concerned by a labour law are generally in hostile camps, and their opinions have the ring of the battlefield about them. But there could not be a more interesting time here than the present to study these problems.

The Arbitration Act, the keystone on which the whole fabric of New Zealand labour legislation has been built, is undergoing a severe strain, which, if it stands it, will root it firmly in the soil; if it fails,

New Zealand and its Politics.

29

I fear it will bring down with it much other good work.

When I was in the Colony some seven years ago there was great enthusiasm amongst the workers for the Act. The opposition, if any, came from the employers, many of whom had refused to register themselves as a union to give them the status required for the proper working of the law.

Experience has taught the business-man wisdom. The honest employer has found himself freed from the unfair competition of the sweater and the mushroom trader, and he is able to depend mainly on his brains for success. Wages being uniform, competition has been fairer. On the other hand, there is a growing discontent among the workers ; it has been simmering for some years, and during the last eighteen months it has boiled over in three considerable strikes, the very thing the Act was designed to prevent.

The fact is, at the inception of the Act the work of the Court was comparatively easy. The employees were suffering from such palpable injustices that it was an obvious

Industrial Arbitration.

30

duty of the judges to declare in their favour. The original Act had provided a Conciliation Board, and the Court of Arbitration was set up mainly as a Court of Appeal. In fact, the whole working of the Act was largely made to turn on the supposition that the primary Board would generally reconcile the contending forces.

Experience has shown that but rarely are either of the contending parties content to accept defeat; the usual practice is to fight it out to a finish, and the Conciliation Court can now, for all practical purposes, be regarded as defunct. This at once brings out a defect in the law as it now stands. There is only one Arbitration Court, which travels on circuit, and chief towns in New Zealand being separated by considerable distances, delay is inevitable.

Speed is essential in the settlement of an industrial dispute. Delay only means the aggravation of it, and though the Court has been as expeditious in its methods as possible, it can only be in one place at a time. This was given by the slaughtermen as an excuse for their strike in Wellington.

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New Zealand and its Politics.

The killing of meat for freezing takes place mainly at one particular period of the year, and if the men had waited till the Court had judged on the merits of their cases, the union leaders argued they would have lost the benefit of what they claimed for a whole season. Besides, a court of law is not the best place for unravelling the intricacies of the wages and conditions of modern specialised trades ; legal formulas can be but little guide. This was largely realised by the original framers of the Act. It was hoped that master and man would meet, in friendly conference and settle their dispute at the Board of Conciliation. Failing that, the Arbitration or Appeal Court was to judge the case without any of the terrors of the law; it was to be a Court of Equity, dispensing justice, and to assure this object lawyers were specifically excluded ! But with time the very thing the Act was designed to prevent has grown up. Lawyers certainly don’t plead; but specialised representatives for employer and employee have elbowed their way in, and they are more legal than any lawyer. The judge,

Industrial Arbitration.

32

with ever-increasing work and intricate trade cases to solve, has more and more to be guided by precedent or the decisions of his predecessors. This is inevitable, and no reflection on the personalities of the various Presidents of the Court, who have been admittedly able and fair-minded men. But there is nothing the working-man detests more than legal phraseology, for the very simple reason that he does not understand it.

It should not be thought, however, that the Act has been a failure. For fourteen years the country was without a strike worthy of the name, and for that the Act must get the credit. This alone makes it deserve the blessings of the community ; but, besides, it has abolished sweating, humanised industry, regulated hours, and improved the conditions of employment.

Nor can it be argued to have strangled enterprise; the number of factories has increased from 4,109 in 1895 to 8,373 in 1905 and 11,586 in 1908.

“Ah ! ” says the employer ; “as long as it served the workers’ purpose they supported it ; so soon as they don’t get

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New Zealand and its Politics.

what they want they strike. If we break an award we are fined. But you cannot collect fines from a number of separate workers.”

Personally, I don’t think you could punish men for striking ; you certainly could not in England, with the immense numbers that are in a trade. But Mr. Millar, the Minister for Labour, assures me he has actually collected from the men seventy per cent, of the fines for breach of award by strike. But the real check against strikes is public opinion.

When a Court exists, properly constituted to settle a trade dispute, and the men refuse to trust their case to it, they get very little sympathy, and without that sympathy they can hope for small success. This was well illustrated by the bakers’ strike in Wellington. They seemed to have had some genuine causes of complaint, but because they would not trust the Court the men were not able to any extent to stop the bread supply. Both the Dunedin and Auckland Trades Council refused to grant them financial help, avowedly because the

Industrial Arbitration.

34

action of the union was likely to damage the Arbitration Act.

I have talked to many leaders of public opinion on the subject ; men like Mr. Millar, the Minister of Labour ; Mr. Tregear, the interesting secretary of the Labour Department ; Mr. Sim, the Judge of the Court, as well as his two assistants, one representing the employers and one the workers ; outside the official circle I have interviewed labour leaders like Mr. Paul and Mr. Rigg, both of the Legislative Council; besides a number of employers. One and all are agreed that the principle of abitration must be maintained, and none wish to go back to the time of the settlement of disputes by strikes. The only difference of opinion is as to how to make the law press equally on employer and employee.

The very able and clear-headed Minister of Labour, himself at one time a leader of strikes, has devised a very ingenious Bill.* The ordinary strike is made a civil offence punishable by fine without imprisonment ; but in certain specified trades in necessaries,

* Since passed into law.

