DR. FINDLAY'S FALLACIES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 280, 7 August 1909, Page 4

DR. FINDLAY'S FALLACIES.

. Some, of our. readers may wonder why we have given so much space to Dr. Findlay's Feilding speech. The truth is that it slaves to a large extent the necessity of pointing out the weaknesses of his contentions.- The more Dr." Findlay is allowed, to talk, the more easily will.the unsoundness' of his arguments be .perceived. 'He is his own antidote. '-Por example,'' what is the moral of his exposition of the Danish land'system?,'' Why, obviously that land-, lordism is not the business,of : the';State, If Dr. Findlay'. doe's not ■-. understand what. Mr. Massey means "by Socialism, the:public will at;any rate understand what Denmark means by encouraging the 1 freehold arid, by promoting land.settlement without increasing the public debt. Dr. Findlay has really supplied, in his references to Denmark, the strongest jus-, tification of the'.freehold party's policy that we have met. -And when, in sketching with such'a dolightfully vague pencil, the route to Utopia, the AttorneyGeneral starts off ■ from the . principle that; what is wanted is, "the State's- intervention, to,check waste," what is tho natural comment: of ■• the intelligent observer? /Why, this; that, : if.; there\had ever been' any doubt; as to the soundness of the theory that the State cannot move without creating waste, the Government of which Dr. Findlay is a member has dissipated that doubt in the most thor-ough-going fashion. The' State's intervention _to check waste! Since Dr. Findlay admits, however, -that State help; without self-help spells ruin, we believe that when: he has thought a little more on the subject he will become quite sound. As to his observations; upon the growth of taxation,' it is almost enough to'say that he still holds fast to the idea that tho greater the public debt the better forus all.. The thirty millions that Liberalism has added to the public debt in the name of Ballance—who said "borrowing must cease"—has, according' to Dr. Findlay, increased . the'-. private wealth* 1 of New Zealand by £250,000,000.,' Possibly the Attorney-General may be able to persuade his chief to borrow another thirty millions, and thus enable us all to, shed our harness and grow roses. What possible respect can bo paid to the opinions of a Minister who thinks the railways cannot pay unless charges are increased by 50 per cent J Mr. Millar has said that the railways ought to pay without any variation of the charges. And Dr. Findlay seems to believe with the Queeri's StatuiJ. oratoi'th'at wealth is hoarded by the rich! Ho denies that there is a "wages-fund" !'• "Modern-text-books on political science," he said, '"refuted the wages-fund fallacy." What ever has the Attorney-General been ingi He will,toll us next that'modern scientific treaties have exploded tho gravitation fallacy. ••'