OUR SYDNEY LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 16033, 9 February 1916, Page 6

OUR SYDNEY LETTER

MORE MONOPOLIES. Mr Griffith, Minister of Education, who is conducting the Parramatta by-election on behalf of the Government, promises us number of Government monopolies. 1 hev are in business in many offside ways now, as in the making of bricks, bread, and so on. Rut they have not yet attempted to obtain a monopoly of these things. Public opinion is certainly not ■sanguine as to the success of these ‘tentative experiments, and those who are best informed are least sanguine about the ability of Ministers to conduct big business undertakings. They neither satisfy their own employees nor their customers. The exploits of .Mr Hall, the AttorneyGeneral. in the wheat and butter markets of America are still fresh in memory. Besides, the Ministry is getting old. Very shortly it will have to give an account of its stewardship to the electors. Strenuous and daring innovations of the kind proposed are better adapted to youth and vigor than to the almost moribund condition in which the Government now find themselves. It is, however, a maxim that the things a Government promise to do weigh more potently with a certain class of voters than the things which they have already done. It is almost imperative to offer sweeping innovations, even if they would assuredly be changes for the worse. EXPORTING GOLD. If there is one point on which Labor Ministers believe themselves strong, it is high finance. Mr Higgs, the new Treasurer, shares this confidence to the full. He has placed an embargo on the export of gold, holding that the country which possesses most of the precious metal will come best out of the war. A deputation of the Victorian Associated Banks waited upon him to beg him to reconsider his decision, pointing out that it would cause grave embarrassment. Mr Higgs, however, was adamant. It has always been held that excessive issues of legal tender paper money, such as we have here, will drive out gold. Mr Higgs’s reply is simple and direct: “Tho gold shan’t go! That’s all there is about it!” The position is simple enough. The balance of trade is heavily against Australia. That is to say, she has purchased more) goods than her own productions will pay for. Gold is a part of her productions, and, in due proportion, is as legitimate an article of export as wool or wheat. We have not enough wool, wheat, or other commodities to redress the balance. But we can spare, so the bankers say. a good deal of gold. We are not to export that, and the only other way in which wo can pay our debts is in paper. Now, the more urgent we are to pay our creditors in paper undertakings the more desirous they become to get something more solid. The Treasurer says to the bankers: ‘“'You shan’t pay your debts in specie.” But nothing else will be a legal quittance, unless the creditors agree tp renewals or to other .similar expedients. By refusing to export gold when wo have it we take tho position of a debtor who could pay but won’t. Onr attitude has to he more humble and suppliant than would be necessary if we were really doing our best to liquidate our obligations. There is more gold in Australia than is needed, and it is not allowed to go where it is badly wanted. The Federal Government might help matters by ■ floating) a loan in London. But it is not certain that this would be practicable, especially as they arc thus going out of their way to “ crab ” their own market. JUST MISSED IT. At tho by-election at Dmmmoyne Mr Graff, the selected Liberal candidate, just missed getting the “absolute majority” which was necessary to return him. ‘it is a, liberal seat, but, seeing that two “Independent” Liberals were in the field against him, and three other candidates besides, it was something of an achievement to come within 176 votes of the coveted number. It is expected that Labor will do its utmost at tlie second ballot to ensure the return of the second on tho poll, Mr Parish. Unless the Liberals, however, are caught napping very egregiously, tho attempt is nob likely to succeed. Mr Frank Famcll, one of the unfortunate rejects, means, in defiance of the party selection, to hav© a “shy” at Parramatta, another borough where the death of tho former members has caused a vacancy. NO MORE TRUCE. At Parramatta, where there seems to be just the ghost of a chance for returning a Labor man, Mr Holman, the State Premier, lias declared that lb eve is to be no more political truce. There have been eight by-elections since the war commenced, and in none of them has there been a straight-out contest between the Liberals and the Labor men. In each case the seat has been loft to tho party which previously held it, and the other side have abstained from entering the lists. Tho defeat of the “selected” Labor candidate at Willoughby by Mr John Haynes, an “Independent,” lias, however, made that side very wroth, and at Parramatta Mr Holman opened the campaign for Mr Walford, the Labor champion, in a, fighting speech. In tho course of his remarks he adroitly “ side-stepped ” the burning question of liquor-law reform by an announcement that Labor is committed to the nationalisation of the traffic, and that a referendum will shortly bo taken on the subject in order to ascertain the will of the people. Tho temperance-people are pointing out that nationalisation would make everybody a shareholder in the business ; that it would convert every I’quorsellcrs into a public servant; and that the experience of nationalisation in the Northern Territory shows that it neither prevents intemperance nor strikes. Mr Holman also took credit for ’having saved an enormous amount of money for the people by keeping down the prices of commod : - lies. Mr Knibbs’s tables, however, which show tho cost of Jiving in the several States and capitals, throw grave doubt on tho claim. A PARALLEL. “Pins,” said the smart schoolboy in his essay, “is things what save a* lot of people’s lives by not swallerin’ of ’em.” Price-fixing it is argued, similarly save hioney for the people by removing from the market the goods affected, and thus making it impossible to purchase them. MALADROIT. Adroit as it may have seemed from one point of view, from another it was stupid to thrust tho liquor question on the good people of Parramatta. Tlie teetotallers muster very strongly, and the woman vote is also a more powerful factor than it is in many other towns. Mr Bruntnell, the selected Liberal, is an ardent “coldwater” man, and will have large support on this ground alone. Ho has,boon in Parliament before, and has shown himself quite as capable as the average M.L.A. Unless, therefore, the splitting of the Libera] vote by Mr Farnell operates injuriously, it is quite possible that the Labor men may find that it would have been judicious, as well as patriotic, to hav© -observed tho political truce a little longer. Mr Moxham, the. late member, was a very staunch Liberal, and tho seat might well have been left to that party. EVASION. As compulsory service is not yet the law of tho land it is quite possible to cradle enlistment. To evade the answerI ing of the “ recruiting appeal cards ” is not so easy, though numbers are said to be trying it on. They change their residences, and, as there is then nothing to reply to, they imagine they are exempt from the troublesome necessity. But the Government are quite within their rights, under the War Precautions Act, in insisting on a reply to their questions, and refusal or neglect is a penal offence. Mr Catts, the organising secretary of the State Recruiting Committee, is warning recusants that they are in danger of being proceeded against unless they promptly comply with all legal requirements. The names of nil the men of military ago are noted, and by the card system which has been adopted it is easy to ascertain who has replied and who lias not. The nonreceipt of a card ' does not excuse, for in the last resort everybody affected is supposed to apply for a card on his own behalf. ■ It is pitiable to.have to record very -attempts to.evade-a-jalain - and

