OUR SYDNEY LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 15817, 31 May 1915, Page 4

OUR SYDNEY LETTER

BUTTER AND SUGAB, Xews of British and French successes on the western, front, and the unstinted praise accorded tq our boys in the Galllpoli Peninsula, have inspired a. somewhat more cheerful feeling. Our troubles at tho moment aro local. There is a marked scarcity of butler and scarcity of sugar also. The bigwigs who, in their benevolent desire to keep down our grocery bills, have brought these things upon {is are verv seriously pondering the result of their own work, with the view of devising a remedy. Judging, however, by their performances in the past, the outlook is not particularly hopeful. As a protest against the high price of butter, there is a strong movement' to dispense, with the article altogether, and thus anticipate the total deprivation which, seems to be impending. Such a step will have a girect economic effect, and make matters better, perhaps, for those who don't take it. But it is certainly calculated to "give one to think furiously." as tho French say. that in this 20th century we should be confronted by the results of the adoption of ecoi«>mic fallacies which were exploded in the Dark Ages. THE COMMISSIONS. The joint Victorian and New South Wales Commissions, who are taking evidence, have laid it down a 6 a principlethat mere scarcity is not sufficient justification for a rise in price. One would naturally suppose that the greater the scarcity the greater the need, and therefore that the reward of those who supply ihe need should be proportionately greater. Hitherto, also, it has been supposed that au increase- in price, when scarcity exists, is the natural and legitimate inducement to bring about increase, in production or in importation. Since the- advent of Commissions, however, "we have altered all that." We are "out" to make precedents, not to follow them. The only point of interest now is tu ascertain what the Commissions propose to give us as. a substitute for principles which have borne tho stress of the vicissitudes of ages. The manager of the C.S.K. Company testifies that, before tho end of August, it will be necessary to import several cargoes of sugar, and that before July in next year 125,000 tons may be needed. The quantity will depend on the yield of the cane in Queensland, and, what is of equal importance, tho rapidity with which it can be refined and placed on the' market. Under present conditions, thanks to tho Commissions, the statutory price of sugar in Australia is about £7 per ton below the price at which it can be landed from abroad and sold. That means that any firm or company which imports sugar to supply the shortage would be mulcted in that" amount per ton. At present the Commission seem to be shewing a disposition to retrace their steps.

