The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1925. PROFITS AND SUBSIDIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 185, 7 August 1925, Page 6

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

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1925. PROFITS AND SUBSIDIES.

For the cause that tacta assistant*, For the u?rong that needs resistance. For the future in the distance, And the yood thai we can da.

The details of the British Government's temporary settlement of the coal trouble chow that It is proposed to set aside ten millions as a subsidy for a period of ten months, but that this may not be the final liability. The Government gives no guarantee that pits now closed will be opened, but it is reported that one result of the Government's decision to grant a subsidy may bo the reopening of eoinO pits that have been closed for a year. The official statement says that "better trade will automatically diminish the amount of the subvention, whereas a worse etato of trade will mean that the subvention, though at a higher rate, will be protected from an indefinite increase by being restricted to a smaller number of pits." There seems, however, to be no proepect of better* trade in coal in the immediate future. As was pointed out yesterday, there is a general condition of oversupply. The weakest point in the policy appears to be the intention to pay the subsidy tp the profitable collieries aa well as to those that are lesing money. This touches the heart of the problem. Some companies are in an excellent position, and come are in a bad one. The miner says this is no concern of his; he should be looked after not by a company, but by the industry. The subsidy will benefit companies that could not-otherwise carry on, but it will also put the State's money into the pocket of those which already are able to pay good dividends. The debate that was set down for yesterday, and subsequent discussions, will reflect change of opinion on this and other social and economic questions. Some months ago Mr. Ramsay MacDonald said, in a political speech, that in the Conservative party there Were many young men whose ideas were similar to those of the Labour party, and asked for their co-operation. This is true to the extent that there - are young Tories who are highly dissatisfied with existing conditions and arc prepared to advocate a policy involving self-sacrifico by the wealthy. This is illustrated by the remarks, reported in our news yesterday, of Captain Cazalet, a wealthy Conservative "back-bencher." Captain Cazalet was speaking on unemployment generally, 'but his remarks have an application to the coal problem. He advocated a cut in salaries of Minieters and members of Parliament, limitation of dividends to 5 or G per cent on the present price of shares, and a more simple life. He thought that those who were earning more than double their pre-war wages should sacrifice 10 per cent, but miners and agricultural labourers were paid "far too little." Mr. Baldwin said long ago that his party should sympathise with the miners in their hard lot, and he lias expressed opin'ons about capital and profits which rnus.; appear flat blasphemy to oldfashioned Tories. It will be most interesting to watch the efforts of this school of Conservative reformers to liberalise the party and its supporters in the country. From the Conservative benches the country is likely to hear opinions about profits that it is accustomed to associate only with the Labour party. . The new coal inquiry, which promisee to be more exhaustive than previous ones, will bring such questions further to the front. Coal-miners object to being penalised to provide dividends for a company that added to its capital when it should have improved its plant, and shall we say that they are not justified? The evils of over-capitalisa-tion are one of the phases of the vast problem of Capital and Labour which must be faced courageously if peace is to be maintained.