New Zealand and its Politics.

35

if twenty-one days’ notice is not given to the employer of intention to cease work, it is made a criminal offence. But the clause which is likely to be most effective is that which provides that a union convicted of instigating a strike shall have its registration suspended for three years, with loss to its members of the benefit of all previous awards.

But personally I do not see how in practice it can be made effective. You cannot compel a large body of men to work on conditions that do not please them any more than you can force an employer to keep open his factory against his will. Ultimately, I believe the Arbitration Court will tend to become more of a Conciliation Court, with public opinion, the policeman, to enforce the award. Sweating will in that case have to be dealt with by wages boards, hours of labour by Act of Parliament.

My own feeling is that the Act would not have broken down if it had not been for the peculiar position of colonial industries. They are all built up behind Tariff walls ; they can cater only for the home market and do no export trade. A twenty-five

Industrial Arbitration.

36

per cent, duty, coupled with the heavy freights on imported goods consequent on New Zealand’s isolated position, enables the manufacturer on every occasion to shift increased wages on to the consumer.

The levelling of wages by the Arbitration Court, therefore, has merely been followed by a more than proportionate increase in the cost of living. The result of it is that after fourteen years’ arbitration the workers find that, apart from hours and conditions of labour, they are, in material comforts, little better off; they have had a rude economic lesson in the difference between money and real wages. This lies at the bottom of the general discontent.

In a Free Trade country increased wages must come out of the profits, or the foreign manufacturer comes in and takes away the trade. Witness, the levelling-up of wages in the Lancashire cotton trade through the unions has entailed neither an increased price in piece-goods nor the loss of the export trade ; it has meant a fairer distribution of the products of labour coupled with increased efficiency.

New Zealand and its Politics.

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No doubt it will be argued that some trades show no margin of profits to afford higher wages, and without a Tariff an increase in the labour bill will mean their transference abroad. It is questionable whether a trade that cannot afford a living wage is worth preserving ; for my part I do not think it is, but New Zealand’s experience points to a Tariff not being the remedy. The increase in money wages is handicapping the exporter in competition with the world, while the more than proportionate rise in the cost of living, under the protection of the Tariff wall, has deprived the worker of the benefits of arbitration.

CHAPTER IV.

OLD AGE PENSIONS.

o NE of the most pathetic sights I have ever seen was at Dunedin Post Office on August ist. At the commencement of every month the old people go there to collect their pensions, and round the paydesk they clustered with their order papers patiently waiting for the clerks to disburse. Decrepit, mostly weary and bent, they looked like old soldiers tired out by the battle of life; the sight would soften the heart of the most rigid doctrinaire. There was no elbowing or pushing; the fire of youth had long died out, and there seemed an air of resignation, or perhaps gratitude, prevailing through them all. One old man, thinking of Premier Seddon, the sponsor of the Act, mumbled as he

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3

New Zealand and its Politics

39

received his notes, “ God bless King Dick ! ”

The pension did not seem to have had the demoralising effect so constantly prophesied by its critics ; most of the old people were tidy and clean. Their costumes were, of course, weird and often grotesque ; many of the old ladies had on the strangest of bonnets, while the men had hats battered and discoloured by age and long since out of fashion ; but they had done their best with their limited wardrobes.

When the system was first inaugurated there was some friction and no little fraud ; but experience has remedied these defects, and the Act now works smoothly; the safeguards provided are so perfect that it is quite easy to discriminate between the qualified and unqualified.

When the claimant has reached the statutory age of sixty-five, and he thinks he fulfils the conditions that entitle him to a pension, he fills up a form and lodges it with the local deputy-registrar. This official is charged with the duty of verifying the statement of the applicant. The first step

Old Age Pensions.

40

is to prove age and twenty-five years’ residence. If the old person can produce his birth certificate there is little difficulty. But in a new colony like New Zealand few of the old people are native born, and birth certificates are not easy to produce. Recourse has to be had to age stated on marriage certificate, the date of birth of first child, of immigration—in fact, any evidence can be taken as proof at the discretion of the magistrate. Having confirmed the age, the deputy-registrar has to check the property qualifications. For this purpose there is a series of forms ; one goes to every bank in the Colony ; another goes both to the Tax Department and Post Office Savings Bank ; while there are similar inquiries sent to any likely sources of information.

But old-age and lack of income or property are alone not enough qualification. The applicant must be of good character, and to ascertain this printed forms are sent to be filled by the Police Department, by past employers, and anyone of standing or reliability who has known the would-be pensioner for many years.

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New Zealand and its Politics.

When the deputy-registrar is in possession of sufficient information, the case comes before the stipendiary magistrate charged with the administration of the Act. The Court is made as informal as possible. The day I was present the magistrate left his dais and took the chair ordinarily occupied by the Clerk of the Court. He examined the claimants in a quiet conversational manner, and the whole proceeding went through on a most friendly basis, so that the old people should not be prevented from applying by fear of the ordeal.'

The magistrate had kindly invited me to sit by his side, and I had ample opportunity to observe the various claimants. The deputy-registrar, with the various forms properly filled, was present ready to substantiate or rebut any of the evidence given. But the proceedings were inspired by the spirit that, provided the old people were qualified by age and poverty, they were entitled to a pension. Evidence was gone into, not with the purpose of keeping the applicant off the roll, but to prevent fraud and eliminate the palpably unworthy.

Old Age Pensions.