IX SUSSEX STREET. Sussex street is the centre of the Sydney trade, in butter and tedder. Sussex street, it need hardly be said, is in great straits since the newly-coine-up Commission have taken a. hand in'thc game. Xow that prices are " fixed,"' growers see no points in sending their hay and chaff to agents. If no better price "ran be got at auction, or in the "higgling of the. market." they may just as well deal djrect. with purchasers on their own account: And they do. One branch of trade, therefore, which added its quota to the general activity, is in_ danger of being summarily cut off. As for buter. the position is already acute. In Sussex street it is almost impossible to buy it. Simie, grocers wait patiently on the steps of the big agency houses in the hope of getting an odd box, or even half a box. for their best customers. One great distributing house declines altogether to handle the commodity. The famine has _ extended to the western towns, and bitter complaint.-, are coming from Orange. Way--11 ey. P>athur-t. Dubho, Parkes, and other centres, became their wants cannot be supplied. HARD CASES. The anli-Cerman feeling ha- been so j stimulated by the .-inking of the Lusituuia and other outrages that many Oermans arc having a bad time. They are being summarily dismissed from their employment because of the refusal of other men to work with them. Many of them are thrifty citizen- who are trying to get houses of their own on the instalment principle. Xow they find it impossible to keep up their payments. Some would gladly emigrate to America, or to some other neutral country, but they are debarred even from this privilege Tt is not their fault, of course. Xor is it wholly the fault of Australian-;. They have to suiter for the sins of their Emperor and his advisers, who seem to have laid themselves out to make the vei'y name of "German" stink throughout the civilised world. At the present showing, it seems that wholesale internment of enemy aliens may become, absolutely necessary for their own protection and .-upport. THE TRAWEEKS. The two trawler-; which were recently imported by the. ttovernemnt made their trial trips yesterday, carrying with them the Chief Secretary.' the Minister of Works, and a number of members of Parliament, together with other less distinguished individuals. To their credit, the fish refused to be frightened by the unwonted amateur display, and the haul resulted in several hundredweight of leather jacket-. John Dories, whiting, and mackerel, to -,av nothing of dogfish, stingrays, and the'like. Among the party wa> noted Mr Frank Earned, the ex-chairman of the Board of Fisheries, who seemed especially jubilant at llie success of the trawl. How if will pan out in £ s. d. remains to be seen. The expenses go on all the time, whil-fc t!io hauls only come in occasionally, and the Jisii aiv not alwav- so amiable as to allow themselves to be caught. WAXTED. MEN" OF INDEPENDENT'!-:. : " Never docs oar parliamentary .system j-how to better advantage than wben'there j is. .1 strr>ng Opposition, and never i- ii. weaker then when one party i.-, in 6ii''ii ar. ovevwiiidmiiii: majority that it ian safely ignore til.' oilier- sid«'." So writes, the senior morning daily, and it is significant that it writes it in an article advocating the candid it lire of Mr Bee by for the Annidn.le scat. Tii<- tiuth of the statement, is r-"lf-e\-idei;t. Democratic institution;: are founded on ;h'-» assumption tlm.t the representatives of the people fjia.ll be upreventatives in n.ahty. men who -are honestly using their best judgment for the public good. lint in A'liMralin tiny have been allowed to degenerate into a east - iron "machine" systim, in v.-hh-b men dare not call their .souls their own, buthave t!io hardihood to openly boast <■{' their -übscrvier.."e to any clique or cabal that '.'a'i succeed, in gaining a majoiity in the party. At gieat personal sacrirEe* Mr Eee'iv broke. !oo.se from, this doctrine. He holds it to be. as wrong for u member of I'arliaiiKT.t, to allow his vote i-» be coerced as to allow it to be bought. If only for that. lie commands sympathy. ' Hut beyond that he has shown marked ability in grappling with the knotty problems of administration which ..re psesented by tininvolved state of matteis political' and economic, and his hearty endorsement by the Liberals will be about the most poptila; step thai, they can take. It is hope, less to expect a. wise and fearless policy unless the jicoplo are repiesented by nieit of indepeiuleirv as well as of capacity. UNEMPLOYED .A.Xji IUTLWAY BUILIJIXC. A curious development has arisen on the northern coalfields. The miners, many of •whom are it: distress through unemployment, asked the Government to construct the railway from Cessnoek to Cockle Creek. The line is go "badly needed by the Caledonian Company that they 'have offered to construct,"'if. themselves. The Government, partly- from lack of funds. and partly for other reasons, cannot see their way to undertake tile work. The n-iii;«-F, therefore, although they still believe in the State ownership of railway?, are putting pressure on Ministers, through the local members, to allow the company to construct the line. It is said that "t would give employment to two or three thousand men, and thus tide over the present pinch, stud in addition would be of invaluable service to the trade of Cue district. It is instructive to note how promptly political theories are waved aside | when they conflict with everyday needs. 1 That is why socialism is not so formidable

as it seems. It would have- half the people starving and in open revolt before,it had got through a tenth part of its propamine. A SUGGESTIVE COINCIDENCE. It is noted, as a suggestive coincidence, that two very significant items appeared side by side in Saturday's papers. One was: " The subscriptions on Belgian Day constituted a 'record'" for New Soutli Wales." The other: " Tho finest rain that has fallen over very dry areas for more than, a year has been segistr-red. Ncarly every station from the western border to the highlands has participated." Undoubtedly the rain is a '•bonanza.'' It will bring its own troubles with it. U> stock already weak from starvation, but it should materially increase tho area tliat will be put under crop and provide somewelcome winter herbage. Was it mere coincidence? Can there be any such thing in a universe in which everything is C oit nocted with every thins •else?" Mav 18.