simple civic duty. On the other hand, it is gratifying to be able to note that recruiting is proceeding so vigorously that there seems to be no shadow of doubt that New South Wales will furnish with ease her full quota of the additional 50,000 men who have been promised by the Federal Government, and of the reinforcements needed for the men at the front. ENEMY SHAREHOLDERS. The recent announcement by the Prime Minister that joint-stock companies must rid their share-lists of naturalised Germans has evoked some very vigorous protests. It is pointed out that to take the course required is likely to inflict loss on Australians. In companies in which there is still a liability on the shares the German will escape, and other shareholders will have to shoulder his share of the responsibility. On general grounds it is urged that it is supremely ill-advised, in the present ticklish state of the money market, to force heavy realisations. The consequences _ may extend far beyond the companies directly affected. Sometimes, too, shares owned by naturalised Germans are innocently held by financial institutions as security' for advances made to Australians. If the security is made comparatively valueless, the advance will have to be called in, and borrower and lender alike are likely to suffer loss. It is a very complicated business, and it is quite possible to do a lot of harm to our own people without intending it. CONSCRIPTION OF WEALTH. One of the cries which have apparently been got up by disaffection, playing on class antagonism, is that there ought to be a conscription—in other words, a confiscation—of wealth for war purposes. There would bo as much injustice in withholding tho market value of money contributed for the war as there would be in withholding pay from the men. That is a view, however, which finds no favor. “You have the power,” the advocates of confiscation say to the Government; " why don’t you take_ the money if its owners won’t lend it without interest?” The reply on the score of expediency seems- to bo as conclusive as that which rests on the ethical aspect. The wealth available for such purposes is the property of the nation, as well as that of the responsible owners. Tbat is to say, if they wore to be impoverished the nation would be impoverished also. Tho payment of interest provides for tho gradual reinstatement of the money expended, and thus staves off the threatened pauperisation. The scrip of a forced loan, carrying no interest, would be valueless, but the scrip of a loan contracted at the current rate of interest is worth as much as the money advanced. Tho nation gets tho use of the principal, and the lender maintains his monetary status. January 25,