The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1916. WORK AND SAVE

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 53, 2 March 1916, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1916. WORK AND SAVE

For the cause that lacks assistance, Forttezv&ong; that needs rmistance, - For the future »n ihe distance. And the good that urn ca».-i».-.

Early in. the"Avar a French soldier in ! the. trenches, .was:- mads "to. "say' that "it i would -be-all light,if only-"the-y-i'-held : ( out... When:, asked Whom he meant by '• 'Jthey'; he-said the civilians;' "More "ai(d ] more has the the remark been ' demonstrated. There' have been many J for'national-economy in Britain ', during'the last "twelve months, but riOne '', 60/ impressive as that reported' in our cable news to-day. A meeting at the • Guildhall to start a national saving , campaign was. addressed, % the, Chanocl- < lor of the. Exchequer and Lord Hitch-■> ener, who said plainly that if the , civilians of the nation did not save and , work it would,,not win.the war.: Lord _ —itchener.asjyed-ther- nation to, realise -, V^t . tte.-war,was largely; one: .of financial r) and. economic - exhanstion, emphasised \ the vital fact-that the army in' the field « was; .dependerrti. on,; ■&© civilians.__._h__u>> :', and said-that if those left behind, were , SSJfig.to work, only as hard as: before , and to -.consume as- much food, clothing- i and-henries:-as ) task befdro-.-fchcm.--could- not; be-'a'c- :- complished.-: --:-■• -• --<•■ v •.■:.'.'■ The problem before Britain is this: She haa iuken-jnihlions. Aof men' away.' from .industries..-s.ome.-of-. -.which arc necessary, £hp- has increased hor army '1 ten-fold,- and- wiHi-increase it .still.- morel- ' Ihatiarnry. -has .to. be ccqnippe.d- ;and "fed ': and-supplied fwith-vmunitions oil &. scale i beyond- in the-early-part 1 of-.th©.-- wax; Thc-..fleet:has.to be 1-o'p't ! up at full war necessitating i the: emploj-ment-ofa gr&it deal-of labour < in repairs, and shipbuilding has to be' 1 pushed on so "_F to'maintain or increas. I the- mar-gin of supremacy. A large por- "i tion of the mercantile -marine is set - aside . for' Admiralty pufposes; ' While 5 -* tho-enormous cost of the-war has' to be 1 provided "for; "there is a.-, large "adverse -' balance between exports and imports.. } This situation can only be met by un- ' usual;working, saving, and .renunciation. People. harder than thay I did, in order' to -mate up for the labour, • called to tho colours and to supply the I huge-demands-of the forces. They must • save more than._hey have done, and 1 consume l.es6,„SQ..£ha.t -the,.vv:ar hill may ■' be met) tho adverse, balance of tradcire- ' duccd, shipping, space deyoted to im- ' portant "purposes,"andTabou;- now cm- ' ployed in luxuries set free for war work. ' Unfortunately, appeals have hitherto -.' had little- effect, for several -reasons. ' Siillior-i- of .workers", ace -rcceufihg .higher .' wages, than ever before, and.shape their f expenditure oh - the - principle * that ? ''there's plenty more where .that comes . from." The, mass.of. the. are- ' slow to understand the. seriousness of the financial situation, and think that ' because.'.-he.<»\fe.pWtyV'of .nioney about .. everything is r . all,-right... .Thrift, is -not a characteristic of- the peoph., in ' the way that it is with.' the French. ] The workers,, of-coursc, are not the only offenders. Advertisements in London .' papers show that there must still te a- .' considerable -demand for luxurios • amongst the wealthy. Parliament and- ; the Government- are not free froni. .. blame,'and "pcrt—ps one'reason that the ' worker has not been impressed by ap-' ' jl'eals'.foT ecqnprriy''is tiHiW secs'Minis-' ttjrs 'and _c_lsers-'6till drawing, their salaries, and such .appoint_te_its,'madc as - , that.of a.Judge in-the Court of Chancery;' though'- the'- work'df the Court has been steadily declining. " Thd Government has been -trying- to set its house in order, but it may have to do more before' tho-people believe-, that-.-it ipracjtioes ~ what it preaches? '• before -yle -nation , was well described in a- manifesto issued j by English banks in December. Tho • British people, it said, were. .alred'upon tp.,prbvi(le out of all their.financialire- j sources, a- sum-of -hea-riy"'' £I3i»,OQM OO in" the : 'current fiscal- year, and •"'over ' £1,800,000,000 in the next -fiscal' year...; "in tlip.jcurrent-calendar-year,....tipio) - tho British people will •'• spend about £1,300,000;000 upon war and govern- i ment, and next year (iolu)' will need to ' spend about £1,800,000,000 in place, of ; a sum bf'about £_O0",000,O00 : a' year , before "the war." : To raise this vast sum : is-- a stupendous -task, .and one. tliat...\vill . •-,..-,-, ~*n . v. • --f • .--.-.';. ->.-.- J •■■■'; t, * '■' •- try the mettle of the nation as it-has i not been tried for "a hundred years."' Xot "' only "has the nation to.find this.great"] suni of £.1,-00,060,06.0"iicxt year, but '.ii. 'i has...to-find it;w-ith^ve.ral»i_ilKons-pf.-vit_>■ - : mo_tacUvb-s<_s .ri',.th"e?'ftgnting lind:-, iCd'-': one : j before the: nation without becoming, s keenly conscious that it,, demands' the, . J strenuous man and;' woman, youth aid'mair-en it "the c6ur£ j tryj that the hatibii's energies rivust r-e i completely concentrated upon tho pro- I duction of really essential ''thjiigs| and ' tiki the prb'dftciipii of M noi._teept__ ] must ie wholly"stopped. . Moreover, not j only must;-the .nation 'avoid--the con- t sumption of-WWoa-_sefftiar_:/but'must ' even restrict the consumption of 'essen.ti^^ : fi^tiz_%^je^ei)i7.f l [. A.mani- ' festo by bankers-would- not-make much _ impression on'the mames, but when'tbrg • ■> Kitchener, : the.mrist trasterl man in ii_. $ c sflsTO r »' J f a 7*'JH: sonip-tffect should 'be, * .produced,.- , 1

