The Press Monday, June 13, 1921. Prohibitionist Economics.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17170, 13 June 1921, Page 6

The Press Monday, June 13, 1921. Prohibitionist Economics.

The acting-secretary of the New Zealand Alliance, in a letter we print 'to-day, makes a Belated'reply to our comments upon the Drink Bill leaflet issued by the Alliance. The first page of the leaflet is the title page, the title being "The Purchase of Poison.". The inside pages are an analysis of tEe amount spoilt on liquor, and the fourth page is a I* B * of what are called " arresting, facts." There are ten of these facts, introduced by the remark, "The total, estimated drink expenditure of £7,587,229 if paid direct to <'the Government,'instead of the liquor "Beller,w6uld—." It would pay off the coat of the railwayß in six years, it -would enable the Government to abolish'all railway charges, it would pay off the war debt in about 26 years, and so on. We showed that of the 7* millions the Government already receives a very large sum in Customs duties, and,in direct taxation paid by persons engaged in the sale- and distribution of wine, beer, and spirits. Mr Murray, ythe •acting-secretary of the Alliance, corrects our figures on one point. We accept his correction. Not two millions,.but more than one million of the 7J millions, is already in the hands of the Government in the form of Customs 'duties. Then there is the direct taxation, which, of course, can only be guessed at; it may be put at half a million, but it may be more or less than* that. Of the balance, all but the sum actually paid to the foreign supplier—about a million and a half, ajftjit is not paid in cash, but in goods, since the foreign suppliers are purchasers, direct or indirect, of our products—remains in the country, and is simply redistributed in exactly the same way as the rest of the nation's expenditure. What we criticised was the claim made by the Alliance that-if Prohibition were carried there would be available for the repayment of debt, or the abolition of railway charges, or the payment of pensions of £6 a week to 24,000 families representing 120,000 persons, the sum of 7i millions of new money every year which is now utterly lost and wasted. This claim -we regarded, and still regard, a,s a daring imposition- upon the public. Mr Murray now denies that such a claim was made, and he gives an explanation of the leaflet which reduces that document to the level of those calculations, of which some people are fond, concerning the number of pennies that would go into a pile as high as Mount Cook. The Alliance, he says, has "never pretended" that the money spent on drink would be paid direct to the Government for the purposes named. But has it not pretended—indeed, is not its leaflet a direct claim P—that the 7 J millions could be collected by the Government from those who are not Prohibitionists? If the money could not be so collected, what is the use of the calculations in the leaflet, over and above their utility in deceiving uncritical people? Mr Murray's answer is that the illustrations in the leaflet "serve simply to present to the "mind in a striking way how this " wasteful drink expenditure stands in'

