OUR POST-WAR PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 17, 14 October 1927, Page 10

OUR POST-WAR PROBLEMS

INDIVIDUALS, NOT SYSTEM, TO BLAME HOW THEY MAY BE BANISHED HARD WORK, THRIFT, AND EFFICIENCY THE EXAMPLE OF' THE DAIRY FARMERS There was very little fault to find in the general layout of the producing, manufacturing, and trading system in New Zealand before the war. The war threw its working out a little, but our post-war problems are due not so much to faults in this system, but rather to abuses by individuals of its advantages. ' Given reasonable time to adjust these, that system requires little or no amendment. It is in the efforts of the individual rather than alterations of the system that return to prosperity lies. The above.views were expressed by the Hon. T. S. Weston, M.L.C., yesterday in his presidential address at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Employers’ Federation. Era of Falling Prices. “Economists are practically unanimous,” said Mr. Weston, “that the world is now passing through an era of falling prices. This is a hard trial for the producer, manufacturer, and trader, whether in country or town. With lower prices each individual has to face a decreased turnover, and hence less net money profits. Development of the potentialities of a business simply makes up this leeway. Up till the last twelve months the manufacturer and trader have fared better in New Zealand than the primary producer. Increased competition from outside industries and lowered purchasing power of the community due to the fall in the value of our exports have now affected the manufacturer and the trader. There are two remedies, certain and effective, in New Zealand’s' present quandary. The first is cessation of industrial strife and the substitution of a sense of social _ cooperation for class consciousness. Your Advisory Board have preached this advice for some years past, and for reiterating this advice it makes no apologies. If Labour leaders will assist in initiating a desire for industrial peace in lieu of the present sense of continuous class war, they would do much to bring about a rise in real wages. Labour should never forget that with New Zealand prices at the level of 165 as compared with 100 in 1913, a drop of 161 points in this price level is equivalent to an advance of 10 per cent, in money wages. Such an increase in money wages paid in this Dominion would mean some millions. Surely it is worth the workers’ while to co-oper-ate in bringing about by increased production a drop in prices which would be equivalent to such an increase in money wages. An Old-Fashioned Remedy. “The other remedy is an old-fash-ioned one—it is. nothing else than harder work, more thrift, and more efficient machinery- and methods of production. This is undoubtedly a dull and unpopular remedy. Depression is something which New Zealand has grown unaccustomed to; its presence has rather staggered our judgments. One of the great dangers of the last twelve months has been, and still is, that the public may place their faith in leaders who profess ability to banish hard times and restore losses by artificial remedies easy to take and of little real value. It is unnecessary to particularise these remedies. The newspapers have been full of them, as they have been almost daily strongly advocated bv enthusiasts.-. Human nature is such that a man is prepared to blame anything and anybody rather than himself for failure, and generally is quite prepared to sacrifice his neighbour. to save himself a loss. Hence these enthusiasts win converts for their easy remedies involving State aid and little personal effort, while the oldfashioned remedies involving selfreliance and greater individual effort lose support.

Dairy Farmer Tackling the Problem. “The everyday dairy farmer has tackled, and is tackling, this problem well. Realising that he had no time to lose he has concentrated his efforts upon improving his herds and manuring his lands. In consequence his production was increased last season. His efforts will have a cumulative effect. There should be a further substantial increase the coming summer. In this way he will be able to meet lower Home prices when and as they come. Providence helps those who help themselves. This summer better prices and bountiful supplies of grass appear probable. The farmer will be wise to remember these aids may disappear another year. Welcome as they both are as a temporary help, they will be other than a blessing if they were to induce the farmer to relax his present efforts. The result of the dairy farmers’ increased production has been to assist the whole Dominion.”