"A NEGLECTED PROBLEM"

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 220, 11 June 1920, Page 7

"A NEGLECTED PROBLEM"

"His -watchmen are blind; tliey are all ! Ignorant; they are all dumb dogs . ■ *} they are greedy dogs. wMch can. never ■ 11 have enough; and they are shepherds) l ' that cannot understand; tbcy all look to; their own way, everyono for ihis gain."— j y leainh. I y I Sir, —Tho watchmen of the people's j lC rights, interests, and welfare havo bevn-i J asleep during these four or five years j f wherein the people themselves have made! . sacrifices. ' The people's watchmen are I blind to the sufferings And hardships of | ? the people. They are ignorant of thoj basic principles that govern our 6oeial j l ' economy, and they are shepherds t'rat. '• cannot understand. And, the prophet i 0 concludes, they all look to their own; way; everyono foij liiis own pin. This; is the strongest indictment that'can bo j <• offered against tho people's shepherds, or j the' people's representatives. And it is j j particularly applicablo to tho present i day and the cost of living. _ j So mnny people are profiteering nowa-; J days that only 1400 in the city of Wei- ■ » lington could be found to attend a meet-; ing and these probably were the repre-< J sentatives of those having fixed incomes i j that had been much Teduced by the in- •, oreased cost of living. Theso people 0 j ! hardships are great. , . 1 The working man has had increased.! wages, shorter hours, to help him _ to ( meet tho general • riso in commodities, - and thoso engaged in trade, manufacture, :j 1 or production have passed on to the con- i sumer the increased charges both in the i cost of production and) in the exactions j of increased taxation. And it is only j those who havo no trades union and no j combination, as trusts and other com-; hines, to help them to get more money j whereby tli'ey might meet the increasing j demands unon their limited exchequers, j What could tho Government, the Jlin-, lsteis of the Crown, and the. politicians 1 9 have done in this ? It is just aS neces- { ) sary now for them to impose 'regulations; ■ to affect the cost of living as it was for; • them to institute conscription for tho j ; defence of this country and of the Em- i ' pire. A widespread discontent is aa j ! great a menace to the safety of the Em-; pire as an outside enemy battling at tho j ramparts. But the' Government of Mie ! • day eits etill and does nothing. It is tho ; ' fault of governments that they do no-.; ■ thing until thoy are forced by the un-i 1 deuied and undeniable clamours of the; peoplo. j In your paper this morning you an- .; 1 nounce what, you call a. "slight" riso in ; the prioe of butter. That means that ■■ butter will be Is. 9d. per pound to tho i ' consumer. The same class of butler in . 1913-14 was Is. and Is. Id. per lb. What • could tho Government do in this case?. Tlio Government _ could impose an export tax of say sixpence per- lb. on butter until there was,, an adequate supply for the people in the country left in the country. Will the Government impose ; such a tax? Do their own interests, j their own gain, 'stand in the way of; their instituting such an advantage for; the consumers? ■ j The Government could have prevented j tho enormous transactions that havo taken place in ]and,;(ind cottld have commandeered, or taken tho moans to com- j mandear, fh'e profits made in land trans-; actions. Take the"''case of a young ■ settler: He felt impelled to do his duty. to the Empire; ho sells his farm for ; twenty pounds per aero in 1914, not know- j ing whether he would come back or not. Fortunately (he does come back at the end of four years' warfare, and he finds,that the Government has allowed his lurid to ■bo sold and resold! at ever increasing prioes, which could! not have been ob-. iained if the eoldier lhad not won tho j war. and 'he oannot obtain his own farm 1 back again \lnle6S he pays the twenty! pounds back and'forty-five pounds moroi ser acre. Thus tho soldier not only wins ', ;he war. but he comeg back to shoulder i the load, and tho Government is im- j posing that load upon him by allowing j the profiteering in land to go 011 during.] his absence. As everything comes out; of the land, then to Government neglect- j ed its duty. The soldiers' watchmen were, \ blind. Tho newspapers were all as dumb j dogs: they, too, were shepherds that i could not understand, because they all | look to their own war, everyone for Ihia j own gain, as Isnialhi lias it. ' 1 The Government has even neglected to.! bring its land values for taxation pur-, j poses up to date, so that the land own era i are ever escaping 0, fair and equitable I share of taxation. A man's income re- j turns 'come in overy year, but I know ,i thousands of cases wlhwein land values j havo not been revised for taxation pur- ; poses for nearly a whole decade. Truly | our watch-men are blind 1 . Burdens are being heaped unon thoso Iw.st able to'; pay, and tho Government of the day j stands by doing nothing but lulling , ifeelf to sleep in . the confidence of ! three years' tenuro of office.—l am, etc., I ' CONSUMER., <