TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 97, 29 April 1929, Page 10

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Loan proposals for submission to ratepayers by the City Council havo been freely discussed in tho courso of tho election campaign, but, unfortunately, the discusison has not been sufficiently direct to make correct judgment simple. We have- stated previously, and wo still maintain, that loan proposals, to be thoroughly understood, should bo considered with past expenditure ) and futuro commitments. Up to • a point the information for such consideration has been made available, but it is not yet clear what financial engagements must be met, apart from these projected loans, in the next few years, and what resources there will be wherewith to meet them. K&tepayers,certainly cannot be assured that they will escape with the small charges which are. pledged for the Kelburn Viaduct loan and the Eastern Suburbs library loan. Though tramway finance may carry all the tramway loan charges, there will still be a levy or rate revenue for other parts o£ the Eastern and Western access expenditure. It would b a grave mistake, however, for ratepayers to reject £he loan proposals offhand on this account. It would be even worse to defer necessary works because of dissatisfaction with some of the Council's past activities. The ratepayer who has a grouch about street-widening costs will bo spiting himself if, on that account, lie refuses sanction for a library or tramway improvement loan. We are not convinced, that the best case has been presented for the loan proposals. The suburban library scheme, for example, should have been accompanied by some more definite plan for Central Library extension. Tho Western access tramways works, too, should have been presented with a complete statement of the rate cost of the unemployment and street-widoning loans which cover other.parts of that access scheme. Nevertheless we would urge ratepayers not to reject the proposals on this account. . They should remember that an. improved acceßS plan for the western suburbs has long been sought. There is now an opportunity to obtain something reasonably in line with the recommendations of the expert Access Commission. , The opportunity should riot be thrown away 'on the general ground that rates are heavy and money in the past has sometimes been unwisely spent. Each proposal should' be considered on its own merits.

Electors who study the statement of Harbour Board policy and performance issued by the Civic League candidates will agree that it presents a strong argument against drastic change in the board membership. -The Harbour Board has an excellent record. It has kept abreast of the times and even ahead of the times, but without taking chances. It has maintained efficiency and up-to-date equipment, and has yet been sound and conservative in its financial management. Much of the credit for this must be given to the highly capable officers and staff; but the board has also earned warm praise for its progressive policy and sound administration. The efficiency of tho past administration is attested by the fact that the Labour Party does not offer any keen criticism. It proposes either to hasten works which the board has already planned or to go further in adopting new schemes. For example, its proposals, if we interpret them aright, provide for the control of all wharf labour by the Harbour Board, operating through a sub-board comprising representatives of the Harbour Board and the Waterside Workers' Union. This is an experiment which should not be endorsed until it is more fully outlined. Any measure for removing the existing defects of a casual labour system deserves consideration, but there is ample opportunity for assuring that consideration now. When a plan is prepared in workable form there should be no difficulty in having it jointly examined by representatives of the board and the union. Tho other major proposal of the Labour Party is that tho board should -be elected by popular vote. Admittedly the present basis of representation is not wholly democratic, but the board is itself in a position differing from that of many other public bodies. It has rating power, but it does not use it, and though its charges are paid indirectly by all producers and consumers, the actual collection of tho major part of the Tevenuo is made from less than 600 payers of dues. To most people, however, the real test of tho constitution will be: How has it worked? The answer must bo that it has worked well. Under these circumstances there will naturally; be a disinclina-tion to leave

tlio milwtiineo of,' a good practical manii(/(!iiiiirili 1,0 run lifter a shadow of thco-rtil.ii!/illy-iiujii'ov(i('l j'oproHOntation.

3'j.xjMifM)ni'.o of partial systems of pr'um-Uxlng iuh'.l of partial systems of wii|(<j-/lx!ii|j (tho inilur of which still obl.niiiH In arbitration-controlled indusI.j'ldh) pi.ti.ntH to llio conclusion that any artificial control of industry and trade would have 1,0 lio applied at all points boforo 11 could claim to possess a logi-1 (jul Ijiihjh; and oven then it would probably brunts down, in tlio .working. Control oC |ii'i«o by statutory authority log.icitlly bring* in its train control of wngo mid nil jiro/lt, mid not only that, hut n1 ho iriHintc/ieo tliat t)io aorvico ruiidci'od for thu wngo and tlio profit is iulof|iinl.u; and ovon tlion only tlio fringe of tliu complex has been touched, as protccl.ivo Hystoius (tariffs, bounties, etc.) remain to bo dealt with. A central plan tliat would include, ultimately, the cost ill! living would havo to bo dotailcd beyond present comprehension; and yot tlio idua oJ! making the basic wngo follow tlio cost of living is being persisted in in Australia to such effect tliat tho-Now Houth Wales Stato Government —according to a cablegram in Saturday's issue—in faced with an increased wagcM bill of nearly lialf a million a year (cliio/ly in railways and tramways services), because the HtilJ upward-moving Australian cost of living has added in to tlio biwii} wage under Federal awards. Without taking any effective measure to Control cost oi' living, or oven cost of production, Australia is-pursuing the fixation policy at tho wage angle and at the tariff angle, with tho result that tariff-rise is neutralised by wage-rise, and the additions accumulate in higher cost of living, which lias also to register such devices as export plans, under which the. Australian' consumer pays superpriccs for primary products to enable theso to be marketed overseas at a loss. Unless tho rise in the. cost of living stops—and tlio tendency o£ Governmental policies and trade practices is in the opposite direction—the "grave i concern" among employers, mentioned in Saturday's cablegram, is hardly likely to abate. Until sonic' compensatory inereaso in output pet labour unit is. indicated there would seem to be no real progress. * * * ' After generations of protective experience the United States politicians, according to to-day's cablegrams, are still at their -wits' end to find a line of compromise; between, the claims of suppliers of the home market and suppliers of tho: market- overseas. The United States farmer seeks a monopoly in his home market and demands the exclusion of the primary products by means of which foreign countries, like New Zealand and Australia, would be willing to pay for the American motor vehicles they import. What will the United States politician do? AVill he grant his farmers' higher protection, claims and let the one-sided balance of trade and the American exports take their chance, or will he risk the farmers' vote by opening the American market to a greater amount of primary produce from New Zealand and Australia, thus providing the U.S. "Golden" liners With something to put into the new refrigerated compartments they are installing? Everything seems to indicate that in United States party politics the need to appease the farmer is recognised as urgent. Tariff assistanco might, divert his thoughts from the big control scheme under which he planned—something after the Australian style—to regulate homo market supplies and prices, utilising the oversea market as a balancing factor. Control schemes are distrusted in the Eastern States, which ' would sooner throw some other kind of sop. Tariff protection would be all right but for the danger of reaction on United exports. A policy of loans to farmers would have no such consequence, but would it appease? ■,