42

The first claimant was a respectable old man, but there was evidence of transfer of property to children ; case postponed for further inquiry.

The second case was interesting as illustrating the property qualification, and is worth going into at some length. An old lady appeared for her husband who was ill in bed ; she herself, however, had not reached the qualifying age. The man was earning £26 a year, and as the law allows the income with full pension of 10s. a week to total £6O per annum, without deduction, in the ordinary way, he would have been granted the maximum. But the wife declared ownership of land and building to the value of £250, furniture £2O, besides cash at bank of £ll5. If this had belonged to the claimant £l5O of it would have passed without any deduction from his pension. But by a curious flaw in the law, when the property is owned by the wife or husband of the claimant, only £5O can be owned without a decrease in the pension allowance. After that amount had been deducted the property was treated by the magistrate as joint,

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New Zealand and its Politics.

divided in two. and the half regarded as if owned by the claimant, and £1 deducted from pension for every £lO of the property ; that is to say, he was judged to possess £157, or half of his wife’s property, less £5O ; £l6 being deducted from the maximum allowance his pension worked out at £lO per annum.

The third case was that of an old miner, worn out by hardship and exposure to the weather, who produced an immigration certificate to prove birth, besides excellent testimonials as to character. He was already in the Benevolent Institution, and had no property except an old hut and some tools, valued together at £34. Pension was allowed in full.

The fourth was a shrivelled-up old lady, who gave her age as sixty-eight. Unfortunately, when she had married, thirty-six years ago, her husband had given her age as twenty-seven, and this disqualified her by two years. She was, however, a respectable old body, and the case was postponed for further inquiry.

The vanity of women, which makes them understate their age at marriage, often comes

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up against a claimant for a pension, and, though it has its humorous aspect, it means a serious penalty for youthful folly.

The fifth applicant was a fine old sailor that found himself at sixty-five penniless. He was in the Benevolent Institution, with nothing allowed but his food and board ; had a good character, but up to two years ago had been inclined to drink. However, the magistrate, making allowance for his nautical life, granted him his pension, to be paid through the institution where he resided, who were to allow him Bs. a week for pocket-money, and keep the rest to pay his board ; he was warned to keep sober on penalty of forfeiture.

The last case was one of bad character, and entailed the cancellation of a pension. A hoary old sinner came up, who at the police-court had been found guilty of wife desertion with cruelty, and the harbouring bad characters. The magistrate showed him no mercy. Drunkenness and desertion of wife and children are, perhaps, the most common ground for the refusal of a pension. Great care is taken to prevent the trans-

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New Zealand and its Politics.

ference of property just before the qualifying age, and any suspicion of anything of the kind is dealt with very severely. According to the last report of the Registrar-General, the rejections represent twenty-three per cent, of the claims lodged.

The bulk of the claimants are honest and deserving, and I am told that the fact that their character will come up for review when the pension age is reached is an inducement for an old man or woman to make an effort to live a decent and sober life ; in fact, it means they have something to look forward to other than poverty, charity, or dependence.

There are now 12,912 European persons receiving old-age pensions, at an annual cost of £325,000 ; out of every thirteen there are ten drawing the full pension of £26 per annum. In 1902, forty-one per cent, of the European population qualified by age were drawing pensions ; in 1905, it was down to thirty-five per cent. ; in the year ending March, 1908 it was down to thirty-two per cent ; so that the numbers have not increased at such a progressive rate

Old Age Pensions.

46

as was anticipated with so much confidence by some. Nor do all the old people claim directly they reach the qualifying age—sixty-five. Out of 1,740 who were admitted during the year ending March of this year, 230 had reached the age of seventy-four or over, and forty-eight of the old people were eighty or over. Many a man holds on to his work as long as he can, and it is not uncommon for an old pensioner to come to the Court and say that now he does not require to draw his full pension, as he has had luck and found some light job.

The expense of administration works out, since its inception, to 1.69 on the gross outlay.

It will be satisfactory to rate-payers in Great Britain to learn that the Pension Act has brought down the cost of the outdoor relief from is. qjd. in 1899 to B|d. in 1908 per head of the population. Whether the assurance of provision for old age is encouraging thriftlessness or not, it is early yet to say. Certainly, however, it has had no adverse effect on the deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank, which have increased from £4,311,635 in 1896 to £9,953,266 in

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New Zealand and its Politics

1906 ; while the number of depositors has gone up from 197,000 in 1900 to 298,000 in 1906.

Time only will show the result on character, but there is a growing feeling that it is worth something to a nation to feel that its old people are beyond the fear of want.

If New Zealand’s experience is any criterion Great Britain can enter into its new experiment without fear of the dire results anticipated by rampant individuals who see danger in every new movement. As the Maoris say, to Asquith’s Act, I wish “ Kiaora ” or Good Luck.

CHAPTER V.

THE LAND.

]SJEW ZEALAND is so much associated with experiments in Labour legislation that people are inclined to overlook that it is mainly an agricultural country. The Wealth of the Colony is in its natural resources, and most of the industries are parasites fostered by the tariff and living on the profits derived from the land. At first sight it would seem easy to devise land laws for a new country like this, but in all the Australasian States mistakes were made at their inception, and, though in New Zealand there were fewer than in any other, much time and energy have been wasted in reconstruction.

The history of the Land Laws of the Dominion would provide picturesque

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New Zealand and its Politics.

