WESTPQRT NOTES

Grey River Argus, 12 November 1920, Page 4

WESTPQRT NOTES

WESTPORTONIAN'S NOTES, i

The ' Capitalistic press, or should I say the pre s s that chanipio'is the capitalist? *are getting the wind up. The cost of living bonus i s what disagrees just now. A northern contemporary, that i s the polite way u s literateurs put it, ha s leading article in Tuesday morning's issue, upon the matter. As usual, with this confraternity, they take the line of argument' that increases of wages are the reason of increases in prices. They never beard, of course, of commodities increasing in price before the. workers got any increase in wages and if they did happen 'to hear something to that effect, their memory is what they forget with nnd tfce matter i s forgotten. Before the miners in the Old JDart received one 'penny of increase, after the strike, prior to to the wair, it- was estimate* that the mine owners made a clear £3,000,---000 out of enhanced price ,and it should be, if it is not p^ain to any thingi.ig person that the New Zealand Arbitration Oourt, relying upon, Government statistics, are not overdoing \t } when they gra.-it to the workers a bonus of 2£ per<ce per hour to enable them to cope with prices, which have already riseJi, have in fact been rising evei 1 since the previous bo-.ms \va s was granted. The worker lias been making leeway all the time, and now, when a bonus ig granted, it is a very long way behind the wage prevailing before the war, that iis real wages. Much ig endeavoured to be made of the fact that potatoes are cheap, from Mr. Massey and lesser people. It is even suggested by your vnorthernj contemporary that people should eat less bread and more potatoes, should not be lavish in their use of butter etc., and, when this 'fctatej of thinks had come about, no doubt a gentle hint to knock out the beer aiyl tobacco might induce the Government Statist to lower his estimate. There ai'e so many things the worker could do without, if he. could only be persuaded, but evidently he has come to \ the conclusion tfcat he requires just as good fare as some people who run rjswspnp^vs svttd what's move, intends ' to have them. This appeal for a fod- ' tier allowance will not go 'on for all time, the time must come when the y worker will get the value of his l.v- >' hour and no Arbitration Coxirt, or •pen-pushing pressmen, dictate what or c how much he shall eat. . j

Regarding the cheapness of potatoes: If Australia would have f-ik-eii our potatoes, blight infected, or otherwise, how cheap 'vould they have been in -Noo Zee? When we 'come to consider the low price the producer is getting and the med'uin priro the consumer" pays, there ?s ?.-iH room for believing that someone, is doing r.ot too "bad iv between.

[t i s rumoured that ,those effected by the Printers Award are having some difficulty in getting the retrospective allowance fixed up satisfactorily. If that is so, and it ha, s to be made good and a 9s weekly bonus on top of that, we may expect to hear of a- vigorous canvas of advertise monts. There i s s^U room for a few more in. our local papers. Mr s Barto.i. sem\, we regret to state, has been removed to the hospital for treatment. We wish her a speedy recovery. • Mrs F. Luff, one of our oldest and most respected residents is very ill mdeed. It is to be hoped she may improve shortly. On dit. There is a probability of action beirjg taken against a number of watersiders for bendng th e Agreement. Would it not be bettei' to adjourn it Sine Die? Mr E. Fox, who is made to appear a s blaming the "'Argus" for misrereporting his sayings when speaking upon hospital matters in Greymouth recently, denies the soft impeach ment, and i s now of the opinion that the local paper missreprese'.itied i" its issue of the 10th just w.hat he did s ay. That's the fault of some of these papers, they make a fellow say what he didn't say.