SOCIALISM IN OUR TIME.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20335, 7 September 1931, Page 11

SOCIALISM IN OUR TIME.

TO THE EDITOR OF TUB PRESS; Sir —T notice in to-day \s Pbess that Mr H, Colonna is. astonished, at' Mr Acland's attack on the Arbitration Court, and refers to'ignorance of unchangeable laws, etc. Tt seems to. me that the vital difference between Mr Colonna an<l Mr Acland is this. The latter represents an organisation which is up against fierce international competition, Hiaving to compete with similar commoi dities grown by half-breed gauchos in the Argentine and elsewhere, the total csst ofVoduction; being PJobaWy .considerably less than half of what a here. But I am prepared to fvguesa i that never in hiS. life has Mr Colonna ! been up against competition of # cnai ■ S Probably a ring or : retailers is all■ Uie-MW««t'o; J.°; to meet. Perhaps ho- may bo a porker ■ in a similar business, but .that does u '• alter my argument. _ , -,, a „ r . Instead of.answeruJg; Mr Acland s ar guments, he wants know whether a better' social state .prevails in pea* countries where there ls ., & Court. What/couijtry can fairly be compared with New ~.ta

land or Australiaf His own. country,, \ltaly, with a. population of over: forty milions,; and perhaps .much .the same area as" we have, iVancCi siniilar conditions, Belgium with five ; millions tucked away in a province tlie size of Canterbury, Holland and Denmark with an average farm of 25 acres? we cannot trust the reasoning of our own senses and must search the world over for comparisons probably the Irish ire e State is the best we can find.. There, despite fierce internal trouble, uncoh-. nected with wages, and much less area and resources, I think that the position, as. viewed from the angles of.unemployment, standard of _ living, and general solvency, is considerably... better, than here, and infinitely better than m Austraia. However, why go abroad at all? Even although ; Mr Colonna may not have been sufficiently long in the country to know what the, conditions were before the Arbitration Act was brought in quite a number of us, including Mr Acland, , have been. Mr .Colonna can accept my assurance that all his. terrors—sabotage, Rioting, criminality, e t c —were no greater then, in tact, probably not as much m evidence as they•• are now. r . , Mr Colonna goes on to observe tlia,. the ■ Arbitration Court protects the.employer as well as the employee against unfair competition. We will, /assume that he is a Dunedin retailer, ahd that an Act says that he J is . tO . W ■ hia employees; a pound a ot^r costs'in proportion, but. that that. Act is only a local Dunedin allows lxis business rival, m Port Chalmers

to sell with only fifty per cent, of Mr Colonna's expenses, and the Port Chal-, mers municipality resolutely refuses 10' alter its industrial Jaws. Would he still.: describe .that industrial Act as fair and ijustl That analogy is. four-square with the Arbitration Act. The producer is compelled to -pay costs which : make , the cost of growing wool about fifteen pence a pound, even although he can only get: sixpence for it. i Space and time forbid me to go into Mr Colonna's arguments regarding State -.versus."private enterprise, -but an able letter on that point, dealing particularly. with the railways rates, taxes, and State expenditure, appeared in your columns not long ago (written, I think, by "J.E.T."), andladvise Mr Colonna to endeavour to get it. If that is impossible perhaps the same correspondent will insert another letter.—Yours, etc.,' .. - . T. V. WILKINSON. Mitcham, September sth, 1931. MOUNTAINEERING RISKS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHEBS. , > Sir, —One hesitates at this, stage to offer advice-for'the future welfare and. protection of iiicxperieuced mountaineers and trampers, but as it : is likely that legislation will ahortly provide. : for their safety I trust you-will grant me space, to make some suggestions. . It is surprising th 6, number of - young people who, for the first thne, leave, j city -: life . and . venture forth ; on fields

[ whore, even- the, experienced busbman: would fear to tread. ' A recent suggestion, that each tramper should be provided witli n whistle, sounds .alt right, but when one is \ exhausted there would, be little sound tortn- : comiilg,. arid- in any, case an aeroplane searcher coulcl . not' hear even a loud blast. My suggestion is that trampers Bhould go outin parties, of not loss than three in number, and that .each person ; should carry the foupwing articles Water-proof sheet, water- : proof matchbox (filled), heavy clasp knife, hatchet, compass, map, oJa newspaper, hand-book on scouting and busli -craft,, three days (iron) emergency rations, water bottle (filled;, , and" a small first-aid outfit, to be approved' by a St. John Ambulance Brigade/surgeon* Each party would also be provided with a very lignt : and> 12 cartridges, for signalling ■purposes.: Parties, before setting P u t, Should appoint leaders, .and under .no : circumstances ; should; members be .allowed to separate and wander-aim-lessly about the country. The pra.cticar use of the equipment suggested is obvious," 'even to the most inexperienced. and if some 1 time were previous- ■ lv' devoted to reading the hand-booK, which is full of valuable information • and .endorsed hv a practical 'Scbut._ venture to say tli;it trnmpers or ordin;ary: iatelligence would be .as safe in ?thiv hush or on the ' m ountajn fiiae. as : if ;thev: w,ei;e .under.' the. nKuj*l,. (, ai^ a and. orotertion by; city li f e - * ?" rs ' SGdUTER. ■ ■ ' - September-sthv 1931...