49

instruction in every form of land tenure. The native Maoris, with their communal system, and the custom that precluded the disposal of a single acre without the consent of all concerned, provided an initial difficulty that at one time seemed to spell ruin to the new colony, and led to bloody and lengthy wars that, when over in the field of battle, were continued in words with no less energy in the arena of Parliament. But the native land problem is of little interest to the outsider ; suffice it to say that it was satisfactorily settled by Treaty, though constantly reopened as the pressure of the growing European population has increased.

A new proposal to acquire native reserves that are not cultivated is only now under discussion. But the main cause of the complexity of the land system was the disposal of great tracts for sheep-runs. The early Government can hardly be blamed, for the best way to attract colonists to a new territory is by land “grants,” and the simplest method to provide revenue for the maintenance of law and order is by land “ sales.”

The Land.

50

The question is whether a new colony can be set going by any other system. At any rate, it proved costly to this Dominion ; the people woke up to find the best of their land that was opened up disposed of in vast tracts, uncultivated and occupied by but a few sheep, and the source of revenue from land sales run dry. Then commenced a series of experiments, all of which aimed at preserving to the community the unearned increment, while at the same time offering a tenure liberal enough to attract the settler.

The difficulty has been that as soon as a man became an occupier his desire to keep to himself the ever-increasing unimproved value caused by the development of the country as a whole converted him into an ardent advocate of the freehold. It was this that caused the downfall of the perpetual lease—an ingenious system with periodic revaluation of the unimproved value ; under the pressure of the tenants the Act was from time to time amended, and the facilities for conversion to freehold made so easy that now hardly a holding remains under this tenure.

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New Zealand and its Politics.

The next experiment was the “ lease in perpetuity.” a lease for 999 years, and therefore equivalent to the freehold in that the holder could dispose of his interest at a profit or borrow money on it. This tenure has been popular with the tenants, but has aroused enthusiasm neither amongst the advocates of the freehold nor the ardent land nationalises; it has the advantage of leaving the farmers’ capital free to develop his land, but does not preserve to the community the unearned increment.

Last year the “ perpetual lease ” and the “ lease in perpetuity ” were succeeded by another experiment, “ the renewable lease,” for sixty-six years, but at the end of each period the holding is to be revalued, the rent based at four per cent, on Crown lands, and four-and-a-half per cent, on land purchased by the State for special settlement. Where the tenant does not renew, he is entitled to compensation for his improvements.

But all attempts to stifle the freehold have been abandoned. In all except certain reserves, including 7,000,000 acres set aside for a national endowment to provide funds

The Land.

52

for old-age pensions and educational purposes, the applicant is to be allowed the option to take up the freehold, though careful stipulations are made requiring occupation, and limiting the area to be allotted to selectors of new land. Instead of trying to get at the unearned increment through the system of land tenure, taxation is to be relied on for the purpose.

Land-tax is worked in conjunction with the income-tax, and income derived from the land is not subject to the latter assessment. Valuation is made by a special Department independent of the Commissioner of Taxes, and by a sensible arrangement it is available for all purposes, national taxes or local rates, advance to settlers, or mortgages by private persons.

The law makes it quite clear that only the unimproved value is to be taken, and it is so worded that the man who works his land is encouraged, while the man who neglects it is penalised. Should any landowner consider himself aggrieved by the valuation of his property, he can call upon the Government to reduce the price or buy at their

New Zealand and its Politics.

53

valuation ; the Crown has the same privilege, and should the owner put too low a value, the Department can recommend the Government to take over.

Holders of small estates are exempt from the tax, and it is graduated with the express purpose of breaking up large estates. By an Act of last year the tax is further graduated on estates of £40,000 ; for every additional £l,OOO of unimproved value over that amount the rate is increased by one-fifth of a shilling, till on estates of £200,000 the tax reaches its maximum of £2 per cent. In 1910, the rate on these large estates is to be increased a further twenty-five per cent.

Absentees are not encouraged in New Zealand ; their estates are subject to an additional fifty per cent. ! What a discouragement to enterprise! the English critic will say. How can you expect capital to open up the country with such a burden thrust upon it ? The answer is that experience has justified the policy. Far from decreasing, it has multiplied the productivity of the soil. Exports, which are practically all products of the land,

The Land.

54

have increased from £6,534,513 in 1886 to £9,299,907 in 1896, and to £17,992,480 in 1906. And this is not due to any great increase in population, for the influx of immigrants has been slow, owing to the isolated position of New Zealand, and the advertising enterprise of American shipping companies.

But the land-tax must not get the whole credit of the prosperity of the Dominion. The palm for this must go to the Land for Settlement Act and the Advances to Settlers Act. The Land for Settlement Act is the counterpart of our Small Holdings Act, though it goes much further and aims at the estates of the large squatters, and has converted quantities of sheep-runs into dairy farms and arable land. When the debt of New Zealand is talked about it is well to remember that five millions sterling have gone for this purpose, and, after paying expenses and providing a sinking fund, shows a clear net balance of nearly threequarters of a million.

The money borrowed for the Advances to Settlers Act also shows a good net profit.

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New Zealand and its Politics.

55

The rate of interest before the passing of this Act (1894) was so high that farmers could not get the necessary capital to develop the land, but the Advances to Settlers Act practically created a State Land Bank. Loans are limited to £3,000, and are repayable in seventy-three half-yearly payments of principal and interest combined.

