ECHOES of the WEEK

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 17

ECHOES of the WEEK

PRESS OPINIONS ON :: NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

Incomes and Prices. Everybody is agreed that wages must fall, though there is no such unanimity about salaries, and up to the present rents, profits, and interest have not been brought under review. We shall not reach any satisfactory position unless there is a proportionate reduction in each of these sources of income. It will be difficult to bring about, and much of it must be voluntary if it is to be done at all. If any attempt is made to throw the losses on one or two clagges there will be much discontent, which will be shown in some unexpected manner. It is, of course, possible that prices will revive, but as they depend very largely on confidence, it is hardly likely tb take place very soon. It will take a little while before the expectation of falling prices disappears. —“Waikato Times.” Salaman’s Sentence.

Since Salaman was sentenced two public meetings of protest have been held, one at Woodville and the other at New Plymouth. The ground upon which release is sought is that patients of Salaman are likely to suffer through discontinuance of treatment; but that surely cannot be so. Salaman is a quack. He may be a skilful quack; but there is nothing he can do that cannot be done equally well, and with greater security, by a qualified medical man. There is not the slightest reason why he should be released from prison, and if he were it would be making a farce of his Supreme Court trial.— Christchurch “Sun.” Advice to a Minister.

There is, and always must be, the fear that “political pull” will eventually gain the day when decision has to be taken as to the line of action to be adopted either in the building or the running of the railways. The Minister says that ”if he had sixty millions he would not be afraid to risk it in our railways.” This is an argument that can count for very little, since the prospect of his having that amount at his command is extremely remote. Even the late Sir Joseph Ward’s wizardry could not produce it according to promise. It would carry a good deal more weight were he to invest in them the little bit he actually has and let it take its chance —under his own or any other political management that may happen along — beside the sixty millions of public money that is already sunk in the venture and the further millions his Government is now sinking in it—“Hawke’s Bay Tribune.” Political Remedies.

The best remedy for a bad political situation, like that in which the Dominion stands to-day, is the natural one. Public opinion brought it about, and public opinion, having been corrected by experience, cau reform it. This is the normal and the right procedure, from which it is useful to deviate only in quite extraordinary circumstauces. When such a point of necessity is reached, the necessity declares itself with a much more insistent emphasis than can be detected to-day. If this is remembered, proposals to entrust affairs to a committee of business men or to take other emergency action seem, as they are; feverish and foolish; and even the more understandable impulse to think that political divisions should be closed at any cost ought to be regarded with suspicion. There might be some advantage in closing them. It is quite untrue that advantage would be certain. But if any were to be won, it would depend on the nature of the unity achieved and the means of achieving it.— Christchurch “Press.” Silence is Golden.

Members of the Unemployment Board should be very chary of receiving deputations of unemployed or addressing meetings on the subject. They have been appointed, for better or worse, for the term of two years, and they have not had time to frame a policy. Indeed, it is possible that Parliament may have to direct the policy of the board in important matters. At this early stage of their appointment, therefore, the members of the board, while informing themselves of all the facts of the case, should practise a judicial aloofness as to what they have to say regarding the board’s policy.—Christchurch “Star.” The Housewife Decides.

The visit of the Dominion Prime Ministers to Glasgow is interesting aS h demonstration of what might be done to improve Empire marketing. Instead of taking the guests for pleasure trips on the Clyde, Glasgow took them rouna the markets and retail shops to show what the Dominions did not do, and how- unfavourably they Compared in salesmanship with their competitors. The lesson should not be lost in regard to the expansion of markets at Home and in New Zealand. The advertising of British goods must be follow-ed by active sales promotion, and it is the housewife of every country who make?' the final decision as between foreign and British goods.—Christchurch “Star.” Taxation Mad.

If half-a-dozen manufacturers journey to Wellington and ask for a duty which will enable them to.tax everybody in the country, it is granted withour any hesitation. As soon as it is found that it is necessary to raise more revenue it is done at once through the Customs, although that is the most uneconomic method that can be "followed. In this matter' of Customs taxation there is nothing to choose between the parties, for they are equally prepared to grant any request for protection. When Canada refuses our butter we can see the iniquity of the proceeding, but that does not prevent us doing the same sort of thing. Our wheat growers say wheat cannot be grown at less than C/9 per bushel; other countries are glad to accept 4/-, and just now would be very pleased to get It; yet we persist in grow-iug our expensive wheat, anil Canada in producing her expensive butter, and we are all of us poorer w consequence.—“Waikato Times. ’

