THE DANGER OF LABOUR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 205, 24 May 1919, Page 8

THE DANGER OF LABOUR

s; r _Tn spite of German bluff peace will be signed shortly, and a commencement at least will be made to return to normal conditions. German blufi is intended, I believe, mainly for home consumption, and to induce the Germans and Austrians to,believe that tliey have not been really defeated. Hie eftect of that polioy will transpire later, and will not, 1 fear, prove welcome to the Allies. With the signature of peace the Allied nations should consider what are the most essential steps for each of them to take to enable them to resume normal trado and home life. Being f « beyond war age, 1 havo devoted tho la..t four years to studying conditions in tlio Pacific, from New Zealand, and to Honolulu and tho luist Coast of tho United States. The conclusion I have •arrived at is that Labour, both in the Pacific and in Europe, has become a social menace, and its relations to the State call for early alteration if revolution is to be avoided. The remarkable. point in tho situation is that Labour is undor more efficient control in uinada and in ti.e United. States of America than in Europe, whilst in the Pacific it lias reached a point almost of insurrection and nearly beyond Government control. In Now Zealand and -Australia, for instance, completo indifference has repeatedly been shown in the dispatch I" Sate of H.M. mails, and let ters , h H vo been forced to await tho good mil ot Labour, with as much indifference as passengers and goods. 1 was when mail» via the Niagara to Europe wore advertised by tlte Post Office to bo delayed for three days running, and finally the notification was indefinitely withdrawn. I was equally held "P for soven weeks in Sydney, while local Labour was making up its mind whether it would clear vessels or not, end mails were dispatched anyhow, and by any route! That is not business, and shoi d not be tolerated by any self-respecting Government.. . T But I have experienced even worse. I waa in Cairns during strikes -in tho sugar trade, when the local unions repeatedly disobeyed both their cwn officers, the central board, and the Ministry in Brisbane, and for a time :he ordeis of the Premier himself, i was in Rockhampton'during the odoriferous insanitary strike, and in Brisbane wlieu the first troubles with tho I.W.W. arose, and there were daily disorders in the greets. Then the climax arrived m Sydney, v ' iell > a, above stated, nearly 300 passengers; to Now Zealand and Europe weio disregarded as completely as though they bad feen non-existent. In his Dominion tho coal strike is perhaps the only olio vhich approaches in public inconvenience to the Australian indulgonces, but several Socialistic manifestoes havo guen flue warning of what'may bo expected unless Labour be soon made to recognise and restrict itself to its proper and du<; portion in tho community. Government, whether national or local, cannot bo carried out without funds. In fact the modern tendency is to increase such costs almost irrespective of revenue. Judging by tho unblushing, proposals put forward to-day for tho natioiiafisntioii of one industry after another, for comprehensive housing echemos, and assistance to all kinds of persons, tho stage \\.ill soon be reached of tho non-productive half of the pop\i\ati°n 'living "t t:ho expense of tho othor half. Lhore is to-dav" far too much agitation, gas, tall talk, and threats, with dangerous restrictions o£ production, and constant increases of cost. Dear. whito Inborn " the Pacific is daily pushing tho •products of yellow labour into ixmpmption. Buyers naturally go for tho cheapest; a*tides, nor are they, as a rule, palnoticailj.in clincd when exMnditu.ro is. in question. Differentiation by tariff will be lrnpos sible among the Allies, so M}™.®. 11 l , lic the ohoapest labour will inovitablj l o the markets. Dear labour, then, will mean restricted exports and small emigration; or, in other woi'ds, suspended animation and increased, cost ot Hung. Is Australasia going lilindlj l ? lo . r ®° itself into an avenue without oxit. Are thinking Now Zealanders satisfied with the prosuect? . , Now Sir, it would ill-become mo, es ono of tho seniors of this generation and as one long accustomed to solvei national probloms, to call attention to a public danger without offering a remedy. Labour, like a boy of 19, is going %rou[;h its growing-pains. Again, like a bos, it is obstinate, 6Glf-suflioiout, and nssortive. Equally as a misbohaving junior, it must be brought into leading-strings amUorced to accept its proper position in tlio nation, and no more. The process like all curatlvo ones will bo yaintul, and perhaps causo trouble. If left alone, it will cause yet greater trouble, even attaining to that revolution which it has so nearly reached according to tho warnings of Australian statesmen. Consequently there is little time to lose, whilst postwar changes offer a unique opportunity for rational reform. The remedy I havo to offer is a 6implo and '/ery natural one,

(and in that fact lies its value. Ido not say that it will bo an easy task, or one capable of rapid completion. But it will, if energetically adopted, create a now power in the State, equally useful for other purposes than that of controlling tho i<4josyncraoies oij Labour, and therefore wortb undertaking even apart from tho 6pecial purposo and curative action, for which I suggest it to-day. History shows us, Sir, that during tho 5000 years or so for which thero aro records. partial or otherwise, that tho great middle classes of nations have invariably, and in all peoples, been a sourcu of strength, progross, and development. I desire to call upon tho active minds ofi Noiv Zealand to-day to at cnco commence systematic organisation tho entire middle classes in the Dominion. They will form i>. shcet-anchor ot moderation, security, and justice. Let them be organised 011 non-political and non-party lines, solely to express the voico of those who work, earn, and save, and do not talk. Onco they nro placed in a position to express their views as a class other interests—Labour included—will sink into their proper places, and real demooratio progress will bo rcalited. Those who; work,and Bavo.acquire common seuso and consideration for othors. Labour is not considerate—it demands all and gives nothing. 11l tho Old Country a deputation of trades unions had the effrontery recently to ask the Prima Minister to ruiso tho income-tax minimum, from ,£l5O to .£250 per annum f expressly to exonerate Labour!_ i Almost concurrently a Royal' Commission disclosed ■ tho fact that capital had only earned 5 per cent, during the war (Government had taken all above that), whilst wages had increased 30 por cent. Such is patriotism to-day. I trust, Sir, that your influential paper will support tho proposal which I thus put forward, and that when I next visit , New Zealand I may find an active and ■ powerful middle-class organisation ma- . torially directing political and economic ! progress in this wonderful climate of 1 yours.—l am, etc., > ! KENRIC B. MURRAY, , 1 Of London (England). ; Wanganui, May 22,1919.