It was largely due to the policy of these two Acts that the dairy industry has been created. So long as the bulk of the land near the ports was held in large runs, co-operative dairy factories were impossible ; but with the break-up of the big estates, and with State loans of capital, there sprang up all over the country little farms, each worked by a man and his family.

The best proof of the success of this policy is that the exports of butter have increased from 37,955 cwt. in 1899 to 320,225 cwt. in 1906. There is not much doubt that this trade would never have been created if it had not been for the drastic land laws.

The work of acquiring estates is much simplified by the land-tax. Compulsion is rarely resorted to, and the owners, stimulated

The Land.

56

by the graduated tax, are only too glad to part with their properties to the State. Considering the population is under a million, and that a large number have been attracted to the factories in the towns created by the tariff, it is wonderful that in 1907 there were 72,000 holdings. The fact is that any man with any capacity for farming and small capital can get land and make a living out of it.

Party differences are sharp in New Zealand politics, and there is little desire to give credit except where it is due. It is remarkable testimony, therefore, to the success of the land policy that it has become an accepted fact that the cutting-up of the large estates is one of the main causes of the country’s prosperity. New Zealanders have no desire to produce millionaires. What they want is a healthy, vigorous people, and in their land policy they have set about achieving that end in the right way.

5 1

CHAPTER VI

WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

women in London have been having monster meetings in Hyde Park and great demonstrations at the Albert Hall, marching in processions or getting themselves sent to prison in order to persuade doubting politicians to give them the franchise, their sisters in New Zealand have been quietly exercising it.

From the way some of the advocates and some of the opponents of Female Suffrage talk —for both sides are equally at fault in this respect—one would expect to find this Colony, governed through the votes of both sexes, a very strange place indeed ; home neglected, dances out of fashion, women in men’s clothes, or stumping the country making political speeches. But it has brought

Woman Suffrage.

58

about none of these changes ; politics still run in the old dry course, apparently almost undisturbed by the new influence.

Except in the drink problems it would be difficult to trace the effect of women’s votes on New Zealand legislation. The traveller can see nothing in either the streets or the homes of the people to remind him of woman’s suffrage ; the girls are pretty, well dressed, and as womanly as English girls, caring for the same things, showing the same sympathies. Perhaps there is a growing tendency for women to go into factories and offices; but the same movement is going on everywhere, and I can hardly think the Suffrage can be blamed for that.

Naturally, coming fresh from the scene of So much strife and bitterness, I have made some inquiries and tried to get some opinion from women as to how much they valued the vote. But I confess to have had some difficulty. In one town I searched in vain for a political woman. I called on the secretary of the Women’s Labour Bureau and the Secretary of the Tailoresses’ Union,

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New Zealand and its Politics.

probably the largest women’s trade union in the Colony. Neither, however, was prepared to express any opinion as to the effect of the vote. Was there any woman, I asked, who was regarded as a political leader, who does much public speaking ?—but they could point to no one.

Puzzled and in despair of information, I inquired if the working women valued the vote. What would happen, I suggested, if some public man proposed that women should be disfranchised ? "He would be hounded out of the town,” was the prompt reply I received.

The fact is, the women do care for the vote, they exercise it, attend meetings, and try and understand the questions at issue, but they take little active part in politics, so far as I can gather, even less than in England. There are no Primrose Leagues or Liberal Social Councils, much less “ Women’s Social and Political Unions ” like that led by Mrs. Pankhurst ; they join the ranks of the ordinary political armies, and fight under the same banners as their brothers.

Woman Suffrage.

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Some say that the women are more likely than the men to judge a candidate by his character than by his promises ; personality counts more with them.

There has been a tendency in the rough-and-tumble of Colonial politics to disregard a man’s moral fitness, and consider more his ability ; if the influence of women’s vote is to raise the standard required for a member of Parliament it can only be for good.

In one direction the influence of women’s vote is undoubted, that is towards Temperance legislation. Women may vote with their family or their class on other subjects, but in “ licensing ” they show independence.

Women are mainly responsible for the Prohibition policy, and it is their votes that have closed the public-house in the districts where the requisite majority has been obtained. It is the one question where they seem to be a conscious force.

In New Zealand there is Adult Suffrage ; every man or woman over twenty-one is entitled to a vote. Thus women, married or single, living with their parents or in lodgings, working in factories or offices, or

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New Zealand and its Politics.

acting as domestic servants, provided they are of age, are eligible to vote. To this has sometimes been traced much of the democratic legislation.

But if the adult suffrage had been confined to the male population, the percentage of the working class vote would have been the same, and, apart from increasing its moral force by the larger voting number, I do not think it can be fairly argued that it has made any difference to the representation of parties.

As far as I can gather from conversation, the women do not appear to have any more leaning to either Liberalism or Conservatism than the men ; the party divisions seem about thesame. Nor have political differences broken up the home; families are inclined to vote together, but it is quite common for a wife to hold opposite political views to her husband with no more disastrous results than if she had different views on music or art.

The fact is, after fifteen years the women’s vote has become an accepted fact which excites little comment and seems hardly

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to enter as a factor in the life of the people.

What difference does it make to the character of the woman herself ? Certainly she is more independent and self-reliant than her English sister, but I am inclined to think that this can be traced more to the greater freedom of the Colonial life, and, I hear, was noticeable years before female suffrage. “ Mixed ” schools, too, can claim some credit for breaking down some of the old-fashioned barriers between the sexes ; in very few elementary schools are the boys and girls taught separately.

