The Press. Saturday, December 16, 1916. Sacrifice All Round.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15775, 16 December 1916, Page 8

The Press. Saturday, December 16, 1916. Sacrifice All Round.

In tlie letter ■which ive print in another column, Mr L. M. Tsitt has struck a note which wo fancy will bo- echoed in tho heart.-, and consciences of many of our readers. The conference of whetlg rowers with the Minister was held in private, but an outline of the proceedings has been published, and we have nn doubt -Mr Isitt has given an accurate description of the tone of the meeting. It certainly does jar very disagreeab'y on the feelings of every right-thinking person -t this juncture, when wo find any section of the community already doing well, holding out for a high price for their produce, and at the .same time urging that, as their industry is an essential one—which it undoubtedly is—they should be exempted, as far as possible, from service in the trendies. The view taken by Mr Isitt. is iv perfectly fair one: those who remain in New Zealand should be the last'to want to make any profit out of

tho war. To do the farmers justice, it cannot be .said that as a class they have not shown themselves to the full as patriotic as any members of tho community. Farmers, farmers' sons, and farm labourers were among the first to volunteer for active service, and tlnir names are thickly strewn in the beadroll of the honoured dead. It cannot bo said that they showed themselves otherwise than patriotic in the manner in which they met the Government in the commandeoring of the -whole of the frozen meat supply of the 3>ominion. If thero more difficulty in eoihing to a settlement over wool, it must be admitted that the position was a great deal more complicated, and there were varying interests to bo considered. Even in the matter under notice we do not believe that -wheat-farmers, a class, are so wanting in the spirit of sacrifice at this juncture as the proceedings s»t the conference might lead an outsider to believe. They suffer under tho same disadvantages as a number of the trades unions to which we have frequently had occasion to refer. Those of their number who appear most frequently in public and spetk as their representatives, do not represent them in reality, but give the public a more unfavourable impression of the rank and file than the rank and file deserve.

As to the wheat question, we agree with the London "Spectator" that the question of supply is more important th&n that of price. It i 6 most important, during the war, at any rate, that we should grow enough for our own requirements. both to avoid making demands on shipping space which can ill be spared, and also to enable the Australian surplus to be available for Great Britain and the Allies. Human nature being what it is, we are afraid that to ensure an adequate local supply, it will be necessary for the Government, in consultation with the Board of Trade, to fix such a price that there will be no strong inducement to the agriculturist to give up wheat-growing for sheepfarming. The weakness of ajl attempts to keep down prices is that no one can compel any man to continue in what he believes to be an unprofitable occupation when lie has an alternative open to him:

But the question of sacrifice affects a far wider circle than the wheatfarmers. While our sons are fighting for the Empire, none of us who remain —some on account of physical disability, and some because of necessary work to be done here —ought to derive any extra profit from the war. It is because wo hold this view very strongly that we think there should be a further adjustment and increase of • taxation.

,Any surplus profits made now should help to pay for tho war, instead of being enjoyed by the individual. It is not fair that so much of the cost of the war should be added to the debt — a debt which will press heavily on the soldiers who come back from the war, and have to make a fresh start to earn their living in New Zealand. There is another direction in which these surplus might also be diverted with justice and advantage. So far as the single men at the war are concerned, it cannot be said that the wage-earners are called upon to make any great monetary sacrifice. But a different state of things will arise when tho Second IHvision is called up. In the case of a married man with a family, who has been struggling to got a house of hU own, it will not be a fair thing that he should run tho risk of losing that home because he is unable to keep up the interest on his mortgage, while perhaps his next-door neighbour will be better off than he was before the war, aiid is not called upon for any sacrifice at all. The moratorium will not be a solution of the problem, because in tho case we have supposed, the accumulated \ntcrest will be the great difficulty. If married men are to be called up for compulsory service, the Government mutt sra to it that they

are afforded at least some measure of relief in regard to the financial obligations they hare incurred. We are strongly of opinion that the Government- should not longer delay giving some positive assurance on this point. Of course, it will add to the expense of the war, but the man who is not able to give his personal service, and who grudges putting his hand into his pocket in a crisis like the present, is a pitiful creature unworthy of consideration.