THRIFT VERSUS DRIFT

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 63, 12 September 1921, Page 7

THRIFT VERSUS DRIFT

TO TBB IDIIOR. Sir, —During the past twenty years this country lias been blessed with prosperity, and it seems impossible to think that within a few weeks of. the turnrof the tide' men should find' themselves stranded, and appealing to tlra Government for assistance. ' Wfhy, only a little while ago men on the Coast were declining to work, unless they were taken in first-class carriages, and unless they had certain "extras" fitted up. Men on the wK'arves found it incumbent on them to attend almost every .funeral, whether they knew the occupant of the^heaiise or not—at least that was always the excuse to stop work. The steamers, the coalminers, and everyone connected;: with the.same had to'wait their plea-; ;gure. This is the result of preference to.; unionism. To-day the frugal are asked! to put their hands in their pockets, and subscribe to those people who won't work when they get the opportunity, and other? who spend their money on unnecessary luxuries. I: started work in! Palmerston North in 187S_, w-ben there; were no unions and' no union (so-called:) leaders but plenty ot hard work, and fully. 99 per cent, of the boys-of that town made good, and are still in evidence in various parts of New Zealand. The people; in those days did not stop work to worry 'about G<jvernm«nte; in fact, they hardly knew there was sutih a thing. ' Certainly. there were no pictures or trains;,to spend ■ money on, but everyone was happy. Can, anydne wonder at men being in neces-'. sitous circumstances, when union leaders are constantly whispering in their ears to strike ? .When they get the. men out of a job, how are they going to get them back again? They have agitated to smash everything, and now that they have nearly killed the goose that lays the golden eggs, can they' construct something better in its place?: The working man to-day will find, as he has always found, that empty vessels make the most souJnd. One has only to look at Russia to learn what has been, done. It is one thing to- break down, and quite another to build, up. Get rid of the men whc> do not like work, and give their billets to genuine cases, 'and the industries of the Dominion will quickly .right themselves. Do a-way with preference to unionists, and thereby do away with a lot of irresponsibles. Boys should be taught. to. be thrifty, and. tc be tradesmen. ' It is a difficult matter, to-day to' find many tradesmen who are as qualified' as those of the old . stock, thanks Wunionism. Genuine workers should take a. hand in the affairs of their union, and ,put down th© irresponsible element. Men 'should be permitted to work untrammeled by union bosses, and increased prosperity would naturally follow. In con- > elusion, I w.ould like to say .that, when I started life, none of .the "men went to in lounge'suits, nor did,'the girls 'find it so raeoESsary. to go to work in. silk dresses and expensive coats, but no one was downhearted.—l am, etc.,' ■■■■' WELL-WISHER. 10th September. ; . :

TO THE EDITOR.

■ Sir, —-Mr. d'Regan, who endeavours to convince the public that he knows ail about everything he writes about, has ; apparently yet to be chastened by the I discovery that he has no message worth while to a world of people perplexed yet willing to hear a seer or prophet. He will hay that the impounding by the State of the full economic value of the land by a single tax, which is an indefensible/spoliation -of people who bought the land, would give us all we need to meet our financial difficulties. Indeed, I have been told by single-taxers it, would do more than this, and give us free trains and trams and other things' we have now to pay so much for. Holding to this opinion, single-taxers, it would appear, are ignorant of the fact that with the levy of land tax and local rates the full economic, value of the land has been taken in several instances, and other forms of created wealth have been levied, and the communities are still suffering for the want of things they are prepared to pay for. This is no figment of fancy ; and when it is considered that land values are absurdly high, it will be seen that real estate as an invest-1 ment is the most unprofitable in the Dominion. But taking iMr. O'Eegan and his friends-at their word, single tax in its general application would give so many free benefits to the people. Is that desirable? Personally I think it is not. What we want to discover is how to make hard work popular. Not how to make an easy life easier to live. The real remedy for our present discontent and trouble v is to recognise, that the appeal of life is for persistent and unremitting toil, and that anything that lessens this penalty of our nature is an evil thing which "must ultimately overwhelm U9. . In ease and plenty are the elements -of disruption. In idleness is death; and it seems to me that Mr. O'Regan and his single tax friends aspire in their limi-: cations to replace the few idle rich by an-immense army of people riding about the country for nothing, wasting their | time writing letters through the free post and consulting free doctors, enormously increased in numbers, to dose the people of a played-out civili|ation. A peopl* whosfc organ* losing partly thch : power of assimilating food through inertia, and languidness are, with all the dkill !of science, condemned to a lingering and miserable existence. My ad viee 3 to would-be reformers is to leave things alone, unless they can discover a way of encouraging the men who think they work to do more work, and those who dodge work, and hard manual work' at that, to niend their way of living and see the advantage of following the example of the industrious. They might indeed seek* inspiration from the bees and ants' and other creatures in their ceaseljtss activities.—l am, etc., MERE MAN. 10th September. '■''■,