I have often heard it argued in England that if women had the vote they would be led to the polling-both by the priest and the parson. But in spite of tremendous efforts made by many of the churches to get religion into the syllabus of the schools, education still is purely secular.

One thing it is well to remember : New Zealand received the franchise without any great struggle ; it never became a great party question ; in fact, one of their principal champions, Sir John Hall, was a Conservative,

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New Zealand and its Politics.

while the Minister who was actually responsible for the Act of enfranchisement was a Liberal. They certainly did not get it because they had given any great proof that they wanted it ; it was offered them by the men as an act of justice. When the women first received it they did not hesitate to use it. The percentage on roll voting the first year was actually larger than amongst the men ; curiously, in subsequent elections it fell, while the percentage amongst the men, perhaps for very shame, rose. Last year, however, it had come to very near an equilibrium, eighty-four per cent, of the men on the roll voting against eightytwo per cent, of the women.

Difficulty on election days is prevented by the simple expedient of closing publichouses, and it would not be unreasonable to credit the women’s vote with that. Elections have become a purely business affair, and, compared with the picturesque contests in England, the one I saw some years ago was very tame. Expenditure is limited to vanishing point, and there is none of the noise and smoke of battle.

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The people walk to the poll as quietly as if they were going to church. And women have shown little desire to enter Parliament; in fact, there is no movement in that direction any more than there is to go to the Army. Let nervous politicians set their minds at rest. Women’s votes may have achieved some things, certainly Temperance reforms ; but they have worked no social upheaval, neither destroyed chivalry, nor settled the sex problem.

To my mind the suffrage has made women less politically irresponsible, given them a greater sense of citizenship, and put them socially on a more even plane with men.

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CHAPTER VII.

STATE TRADING.

I N New Zealand the activities of the State are many ; there is no shirking of responsibility, and Parliament is always ready to put on the Government any work that it considers will be to the advantage of the community. The colonial politician is bound by no dogma ; he cares not whether proposed legislation is a breach of the principles of individualism, or a step in the direction of Socialism ; he does not stop to inquire, and if he thinks he sees immediate good in a proposal, he sets to work to embody it in a law.

Change has no terror for the New Zealander ; he is used to new things, he is in a new country, and if the experiment is a failure, it is not difficult to drop it. But

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66

everything possible is done to foster trade and encourage the business man. It is true the manufacturer is hedged round by restrictions of hours and conditions for the employment of labour ; but by subsidies to shipping companies, low postal rates, and cheap railway freights, the Government tries to help commerce.

I mention this because I think it would be a mistake to assume that the Government runs certain trading undertakings with any desire to injure private enterprise. Such a proposition would be stoutly denied. Of course there are Socialists who welcome every State enterprise as a step in the direction of Communism, but the average member of Parliament is essentially an opportunist—a practical man with very few theories.

The majority of the present Government are business men. The Premier has a large produce and shipping concern, while the Minister of Education has a mercer’s shop in Auckland.

The post office, the telegraphs and telephones are, as in most countries, run by the State, but these have come to be regarded as

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New Zealand and its Politics.

spheres of Government activity beyond the realm of criticism. But there is greater divergence of opinion in the policy of nationally owned railways, though it is hard to see why State conveyance of letters and parcels should be considered right, while carriage of goods and persons in Government railways should be regarded as wrong ; both services are practical monopolies.

With the exception of one small line to be absorbed within a twelvemonth, the railways in New Zealand are owned and run by the State. Rates are brought down as low as the interest, charges, and working expenses will permit. The Minister of Railways does not aim, like the English Post Office, at making a profit to help other Departments, but rather at using the lines to develop and open up the resources of the country. A good instance of this is that the Government conveys a certain quantity of lime free for farmers in order to encourage production, and get return freights.

The capital cost of opened lines is £24,300,000, or a capital cost per mile of £9,861. The net profit of working is

State Trading.

68

£812,179. When the New Zealand debt is spoken of it is well to remember the large sum invested in this excellent security, and it has not been spent in promoting bills or law charges, but in actually building the railway and providing rolling-stock.

But railways are quite a common State enterprise in Europe. Of more interest, therefore, are the Government Life and Fire Insurance Departments. The former has been established some considerable time, while the latter is quite a recent creation. There are over 46,000 policies now in force in the Government Life Insurance Department, and the revenue is considerably over half a million sterling, and the accumulated funds are over four millions sterling. If it is remembered that the population of the colony is under a million, and that several private mutual companies are doing a large business, it must be admitted to be a successful trading concern.

The Fire Department is still in its infancy ; it was established with the avowed object of bringing down the high rates, and in that purpose it has succeeded. The private

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New Zealand and its Politics.

companies had a working arrangement, and met the State enterprise with the most bitter opposition, refusing to re-insure or take risks partly underwritten with the Government. A compromise, however, has been arranged, but it is admitted by the head of the office in his annual reports that the rates are now' too low and are not on a paying basis. Some arrangement will have to be made that will at the same time protect the public and put the business on a sound basis. The Government is handicapped by not being able to recoup itself for the low rates by business outside the Dominion. Insurance, however, is not such a departure from the general sphere of State enterprise as the supply of coal.