• >. Any, New ___to__.rernar-ks.-on ,the question _£: ecoxiqißy.at;Hom. should'inchiie admission that' we-are,; not ihg ne&rlyy soI muchrTo'~'.he''cos."of■the war-.in proportion as -are' the.Jpeople, of. Britadni - Our taxatioi'of wa. proflts is inadequate, .there is no great economy, either in the public services or among, the people,' and-the' Government still looks to England for money. In the face of this most solemn appeal by Lord -utehener,'-trar -own Government su.__ly cannot go to Britain for more nvmey. Australia has raised nearly by loans for- war purposes, and. Canadahas placed loan money to the credit of the Imperial Government, to ease its burdens. When are we going to raise internal loans, proportionate ...to. our wealth and.the demands.'of the war on the Empire. The Chancellor of the Exchequer sayß.that." the Empire's capital and laboor "—not merely Britain's— must., be, .diverted: to supplies for the Army .and .the. _savy. While the- British Government.urges on people the duty of saying, and. .concentrating on necessary work, our own Government goes steadily on with- the Otira tunnel, a work that will not be finished, and so will not be reproductive, before the end of the war. Tho only excuse for going on with the work' was the large previous expenditure on the line, but that does not hold now. When' money is urgently wanted for War purposes, and ail the resources of- the Empire should be organised to buttress; _e-Imperial fabric, it is scandal-: that money should continue to b 0 spent on such an enterprise as this, When we anrjuld be-raismg internal loans for warpurposes, we actually spend money so obtained: on this, tunnel which! will not be finished for two years or more, and then will'not pay its way.