" respect of certain productive or " benevolent expenditure.'' If this haa been made clear in the leaflet there would have been little to complain of, although it would have been permissible to wonder why such a parade should Ix; made of the statistics of this non-essential expenditure (using the term in its strictest meaning) when more imposing calculations could be based upon other non-essential expenditures. It is impossible to believe that the Alliance's object was merely to circulate a curiosity of statistics. The Alliance is not in business for that purpose: its purpose in thi3 case was to lead as many people as possible to believe that the carrying of Prohibition would solve all tho Government's financial difficulties. It will not, the actingsecretary says, withdraw its leaflet. We trust, however, that it will widely circulate its explanation that the carrying of Prohibition will not help by a penny piece towards the carrying-out of the enormous programme outlined in the leaflet. In the meantime, the Alliance would do well to consult some economist before letting itself go. Mr Murray suggests in his letter that the adding of 7J millions to the direct taxation paid to the Government would be a boon to the country. Anyone will tell him that, no matter where the money came from, it would not bo a good thing at all. This statement reveals a want of understanding of economies as striking as the suggestion in the leaflet itself that it would be splendid if we could maintain onetenth of the population, in idleness and comfort all the year round by means of pensions. Agreements and the Cost of Living. For a considerable time past attempts have been mado in some quarters to create the impression that "the cost of "living" is being kept at a high figure by the agreements relating to the prices of sugar, butter, and wheat and flour. This impression will be removed by the unanimous decision of the Wellington conference between employers and Labour representatives that even if these agreements were cancelled at the present time there would be no immediate reduction in prices. Tho conferenco added, however, that there was every reason to expect that the prices of these commodities would fall later on. This judgment will no doubt be far from palatable to those who have been striving to stoke up the fires of antiagrarian prejudice, maintaining that the farmers and the Government have conspired together, to rob the people. One of the principal exponents of antiagrarian doctrine has' for a considerable time been urging tho cancelling of the butter agreement, and doing ; t in language of an unhappily extreme kind, just as a few months ago it suggested that the "Government need not carry out, the undertaking it gave to the wheat-growers. It is one thing to wish, as many people do, and on good general grounds, that the period of control and agreements as to prices and production shall not be prolonged indefinitely, but it is another thing altogether to suggest that existing agreements 'shotild be terminated. On this point we have the singular spectacle of Mr J. McCombs rebuking those who have urged the Government to , break their arrangements with' the wheat-growers and, dairy-farmers— n poor return, it may be thought, for services rendered to the Labour M.P.'s in support of their charge that the Government was deliberately seeking to create unemployment. We can hardly say that Mr MoCombs is very impressive in this role, particularly as it seems that his principal concern is to prepare the way for a cjaim that the Arbitration Court will be breaking an agreement with "wage-workers" if it does not accept the Labour arguments concerning the cost-of-living bonuses. "We definitely stand," Mr McCombs says, "for the honourable fulfilment of " all three agreements with the wheat- " growers, dairy farmers, and wage- " workers." No doubt the occasion will soon arise for a full treatment of the implications of this remark, but in the meantime it is sufficient to say that Mr McCombs must not count upon the public's being unable to question the bracketing together of these "three " agreements." The Government has. made no "agreement" with the "wage- " workers,'' and the Arbitration Court does not, and cannot, make agreements with anybody. The Court merely issues awards, and retains the power to vary these awards, and the basis on which it makes them, to any extent that may seem good to it. While, as we have said, Mr McCombs's championship of the sanctity of contracts is hardly a simple and spontaneous gesture, it is nevertheless a matter for satisfaction that a prominent Labour leader should in any circumstances, and for any reason, rebuke the policy of infidelity that has unfortunately been widely adopted by organised Labour in this country in recent years.

In to-day's paper there is a remarkable record of the achievements of Australasia in the realm of sport. The "glorious uncertainty" notwithstanding, we may take the first day's play in the Test match as continued evidence of Australia's supremacy at cricket. A New' Zealander has won the sculling championship of the world. And Kirkwood, of Australia, played his way into the final of the English golf championship, being beaten only by Abe Mitchell. Kirkwood's performance is extraordinarily good. In the article which he contributed to "The Press" of Monday last, Abe Mitchell referred to Kirkwood, whose advent he evidently regarded as important. "Whether he wins or fails," Mitchell remarked. "Kirkwood's experience will no doubt be extremely valuable. It may be presumptuous, but I always think that the golfing visitor must learn a good deal if he is prepared to do so. At any rate, he sees the way in which we play the shots, and if he has the judgment he can pick out the best of them and add them to his own game." Con-

sidered with due regard to this cautious criticism, Kirkwood's performance is m wonderful one. When one remembers Anthony Wilding's successes on th<2 lawn tennis court, and the record of the All Blacks, one cannot but- be impressed by tho fruitfulness of Australasia in athletes of the first rank. From a brief account of the PonsWinnecke Comet just received, it appears thnt the anticipated collision with tho earth will not come off. On tho 7th inst. the comet passed at its neaiest to the earth, the distance between the two bodies being I2j million miles. T*w perihelion passage takes place today. On the 16th inst. tho comet will cross the earth's orbit at a point through which the earth will pass ou the 2oth inst. This, then, will be the date of the expected meteor shower, but it is very doubtful if any display will be visible in these latitudes. Tho comet at present is not visible to the naked eye, but it may increase in brightness after its perihelion passage. The comet will rise on the 16th inst. nearly due east at 16 minutes past midnight, and will cross tho meridian of Christchurch at 6.16 a.m., at au altitude of about 46deg. 32min. On the 24th inst. it will rise 20 minutes before midnight, somewhat to the south of east, and its meridian passage will take place at 6.35 a.m., at an altitude of 60deg. 36min.