The New Zealand Government not only owns and runs the mines, but retails the coal direct to the public. The State Railways are the largest buyers, but the general public is catered for, and in the principal centres are depots where the private consumer can buy small quantities. One of the main objects of the Department is to keep the price of coal to a rational level, and though it is run on

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70

business lines and a net profit is aimed at, it goes into competition with the private dealers and owners. It must be remembered that the State was in possession of vast unworked coalfields, and, with prices high and the railways being State-owned and large consumers of coal, it was not unnatural to set to work to satisfy the demand. The output for the year ending March, 1908, was 237,000 tons. It does not seem to have yet had any adverse effect on private enterprise, for the total production of the colony has increased from 1,093,990 tons in 1900 to 1,831,009 tons in 1907.

Railways, fire and life insurance, and coal are the principal trading enterprises, but there are others, though not directly answering to this description, yet which amount to commercial undertakings. The Advances to Settlers Office, described in a previous chapter, is really a land bank, competes with the finance companies, and has brought down the rate of interest.

" The Co-operative Works ” are competitors with the contractors, and an average of 7,000 men are kept employed by the

5

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New Zealand and its Politics.

Government. The system is used in the construction of both railways and roads. A piece of work is measured up by the engineer and let at a price to gangs of seven men, who divide up the money amongst themselves. The men are graded according to their skill and capacity and allotted to the gang they are fitted for. No subject has created greater controversy. On the one hand it has been argued that the system is wasteful and extravagant, and inefficient, while its supporters claim the reverse. It is difficult to compare costs, because the construction of railways varies according to the nature of the soil and the character of the country.

I have not been able to obtain any satisfactory comparative figures, so its financial success must remain problematical. The system is largely availed of for dealing with the unemployed. A man’s desire for work is very quickly tested by drafting him to a co-operative public work, and if he stands the test of the rough out-door life, his genuineness is soon beyond doubt. A shirker is quickly brought to light by his

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72

companions who are sharing the work with him.

The Government has its own saw-mill and supplies much of the timber required in public works.

An interesting industry is the State Printing Office. All the Government work is done there, both for the administrative and trading departments ; postage stamps, railway time-tables, demand notes, equally with the innumerable reports, journals, and year-books. But I was unable to obtain any figures as to the financial results of this Department.

Whither all these State enterprises will lead it is hard to say. One thing is quite clear. The democracy in New Zealand knows its power, and will try to use it in its own interest. But there is no consciousness of aiming for any particular goal. The people are prosperous, for the land is new, rich, and productive, and the population is small. When hard times come, we shall be better able to ascertain the trend of things.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE TARIFF.

r J' , HE economic problems of New Zealand revolve round the tariff. Colonials are nothing if not plain-speaking ; they are Protectionists, naked and unashamed ; they make no attempt to disguise it. There is little doubt there would have been few factories if a tariff had not been framed to bolster them up. But the question is whether New Zealand would not have been wealthier, the reward for the energies of the people greater, if trade had been left to flow in its natural course. The secret of the situation is that many colonists have come from the towns ; their original intention has been to settle on the land, but the habits of city life have proved too strong, and they have turned to the Government to provide them with the trades they were used to.

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The Tariff.

74

The bulk of immigrants hail from Great Britain, and the industries artificially created are therefore the great staple British trades —woollens, clothing, boots, and machinery. The affection of the colonists for the Motherland is real and deep, but the tariff has been unconsciously framed against her; they want to practise the trades they worked in at home and not those which the French or the Germans are expert at. It is true there are duties on many articles of foreign make, but they merely add to the revenue, raise prices, and injure the consumer.

There are no silk looms, embroidery, lace, or ribbon factories in New Zealand, and there is little desire for them.

Preference was initiated with a genuine desire to benefit the United Kingdom ; it was prompted by deep-rooted love and loyalty, but their first duty is to their own people. I never met a man in New Zealand, however Imperial his sentiment, who advocated a concession that entailed a loss, however small, to what he considered the material interest of the Colony. Even the preference, such as it is, was not conceded

New Zealand and its Politics.

75

out of pure philanthropy ; it was given with the ulterior motive of persuading the British people to give, in return, something that would mean better prices for Colonial produce.

Being Protectionists, many New Zealanders do not understand the loyalty of the Old Country to Free Trade, but I never heard a word of complaint at the British Government’s refusal to alter their fiscal system, though more than one labour leader remarked to me that if he was in the Old Country he would be, with the different conditions, a Free Trader.

The preference, too, has taken the form not of lowering the duty on British, but of increasing it on foreign goods. A preference might have been of some substantial advantage to the English boot industry if the tariff had been lowered, but the protective wall is so high that in many lines it is impossible to compete with the colonial maker, and this has been emphasised by the readjustment of the duties last year.

There has been a revival of the importation of English better-class boots, but this has

The Tariff.

76

synchronised with the introduction into England of American methods, machinery, and lasts, and apart from any preference, the home manufacturer can, value for value, beat the Yankee with his high money wages and his dear raw material. The extra duty, too, has been largely imposed on articles which foreign countries have special facilities or abilities to produce. Pianos are by far the largest imports from Germany, while “ fancy goods and toys ” come second, and this in spite of both these lines being subject to the additional rate.

The total distribution is instructive ; in 1906, £8,923,000 came from the United Kingdom, £3,880,000 from British Colonies and Possessions, while from all foreign States together came only £2.320,000, of which America was responsible for by far the largest share—£l,4os,ooo ; of these American imports, the largest items were tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes, which together came to £166,000; next to this followed kerosene £139,000.

The Customs are most particular to enforce a signed statement on the back of invoices of

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New Zealand and its Politics.

goods subject to preference, stating country of origin, and they watch with the greatest care for errors in description.