Less Ministers in Government. A notable example of the:manner in which the governmental system in New Zealand has been overloaded is provided in the number of Ministers of the Grown. There are now fourteen members of the Government, of whom twelve occupy seats. in the House of Representatives of eighty members. The mere statement of this fact should suffice to show one respect in which the governmental expenses of the country might* be curtailed. TOo frequently has it happened that portfolois have been created or a redistribution of portfolios effected in order that party service may be rewarded. The elevation to Ministerial rank, however, of a painstaking and faithful supporter of the party that is in office unfortuantely does not in itself equip him with the executive abilities which are demanded of a Minister of the Crown. It is, indeed, probable that the usefulness of a Prime Minister’s colleagues declines in direct ratio to the number which is appointed.— “Otago Daily Times.”, Making Motoring Safe. 1

For a long time past there has been a strong demand for road patrols of officers mounted on fast motor-cycles and capable of overtaking speedsters who defy the law. It would almost seem necessary to have a chain of these patrols throughout the Dominion. That appears to be the only commonsense method of clearing the roads of one of the deadly menaces that exist—the menace not only of racing motor-cycles, but also of motorcars, the drivers of which reply upon their excessive speed to defy detection. In the matter of lights, danger signs, the passing of cars at high speed, and a number of other details for the. proper regulation of traffic it should be quite easy to make due provision.— ■“New Plymouth News.” Another Moratorium.

Are memories so short in New Zealand that another moratorium can be seriously proposed? When we ask the question we are not in the least unmindful of the serious difficulties that confront the farmer. But what would be the ultimate effect of the moratorium asked for by the meeting of farmers at Patumahoe this week? It would fatally weaken the confidence of the capitalist in.jnortgages-'as a form of investment. . Surely what happened as a result of the imposition and prolongation of the war moratorium is not forgotten. It raised mortgage rates and made loans on land far more difficult to raise. It 'is not too much to say that, as a result of that interference with the rights of contract, the whole country has ever since been paying more for its mortgages. It created an aversion to mortgages as an investment, from which the country is still suffering. To shake investors’ confidence again would be to ruin the future market. After the moratorium had been lifted farmers might be paying 10 per cent, and over for their accommodation. It is much better to bear present ills than to fly to such a remedy.—“ Auckland Star.” National Stocktaking. '

Permanent "'appropriations have in any case to be met by the Government, so that the only way to curtail expenditure is to reduce annual votes, which include the sums spent on administrative work. By pruning in various directions, the Government was able to cut down annual votes this year by £388,000 as compared with the previous year. By this means it was hoped to do a great deal toward balancing the Budget, as about £2,500,000 was expected to accrue from extra taxation. The position now appears to be that the increased taxation will not result in revenue being benefited to the extent at first anticipated. The only course now open would seem to be a still more drastic revision of departmental expenditure. —“Timaru Herald.” Work for Unemployment Board. As there are also 7400 men on the register as seeking work —compared with 1800 two years ago—the question may be well asked whether the Government has justified Mr. Ransom’s announcement, in July of last year, of proposals “calculated to place the unemployed in productive employment which will permanently remove them from the ranks of the unemployed.” What is has certainly done is so to confuse the distinction between men genuinely unemployed and those seeking employment by the State that it is impossible for anyone to discover the magnitude of real unemployment. The first step for the board, to take is clearly to establish a dividing line that will identify the unemployed, and, by virtue of its enormous powers, insist not only upon relief rates for relief works, but also upon compliance by Governernment departments with its policy. Unless it determines immediately to jettison a practice that had no other excuse than political expediency, the board will wreck its slender hopes of achieving any substantial success.— “New Zealand Herald.” O;:r Economic Position.

The Dominion has made little attempt to adjust itself to the conditions that should follow the price movement. Our wages are still 65 per cent., above pre-war standards, and retail prices are nearly CO per cent, higher, whereas e port prices generally are less than 20 per cent, above the pre-war basis, and wool, of course, is well below the 1914 level. Now these are clearly unstable conditions, and although they have been maintained for a period by increased primary production,, it is ob’vlous that they cannot continue indefinitely. Happily we are better placed than most nations are to meet the economic conditions, but unless there is a steady readjustment internally there must always be the danger of a sudden collapse. One development that can be anticipated with certainty is the transfer of a greater proportion of the tux burden to the sections of the community that are still receiving incomes on the higher level, including, of course, the wage-earners.. Naturally we all hope that the bottom of the depression has been reached, but it would be folly to aet as if that were assured.— “Christchurch Times,"