LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 17792, 14 October 1921, Page 8

LEAGUE OF NATIONS

ITS CONNECTION WITH LABOR. In continuation of the League of Nations campaign, Professor Pringle last night addressed a meeting of members of trades unions in the Trades Hall. Mr F. Jones (president of The Otago Labor Council) was in the chair, and, in introducing the lecturer, said he felt sure that after those present had heard Professor Pringle's explanation of the League of Nations they would be able to make up their _ minds whether Labor should throw in its lot with the League.

Professor Pringle, who spoko for about an hour, dealt, mostly with those aspects of the question which are of direct interest to the Labor movement. Reasons why trades unionists should interest jhirasclves in the matter were that there was scarcely any class in the' community that was more disastrously affected by war than the wage-earning class; and, secondly, that war had a most demoralising effect upon the whole community, and Labor could undoubtedly play a largo and important part in restoring the trade confidence that was so necessary at the present time, and also the confidence of man in man. In touching upon tho origin of the League and the official organisation through which its functions were enrired out, Professor Pringle referred to the International Labor Office which had lieen constituted so ns to represent the different Governments, tho employers, am! the trades unions conjointly. One of the principal aims of tin body was to advance the common goo of Labor among all the nations of th world, so that the, standards of living in the least progressive countries might be raised to the standard of those countries which were more advanced. He appealed to flic representatives of Labor to take an active interest in the affairs of the League. Provision had been made for the representation of the Trades and Labor Council on the executive. It was a modest provision at present, bub if they affiliated there was no reason whatever why that representation should not be made much larger. 'Die work of this local branch was to focus all sections of the community who were opposed to war, and it would endeavor to educate the people along those lines and along the lines of a broad international sympathy. He was sue? no section of the community was more deeply concerned with these matters thin the Labor movemeit, rnd ho appealed to them to help in building up an enlightened public opinion not only in

menfc dairying experts Is bearing fruit here. Much remains to be dono in bringing our milking herds up to the best standard, but farmers are beginning not only to realise tho need for using only purebred bulls, but that pure-bred cows can produce a given amount of milk and butter fat cheaper than cross-bred cows—i.e., for a stated amount of feed. Tho dairy farmers of Otago are beginning to wake up to the necessity of increased production, in view of the prices to which dairying land has risen. Sales of new motor cars continue to be made, bub it is significant that the great bulk of .them, if not all, are town orders. Formerly the country buyers of cars outnumbered the town buyers. TEA MARKET. The Colombo Commercial Company’s report for August states that supplies have been on a small scale, and tho quality of the offerings for the first throe auctions being, generally speaking, well maintained, a further sTitistn.ntial advance in prices was registered, especially for leaf teas. Owing to unfavorable weather, however, a marked drop in quality was noticeable at tho sale of August 23, which was accentuated at tho closing auction, and quotations declined considerably in sympathy. It is invariably difficult to predict'the future of any market, but in tho case of tea it appears to be only reasonable to assume that if Ceylon, from a climatic or any other point of view, is going to produce a large proportion of common, undesirable tea it will not be wanted, unless at a figure on a par with Indian and Java offerings, which means a very substantial drop from present prices. Under existing conditions a large quantity of reallv good tea. must bo produced, and will be strongly supported, although naturally on a lower basis, due to the absence of standout flavor. About tho middle of the month exchange advanced, and for a short, period banks refused to purchase bills. This, however, proved only temporary, as business was re- | sumed shortly afterwards. The three ; months’ rale on London is strong at about Is s[d. It was considered likely that tho, sales would be affected on account of this ; | but tho advance proved insufficient to in- j terfero with Hie demand. | Whittal and Co., Colombo, reported for | the same month ; “ The auctions during the ; month of August comprised 68,377 pack- I ages, containing 6,882,6381 b. The total | offered at local auctions, January 1 to I August 31. was 56,612,7111 b. Slip plies dur- I ing August have been somewhat short and , below normal for the, season of the year, j Quality generally was attractive, but showed a" falling off towards the end of the month. Brices generally have been fully maintained, although, of course, where quality was inferior lower values were established. A feature has been the | extraordinarily strong demand for well- ; made and good liquoring Pekoes, principally due to keen American demand. Prices for this grade advanced from six to , eight gpld cents per lb during the month, i It may bo expected that offerings from I now onwards will hardly possess such fine, flavor as has characterised Ceylon tea dur- 1 ing the past few months, ft must be re- 1 niembered, however, that where a falling off in quality referred to, it does not mean that tea is less carefully manufactured, hut simplv that fine flavor is, lacking on account of climatic conditions.” THE DRAPERY TRADE.

A couple of months ago the London ‘ Times Trade Supplement’ stated : “ Support of the view that retailers have not adjusted their selling charges to the much lower market rates is now forthcoming from the Merchandise Committee _of the Drapers’ Chamber of Trade. This committee, in the course of a report on stock valuation for excess profits duty purposes, expresses the opinion that drapers ‘have not fully realised the drop in values.’ It would seem an obvious deduction that if they have not realised the extent of the price decline, they cannot have passed it on to their customers. It is also suggested by the committee that drapers should ‘ for their own information ’ ascertain how great has been the depreciation, and should compare prices paid for merchandise in stock with the figure at which similar lines can now ho bought.” In response to certain comments passed by us on the same subject recently, there has been forwarded to us on behalf of loading local drapers a, list of goods showing the ruling prices six to twelve months ago and the prices to-day. The comparison excludes anything in the nature of luxuries, comprising only plain goods needed by the average person. The list disproves the idea, if it is held, that there has been but a small reduction in drapery. The list is as follows:

this country, but in the commonwealth of nations, so that war would bo a thing of tho past. , In ans.vcr to questions, Professor Pringle said the League of Nations had no power to interfere with the domestic legislation of any particular Governments, except in regard to Labor matters.

Asked if there was not somo inconsistency in advocating the aims and object of the League and at the same time advocating a narrov nationalism among the school children, the lecturer said in reply that he deprecated anything in the way of jingoism, and in bis opinion the school children should bo taught that other nations besides the British nation had produced many great men. On the motion of Mr H. V. Freeman, seconded by Mr P. R. Triggs, tho following motion was earned unanimously: “ That it is desirable that Labor should link up with the League of Nations and support the local branch of the union.” Tho meeting closed with a hearty vote of thanks to Professor Pringle.