(To tho Editor.)

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 126, 30 May 1928, Page 8

(To tho Editor.)

Sir,—-Those in New Zealand who stand.f ox stable government and a prosperous, contented community would do well to make a close study of unem-ploj-mcnt, its cause and remedy. Those who affect a belief that it is a passing condition duo to the seasonal finish up of various forms of employment are-due to bo disillusioned. The fact of the matter is this: "Wo to-day aro reaping what was sown by politicians half a century ago. 1" refer to tho flooding of the country with cheap money and the orgy of •spending that has prevailed since that date.* In plain words, hard work, thrift, economy, and contentment | aro bywords to-day, and in their placo sport, higher wages, shorter hours, and social climbing take pride of placo. To maintain this artificial stale of affairs, loans aro yearly floated, which uneconomic proceeding must in the near future land all and sundry in .a cul do sac. If. unemployment is not checked, or removed by means of something more sensible than unreproductive relief works, it is safe to predict that'from now on the Hfo of any Government, whatever the colour of its politics, will bo a short one. Hero is another phaso of lack of work: Women and girls, owing'to their cheapness, are swiftly supplanting men in all works. 'Men, like horses, with changing conditions, are being inexorably relegated to the scrap heap; and let it not bo forgotten that idle men are a potential danger to tho State. In our secondary schools French and other impracticable subjects are taught, to an ago when youths are not keen to take up hard work. So taking all things round, no ono need be surprised if- the rising generation alter the trend of civilisation, and incidentally the jEmpirc, in a manner contrary to tho fond hopes of those who hitherto have guided its destinies: Ea,ch year sees tens of thousands of boys released from school for their life's work, and if the bulk of them aro to be disappointed, then it is safo to say that our glorious heritage is in tho melting pot. ■ ' • - KccOgnising that something more than criticism is needed to keep tho Ship of State on an oven keel, I would offer tho following suggestions:—(l) As nearly all our prosperity, is ultimately derivVd1 from the" land, all small farmers oil second and third class holdings with three or more of a family be excused from rates and taxes; (2) fur growing and tobacco planting be encouraged;