Evening Post THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1941. DISTURBING FIGURES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 75, 25 September 1941, Page 8

Evening Post THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1941. DISTURBING FIGURES

Among local bodies in New Zealand, the Wellington Harbour Board has won a high place for efficiency and a progressive spirit. Its financial business has been prudently managed and it has shown great foresight in developing the port. These facts are mentioned now because they' have a direct bearing upon the disturbing figures submitted to the board by a special committee set up to investigate the increased* costs of handling cargo. '< The facts quite definitely rule out any suggestion that higher costs arej due* either to bad management, ex- j cessive overhead costs, or out-of-1 date methods. The explanation must be sought elsewhere. The figures quoted by the committee show conclusively that the major part of that explanation lies in higher pay unaccompanied by an increased return but aggravated by a decreased return. Rates of pay have risen, but rates of work have fallen. The position was summed up by Mr. Eliott, who said that during the last five years the cost per ton of handling cargo had nearly doubled, and during the same period the rate for handling cargo per hour had decreased by approximately 25 per cent. It is pointed out in the report that there are certain factors, other than pay, which have contributed to the extra cost, and the weight of that contribution cannot be exactly determined. The change in the nature of cargo received, congestion, and non-delivery in overtime hours are some of these factors. But if full allowance be made for these factors, the great rise' in costs is still disquieting. It means a heavy addition to the costs of industry, and a drain upon the returns from production. The Harbour Board is a public body. It does not work for profit and adjusts its charges solely with a view to apportioning costs among users of the port service. If its costs increase it must pass on the increase to the consumers and producers who are its ultimate customers. Therefore, any substantial rise in harbour-working expense is a cut in the standard of living. The position is serious not merely ifrom the harbour-working viewpoint, but from the effect which it must have upon the general public welfare. Labpur has complained in the past that it has not had full value jfor wage increases—that the rising cost of living has chiselled away a substantial part of the anticipated benefit. But in the report to the Harbour Board one of the underlying causes of this is revealed. Higher wages with a lower return can produce but one result—a higher cost of living cancelling whatever has been gained. Progress cannot be made, and if the trend is not checked there must be a marked slipping back. Revelation ' and clear understanding of the facts may prepare the way for a remedy, but they are not in themselves a cure. The arises: What will the Harbour Board do to improve the position? It was stated at the meeting that the facts presented did not present a complete view of the results under commission working, though it was shown that commission operation had involved payment of bonuses without, as touching the Harbour Board's share of the operations, a correspondingly improved return. When complete figures for a commission period are available, the matter must eei'tainly be further examined, and it cannot rest with the publication of statistics. It must be carried further with a determined effort to stop the drift.