NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 172, 9 April 1923, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

A very good case is made out by the flaxmillers who are asking the Government to subsidise the cost of the researches that have been instituted with a view to combating the disease that is rife in the swamps. There does not appear to be any doubt that systematic research will point the way to the re-establishment of the flax industry on a basis of sound prosperity. There are prospects not only of restricting the ravages of the yellow leaf disease, but of increasing the fibre content, and therefore the economic value, of the flax plant. For the time being, however, those conducting the industry are called to face, with straitened resources the expenses of a period of transition and development. The output of flax last year was much less than half that of a few years ago. This, of course, means not only loss to the millers, but a serious reduction in employment. A Government subsidy, of the comparatively modest amount asked for by the flaxmillers would be amply warranted as a means of increasing employment, and ensuring that considerable areas of land are put to their most profitable use.

What may be regarded as a promising sign of the times'in Great Britain, which may be set against less satisfactory features of the present situation and outlook, is the continued extension of the movement organised by the industrial Welfare Society. Welfare work in industrial areas takes various forms, such as the provision of canteens and. recreation, or rest rooms, together with the establishment of pension funds, sick benefit schemes and the like. At a recent meeting in Manchester it was stated that during the last ten years the movement had made most gratifying strides, in 1913 not more than thirty firms in the United Kingdom had organised their welfare work. To-day there are at least 700 firms with organised schemes under qualified welfare organisers. In all, there are some 250,000 employing firms in the United Kingdom, but many of these are,,of course, in too small a way of business to organise such schemes as have been mentioned on their own account. It is suggested, however, that small firms may co-operate in joint welfare schemes for their workers. Many of the joint industrial councils are devoting attention to the movement, and it promises to become a big factor in improving the lot of factory and other workers and strengthening the co-operative spirit. At the Manchester meeting it was mentioned that inquiries regarding the lines on which welfare work is being developed in Britain are being- received from all over the world.

The latest recommendations of the tribunal which is making extended inquiries into the existing condition of British agricultural industry are to a great extent robbed of interest by Jin. Bonar Law’s recent recognition that the imposition of duties on food imports is meantime outside the range of practical politics. The British Liberal and Labour Parties are. of course, strongly opposed to any such duties. The tribunal’s recommendations with regard to protective and preferential duties on barley and hops arc as little likely to bo adopted as its suggestion that the importation of Hour should bo made subject to conditions which would tend to restrict supplies from overseas, and to favour British farmers and millers at the expense not only of oversea producers, but of the British consumer. Agricultural industry in the United Kingdom stands badly in need of encouragement and assistance, but it is not at all likely to bo assisted on the lines now proposed by the tribunal. An exception perhaps is to be made in the case of the proposal that the Government should take financial responsibility for reducing railway rates on farm produce not less than twenty-five per cent. Even this, however, will be strongly opposed.