THE COMING YEAR

Evening Star, Issue 17548, 31 December 1920, Page 8

THE COMING YEAR

; TO THE EDITOR. . Sir,—l was very much interested in Sir Robert Stout's contribution cpncerniiig the situation we are faced with during the coming year, and I shall be very pleasantly surprised if the state of affairs now existing in America is not reflected here during the next twelve months. More economy and more production are what we want to help things along. More production for our own local necessities is imperative, for who is going to buy our products if he has not got the money? The cables tell us that England is in the position of a prosperous shopkeeper whose customers are bankrupt. America takes at most onetwelfth of our exports. We are therefore dependent mostly upon the United Kingdom for our livings, and, unless England is going to sell raw material to Europe on credit or we do that ourselves, how are we going to get on if we do not find other markets? It is up to our High Commissioner and the agents of ofher Dominions that they should press England to supply Europe on credit, and sew that we have capable agents there to look after our interests and make sure that we get value in exchange. In certain lines the Dominion is now said to be overstocked ; but we still pay lOd for a 2|d handkerchief and 30s for a 10s 6d hat. If the man in the street is advised to give up his beer and tobacco, why should not the retailer be asked to make"a,sacrifice? Like all Prohibitionists, Sir Robert Stout loses sight of the fact that a little good cheer helps most men along the road. A glass of beer, an annual holiday, and a pipe or a night at the theatre help men to bear their troubles; so does a good dinner. To abolish these tilings •altogether is to court anarchy. In moderation they are good. Economists say that man is a many-sided animal. He is. He will not work a jaded horse because it is_ false economy ; but he will dictate to his fellow-man to rob himself of all pleasure and deprive himself of the necessary axle grease, forgetting the outcome of the creaking wheels, which will get on the nerves of the adviser as well as the advisee. There is one root cause—or, rather, more than one—which Prohibitionists do not touch upon—viz., too high a standard of comfort, flash houses, extravagance in dress, limitation of families, and dishonest efforts to get Tich quick. All these are worse than a smoke, a glass of gro*. a mild flutter, or a night at a play. Picture theatres displaying a lot of American " tripe " of the De'adwood. Dick variety are no benefit, but do more harm than good. If they educate and amuse or convey moral lessons thev do good, but half the stuff displayed is only fit to shv pumpkins at.

Why should everv Tom. Dick, and Harry want to live in a £I,OOO house and shorten his life to do so? Because he is an empty-headed ass. Why should his wife and daughter want to stalk around in a fur coat? Because she is vain, silly, and human, and wants a lesson which 'is coming along quickly. Give me the honest man and woman who are raising six youngsters, and if I were Bill Massey I would give them £45 a year for the rest of their lives and tax the shirkers; and if thev accumulated £IO.OOO I would take £5,000 of it at their deaths to help to pav the £45 per year to the next generation of honest couples. Also I would commandeer more from the rich defuncts who made their money because of these honest couples having provided a population to use the goods the~ rich traders dealt in : but I would not make conditions so stringent that I would destroy the means of producing money and so create unemployment. I would also establish a statistical bureau to provide information which would deter young fools and old fools from risking capital in avenues of trade, professional walks, etc.. already overcrowded. Sir Robert Stout spoke of the volume of totalisator investments. Did he divide by eight? There are eight races at each meeting. The same money circulates eighttimes, so that the total must be so divided. Seeing that the " tote " gets a dividend on each occasion and grabs the lion's share, truly it is in the aggregate a " mug's pame," and the wise punter who makes £2 in a day will button up his pockets and enjoy watching the other " mugs." However, some lucky people may be truly grateful that there is such a tribe of " mugs " in the world. But the " mug" bacillus gets into everyone some way or another, so let us all laugh and be nierry on beer, whisky, water, or limejuice, according to taste.—l am, etc., December 28. Dad.