LABOURS BREAD SCHEME.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 8

LABOURS BREAD SCHEME.

(To the Editor) Sir, —According to your cabled reports from Sydney, Air. Hall, Attorney-Gen-eral in the Now South Wales LabourSocialist Government, has outlined a scheme for State-owned bakeries. By borrowing from private capitalists to the extent of half a million pounds for compensation money, to be paid in the purchase of about forty- bakeries in the city of Sydney area, ho contends hfs Labour Government' could deliver bread to private houses at one penny per loaf cheaper. Mr. Hall, so the cable states, proposes to economise by purchasing flour in large quantities, eliminating the cost of running of..bakehouses, and spending no ISoiieyT^yJfllW,ti»ing7 «r carters' bonuses.' Business is to be done on a purely, cash basis. "Please do not ask for .credit" is, to.be placed in the window of the State bakery. The schemfe, when examined and analysed "from all economic viewpoints, is'one of the most farcical ever attempted to be palmed' off on gullible humans. Such transparent rubbish, however, will not deceive the intelligently observant of the electors. ' We know that in Sydney, as in Auckland, there are hundreds of master bakers in competition with one another. Every master baker has from one to twenty delivery carts or more, according to 'business done. Every cart has a horse and a'driver. Everyone has a separate bakehouse, separate business premises, his separate shop assistants, bookkeepers, and so on. Mr. Hall proposes to adopt the Trust's methods of scientific management in production and delivery, and by eliminating waste he, proposes to out down expenses in all departments. His proposal is to work on the lines of our post office system, under which only one postman to, say,_ a block, is required. Let us concede that hy so cutting down trade expenses, by so cutting out waste, bread can and will be cheapened by a penny per loaf, but do not let us lose sight of the fact that what is gained in one direction is lost in many other directions. Mr. Hall's scheme must result in wholesale ' unemployment, and what is the good of a cheaper loaf, if the wage-earning classes have their purchasing power considerably lessoned by unemployment. . Mr. Hall states that "by sending one cart to a street instead of twenty different bakers' carts, it is estimated that there would be a saving of £150,000 per annum in delivery charges alone." ' The no-credit system will mean hundreds of bookkeepers thrown out of work, one bakehouse instead of thirty means 60 many bakehouse hands less, one cart instead of twenty to one street means one driver employed where there were twenty before, so many carts thrown off the rounds means so many coachbuildere, painters, woodworkers, ironworkers, etc, less required. So many less shops means hundreds of 6hop assistants thrown out of work. Even the purchasing, of flour in large quantities scientifically delivered must, affect hundreds of flourmiU hands, as well as hundreds of outside drivers and others engaged in the transport service. Those thrown out of..work will have their purchasing power so reduced that less bread will be in demand, and consequently so many less bakers will be required. In fact, by putting their thinkers to work on a little hard thinking, your readers will readily see that such a scheme will affect even those in newspaper offices employed to set up advertisements, billheads, posters, etc., also newspaper canvassers, clerks, and others, harnessmakeiß, and, in fact, workers engaged in almost every branch of industry. i TTie Labour Government's bread scheme is on a par with the State brickworks scheme. The Labour Government, by manufacturing on a non-profit basis, were able to manufacture cheaper bricks, which were purchased by speculative builders and others who owned their own sections. By the law of supply and demand workers' rents instead of falling actually rose. Even if the workers of New South Wales were to get cheaper rents, cheaper bread, etc, their wages would fall accordingly, as experience shows. In conclusion, I would mention that quite recently ...the waitresses of Sydney had their wages reduced by about 25 per cent.—this under a Labour Government.—X am, etc.,