The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1924. A VITAL FACTOR.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 94, 21 April 1924, Page 4

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

MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1924. A VITAL FACTOR.

i 9 For the cause that lacks assistance, For the tcrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that xo* can do.

A remark made by the President of the Arbitration Court the other day does not seem to have attracted the attention that is its due. Speaking of increased production, Mr. Justice Frazcr said: "That is the central factor of the problem, and that is just what we are not getting to-day. Production is not increasing; in fact, in many cases it is going back. Our trouble is to increase production so that there will be more things divisible among the community." This is a tantalising statement, for everybody who takes a real interest in the subject will want to know what are the industries to which the Judge refers. A day or two ago General Bramwell Booth made a similar comment on Australian industry. He had noticed on this visit, as compared with the previous one, "a distinct effort to reduce the output in Australia." The Commonwealth Year Book contains a table which enables a statement like this to be tested by results. The estimated relative productive activity per head of population in Australia—fluctuations due to variations in prices having been eliminated—was 877 in the last year in the table, 1921-22, which figures were higher than those for eeveral years back. It would therefore be interesting- to know wh_at solid grounds General Booth has for his I warning. Sir. Justice Frazer speaks with more authority on such a question than does the head of the Salvation Army. Unfortunately, so far*as we know, no calculation similar to the above has been made for New Zealand. New Zealanders are accustomed to reckon their prosperity in values, ignoring the consideration that values fluctuate greatly, and that an increase in exports may go with a decline in actual production. The other day Mr. llassey took pride in the fact that the exports for the financial year totalled* £51,614,000, as against £37,000,000 the previous year. And the Statistician's latest report on our industries shows that the value of factory products wa3 £73,604,000 in 1922-23, as compared with £66,847,000 the previous year. These figures, however, are for values only, and do not deal with quantities." Yet we must have statistics of quantity before we can say whether production is in a really healthy state or not. The authorities co-ordinate tke two factors to the extent of publishing in the Year Book the value of exports at the pre-war value. For the twelve months that ended on the eve of the war; the value of the principal New Zealand exports was £22,489,000. For the same period in 1922-23 the recorded value was £42,885,000, and the value at 1914 prices was £31,052,000. If we take the population at the end of each of these years, we find that the export value per head was £20 10/9 in 1913-14. and the value per head in 1922-23, at the 1914 level of export values, was £24 1/. Here is a substantial increase in our main lines of production. There remain, however, the secondary industries, and the local consumption of primary products. If the Government Statistician, who must be a* very busy man, cannot find time to go into these questions of quantity production, perhaps some outside statistician or economist will take them up. They are vitally important. Periodically national stock should be taken in such a way as to show what is the amount of work done by the community. Wages come out of product, that is, out of the union of capital and labour, and it is impossible to keep wages up, and consequently maintain a high standard of living, if individual effort declines. When we say this we are not singling out the wageCapital has its own ways of "going slow," and a thorough investiga-tion-of quantity production might throw some light on such restrictions.