CAN WAGES BE FIXED?

Evening Star, Issue 18534, 17 January 1924, Page 8

CAN WAGES BE FIXED?

EXCHANGE VALUE OF LABOR. Is it possible for any Government having charge of the affairs of Great Britain to fix and maintain the wages of its manual and service workers on any basis other than, that of the exchange value of the goods produced? (writes W. A. Appleton, in the ‘'Weekly Scotsman’). _ The answer to this question is of tho greatest importance to everybody, for if any political party can provide a Government capable of fixing and maintaining waged on any other, and presumably better, basis, all should unite In securing for it the necessary opportunity. If, on tic® other hand, tho fixing of British wages without regard to international exchange values is beyond tho capacity of the Government, many of tho wages claims advanced by certain types of politicians in Die Labor Party are unsustainable. If it id some power outside the political parties and superior to any popularly-elected Government which dobormiiff.es tho exchange value of goods and the general level of wages, wo ought to understand what and where that, power is, and put ourselves in accord with it. Insistence upon this point is necessary in spite of the frequently levelled charge that such insistence displays lack of sympathy with those who work. That sort of taunting criticism oh very cheap, and gets n« nowhere. .Sympathy by itself may satisfy souls, but it fills no stomachs. Much bettor than mcro sympathetic utterance id practical effort; and, in face of tho millions of plat form promises and the millions of"totally, or partially, unemployed, wo are all under an obligation to make this practical effort to get at, tho truth as it affects wages and the power to determine them, HOW HOT URNS ARE INLTTENGED. . Wages axe at present the returns obtainable in respect of efforts made and time occupied. In an ideal State they would bo the rewards given in respect of efforts made and valued created. They are demanded, not only by actual producers of commodities, but by all who claim to render service, even though some of these services are of doubtful value. The sum available. for distribution is, broadly speaking, tho sum realised by sale or exchange of goods manufactured, or capacities exerted. So far as Groat Britain iff concerned, this total sum da seriously affected by the fact that much of national production is, and must bo, destined for markets over which the British Government has no admitted control. In these foreign markets tho exchange value is more or less determined by the competition of other alien firing It doeff not help a manufacturer in the least should ho say: “My goods cost £I,OOO to produce, and I must receive £I,OOO, plus cost of marketing, before I sell.” If his competitors were in a position to undersell, he would bo told it did not matter a braes cent what his coffis of production were, but that the market price being below his cost he would have to cut that and come down to what other sellers were prepared to accept. VALUE, WHICH MATTERS. Can any British Government, Labor or otherwise, interfere and impose a compulsory price on the buyer in America, Australia, India, or Russia? Can_Jt, by interference with the buying rights of people in, other countries, obtain suolt an increase in selling price as will enable it arbitrarily to raiffe the wages of ail homo workers? If it cannot, it ig useless to talk of obtaining higher wages by political action. What any Government could do would bo to imitate the' Government of Germany and Russia, By increasing tho supply of currency these Governments have given more money, but they lave not given greater value, and, after all, it is value which matters. If our Government decided to substitute the figure 2 for the figure 1 on tho Treasury notes, it would not necessarily follow that the note would purchase twice as much food as it purchases to-day. On iho contrary, by decreasing credit, it might bo expected to result in higher laics of interest and an increase in the cost of everything bought from tho oountrieff adversely affected. A good example of this is furnished by Lancashire, which to-day is paying America round about Is 5d per pound for raw cotton; and she is paying, In addition, the exchange difference between the £1 at 4.86d0l and 4.60d01. Poor Lancashire I Because she has to pay tlda piioa she is, in spite of tho skill of her oporativeff and tho enterprise of her mauufaebrers, pretty well handicapped out of tho markets of India and China, and many of her people are receiving no wages, or only half-wages. How would a Labor Government deal with this situation? Would it steal tho raw cotton from America, or would it force tho Indian and tho Chinaman to purchase woven fabric at a price which would enable the Government to give the Lancashire workers a comfortable standard of living based on post-war propaganda? NO ECONOMIC MIRACLES. Economic miracles are no longer possible. If we want to secure real wages wo shall cease dependence upon Hie promisee of aspiring politicians and devote ourselves to the unprejudiced study of the situation in which, as a people, we find ourselves. Our definite purpose should indeed bo to obtain higher and still higher wages. Not higher in appearance only, but in fact.. Not more currency, but more of tho things! which go to make life lesw like a tragedy. Tho rate of wages is of less importance than Is tho value of them, and a. truly high wage does not handicap production or selling) provided tho effort of those who work is commensurate. No man in his senses wished to see low wages, but if it is to bo fix hourff and £1 a day, it can only oomo in os mental and) physical “ca’ canny” goes out. Tho novcr-to-bo-forgolten faofc about wages is that iho sum total of national earnings has to be divided by the number on the national pay roll. Profit-takers, wage-earners, dole-receivers, all demand a share. If iho national total is small tho individual share must bo small also. Neither party nor Government can alter this, though the latter can, and frequently does, when involved in foolish enterprise, itadf take too big a share.