The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1921. A PAINFUL PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 72, 28 March 1921, Page 4

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

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1921. A PAINFUL PROGRESS.

■ For the cause that lacks assistance, For the icrong that needs resistance, _Y>r the future in the distance, And the good that wo can do.

Day by day our cable messages throw light on Britain's panful progress towards readjustment of wages nnd prices. Unemployment grows steadily. the number of men out of work approaching one million and a-half. Whether that number will he enormously increased or not depends upon the settlement o.f the dispute between the coal miners and the owners. We are informed to-day that a conference of the Miners' Federation rejected the owners' proposal to return to the pre-war system of different wage rates for different districts, instead of the uniform national wage that prevailed under national control, and that a general stoppage of the mines will follow when the industry is decontrolled after 'March 3-1. This gives only four days in which to arrive at a settlement,' but it is very doubtful whether the strike threat will be carried out. Tlie men are divided on the strike issue, and i there are signs that they are in no mood for a strike. The reversal of fortune in the coal industry in the last few months has been sudden and dramatic. It is not long since employment was plentiful, wages were high, and the main com-; plaint of employers and newspapers wasthat supply was less than demand. Tlie miners felt that they were masters of J the situation, and brought the country to the verge of economic di-aster. Hy January the position was so different that the Cardiff correspondent of the "Times" reported that in the last few days most of the collieries had only i worked half-time, and in several in- : stances pits had been idle a full week. Whereas 115/ a ton had been demanded for Admiralty coal in November, it was ! easily obtainable in January for 00/, and , best small coal had fallen from 95/ to •30/. Obviously wages must fall with such a decline in prices, and the problem lis how to bring them down in a manner calculated to cause t the least friction. The miners begged .the Government to continue control, but! ! the Government is apparently determined to free all industry from control! as soon as possible. The issue is now i between the miners and the owners, and if the parties are foolish enough to go to a strike, the condition of the industry i will be infinitely worse, and the whole country will suffer. The railwaymen, on the other hand, are apparently accepting a reduction in wages ordered in accordance with the agreement under which they are working. This agreement provides that wages shall rise or fall one shilling a week for every rise or fall of five full points in the cost of living, but that wages shall not be decreased below a level that represents roughly an increase of Ml) per cent on average pre-war rates. This means that when the cost of living has fallen to a point at wincii the permanent rates are reached, every further decrease in such cost will be equivalent to an advance in wages. It is an interesting arrangement, which bids fair to keep the peace at a critical time. Apparently the men have agreed to accept a reduction of four shillings a week. Whether it will be possible to maintain such a permanent level if the depression becomes much more serious remains to be seen. The deficit in the railways under Government control has been very heavy —it was over forty millions in i;>l'.)-_0 — and. the recent raising of the tariff plus the present reduction in wages may not .be sufficient to balance accounts. If I charges are made too high they may kill business. We instance these two cases as examples of the difficulties besetting Britain at the present time. The downward movement of prices i.i irresistible, and must carry wages witn it for some distance. Foreign compe:ition is assisting in the process. Some weeks ago, for example, steel n.akers were quoting bars at £16 to £w 10/, while Belgian bars were being offered at as low as £11 to £12 a ton delivered. Xo ' one who cares for the welfare of the I worker wants to see wages return to the pre-war level unless that level has a purchasing power higher than in 1914, 1 but reduction must in many cases be the , only alternative to unemployment. Our cable news shows that the same forces . are operating in other countries. Of ; the seriousness of the depression there is no doubt. In some quarters the Xew Zealand Press is considered to have taken an unwarrantably gloomy view of ' the outlook. To those who think so we commend a recent declaration of opinion :by the "Times" Trade Supplement, in rebuke of the "optimists," that "those who are responsible for misleading the i public as to the true position of the i world to-day are the most dangerous , enemies of mankind." The morals to be drawn from conditions at Home and elsewhere are several, but the main one is that this is the worst possible time to j be playing with the fire of industrial trouble, and that communities will over- ' come the multitudinous difficulties of the hour in proportion as they cultivate j peace, economy and co-operation.