The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1924. STABILITY AND TRANQUILLITY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 13 November 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1924. STABILITY AND TRANQUILLITY.

Delivered ever}' evening by 5 o'clock m Hawera, Manaia, Norraanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Manga’toki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road, and Ararata. ,

Mr. Stanley Baldwin has stated that the aims of his Government are stability and peaceful relations .with foreign countries. A continuance of these conditions is most necessary to the welfare of the United Kingdom and the whole of the Empire. The election resulted in the return of a strong Government, '-and with its great majority it should have no difficulty in carrying out its policy. Already the effect has been seen in the improvement in sterling exohange, and it is to be hoped that we shall soon read •of an improvement in trade throughout Great Britain, where many great problems have to be faced, the greatest probably being unemployment, which has baffled -statesmen during the last four years. With a total of about one and a quarter million 'unemployed, who have been kept from starvation by the payment of doles, Great Britain is facing a position which must be regarded as most serious. But fortunately the gravity of the situation is inspiring, leading people to make great efforts to find a solution. There is an intimate connection between trade depression and trade disputes, to which two factors unemployment is mainly due. In 1921 the flood tide of depression resulting from the war reached the highest level ever known in Britain, and with it came the great strikes, the coal strike being the wo ret. These upheavals caused the wage-earners to lose' nearly £35,000,000 in wages, while the indirect evil effect® upon all industries must have been beyond calculation. The year 1921 has been described as the Black Year in Britain, and the London Times wrote in its review of the year that its outstanding feature® were depression of unemployment and industrial strife, “all' on an unprecedented scale and with revolutionary agitation in the background seeking busily to exploit them.’’ In writing of the conditions in Britain at- the present time the Times r aid on September 30:

The revolutionary agitation, naked fl n d unashamed. which openly declares its intention of encouraging and fomenting trade disputes in oroer to overthrow the existing economic system of the world, is more persistent, than ever, and in no country is it- more actively promoted and encouraged by outside influences than in our own. That is the position, which all men of good wil-I—-Parliament and the public, employers and wage-earners—are called upon, by the mere instinct of selfr> reservation, to face. The time has come when they must recognise that every strike and every lookout is a fre-sh weapon placed in the hands of the unprincipled agitator. In existing conditions there is no guarantee that at any moment the country may not find itself face to face with labour disputes and trade depression and unemployment as extensive and ruinous as in 1921.

The Communist elements' during the recent election campaign caused trouble. They are not Labour, but

seek to exploit- it. On several occasions they have sought affiliation with the British Labour Party, but the latter has wisely refused. But the mischievous activities of Communists and revolutionaries will not cease because of the return of a strong Conservative Government, and it would not be surprising if they cause Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues much trouble in the near future. What is wanted in Britain to-day is not only a strong Government aiming at stability and Tranquillity, but a much clearer recognition by employers ,and employees in all industries that they must pull together to find a remedy for the present industrial conditions in Britain. Sir Robert Hadfield recently made the suggestion that all concerned should unite to stay the plague of strikes and lock-outs, which has in the past played such havoc with industry. It does not require more than average intelligence to realise how very necessary such unity is. If it existed there would be a rapid return of confidence and stability; cheaper production would be possible; workers’ conditions would show an all-round improvement; and capital, which properly employed is the workers’ greatest friend, could be accumulated for use in expanding industry and enabling the' employment of greater numbers' of people. Such, no doubt, is the stability for which Mr. Baldwin hopes, and to the attainment of which his Government will direct its energies. The relationship between Britain and foreign countries appears to be better now than at any time since the war ended, though Russia presents a difficult problem. To Mr. Ramsay MacDonald’s credit, he did meet with considerable success in his efforts to improve Britain's relationship with foreign countries, and apart from the Russian treaty, his political opponents ' have not criticised his efforts. However, Mr. Baldwin will have ample opportunity to continue, this work, and it is to be hoped that he will meet with success. The new Government will have its hand® full for many months to come, and throughout the Empire its work will be followed with' much interest.