But even allowing for mistakes in classification, the figures are remarkable. The fact is, Great Britain with its Free Trade system, able to draw from the world for all it requires in the- process of production, whether in raw material or partly manufactured goods, is able to jump the New Zealand tariff wall easier than any of her opponents. And remember, the Dominion is trying to make the very goods that the British are most expert at, which makes its success the more marvellous.

To my mind the pity of this Tariff Reform agitation in England is that it confirms the Colonies in some of their economic fallacies. The wealth of New Zealand is in its agriculture ; cripple it, and the whole industrial fabric will come down like a pack of cards.

The cost of living has been steadily rising during the last ten years. Complaint has been general, but the people have been able to stand it because prices for their staple exports—wool, meat, butter, cheese, flax—

The Tariff.

78

have ruled high. Already with the slight backward tendency in prices there are signs of danger ahead.

In all the chief towns are a number of unemployed. When I was in Christchurch there were meetings which had quite the flavour of Trafalgar-square demonstrations. Fortunately, the Government’s system of co-operative public works, such as railway construction, which can be quickly expanded to absorb surplus labour, prevents the problem becoming serious for the moment. But that there should be unemployed in a country with such great natural resources, so easily accessible to the people, is a striking comment on the unwisdom of artificially created industries and tariff-raised prices.

The tariff has prevented the worker getting the benefit of the awards of the Arbitration Court : the manufacturer has been able to shift the cost of the increased money wages on to the consumer by merely raising prices. In spite of many awards in their favour the workers complain that their material position has little improved. Bread is dear, largely because there is a tariff on flour,

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which enables the millers to form a ring and keep up prices, while the 4-lb. loaf costs 7d.

Meanwhile the farmer has to bear the brunt, to pay high prices for his machinery and clothing and building material, while he has to sell in a market ruled by no tariff and subject to the competition of the world. What wonder is it that just as his brotherfarmer in England is a Protectionist, so in New Zealand he is a Free Trader ? With markets good during the last few years, and favoured by a fine land and railway system and a virgin soil, the agriculturist has prospered ; when prices of his produce seriously fall, then may come the debdde. And with them will come down the protected industries. The manufacturers do no export trade ; they cannot compete ; they are parasites, feeding on the prosperity of agriculture, and with bad times they may suck the life-blood from it, and, with their source of living destroyed, kill themselves.

There are, however, certain industries for which New Zealand is pre-eminently suited, and if it were not for the duties on

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80

so many necessaries, and consequent raising of the money, as opposed to the real wages of labour, these could be put on a sound commercial basis ; chief amongst these are the woollen mills. In the country are produced cheap wool and coal ; there is plenty of suitable water, and the same element supplies cheap electrical energy.

Some of the finest pure wool blankets and rugs made in the world are turned out from the local mills, and it is only price that prevents them doing an export trade. Besides, there are many industries intimately connected with agriculture, that could do a world trade if the tariff had not put them at a disadvantage ; tinning of meat and the making of jam are good examples of this.

Already the meat-freezing works employ over 3,000 men, and there are many other kindred industries that would grow up were the consumer able to buy his supplies in the cheapest market. My point is that absence of a protective tariff would not imply the complete disappearance of town industries. Rather it would mean a greater return for the efforts of labour. New Zealand would

New Zealand and its Politics.

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produce what she is most fitted for, and buy with it from the markets of the world.

Under her present system prices are artificially raised, cost of living increased, i.e., the reward of labour reduced ; but that is not the only evil. New Zealand has to export produce to pay the interest on her debt and to buy the many things she cannot produce. But the place where she sells is ruled by no tariff; it is the world market, and she has to compete with countries where both the cost of living and of production are low ; and when prices fall, in spite of her great natural advantage, she may not be able to export at a profit. But I feel lam appealing to deaf ears. Colonials are irretrievably wedded for some time to come to these economic fallacies, and it is only the rude lesson of adversity that will teach them.

There was a gleam of light in the revision of the duties of last year. The number of articles taxed has been reduced, though that is largely equalised by an increase in the protection to some of the established trades.

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New Zealand is so naturally wealthy, her virgin soil so rich, that she can at present stand a bad fiscal system. Let us /hope that long before her resources are exhausted, and her land densely populated, her people will have learnt economic wisdom.

HEADLEY BROTHERS, PRINTERS, LONDON ; AND ASHFORD, KENT.

Social Service Handbooks.

This Series is being issued under the general editorship of Percy Alden, M.P., the aim being to present in a concise form the salient features of many of the problems confronting social workers in every field of service.

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Bishopsgate Without, London, E.C.

THE CHORUS OF THE PRESS

Concerning The Social Service Series.

HOUSING.

By Percy Alden, M.P., and E. E. Hayward, M.A.

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By George Newman, M.D.

“ Dr. Newman’s three chaptc: s on infancy and childhood are terrible but inspiring reading.” —The Tribune.

“ Every school teacher, every sanitarv official, and even.’ person interested in these important subjects should read this informing book, and then seek to disseminate the infoimation thus gained.” —Western Morning Navs.

•‘A wonderful shillingsworth of information, all bearing straight on a great national problem.” —Sheffield Independent.

“The best existing book on the subject—and certainly by far the cheapest.” —Yorkshire Gazette.

A very useful addition to the series of Social Service Handbooks.” — T. Ps. Weekly.