OVER ZEALOUS OFFICERS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 144, 3 June 1911, Page 5

OVER ZEALOUS OFFICERS.

MAY GO TO THE RESERVE LIST.

In regard to the dismissal of Captain Knyvett, it is notified in the Gazette that, in view of the excellent previous record in 1 the defence forces of ex-Captain Knyvett, His Excellency the Governor will, on the recommendation of the General Officer Commanding, favourably consider an application by the dismissed officer to be posted to the reserve of officers, provided that such application be accompanied by an ample apology for and retraction of the letter which was the cause of the wnole enquiry.

There is a similar announcement in regard to Captain Mills of the Taranaki Rifles, application in this case to be accompanied by an ample apology for and retraction of the letter instigated by ex-Captain Mills which was the cause of his dismissal.

aware that every instrument of production must be kept in good order and repair if the best results are to be obtained by their use. Take, for example, the horses used by the capitalists. The man employed to feed them would receive little consideration were he to neglect their feeding or their cleanliness or be indifferent to the amount of work they perform. And the remark applies equally well if machinery and engines, and even buildings be substituted for horses as instruments of production. The best results in either case may be expected when the best conditions are supplied. Hence it is to the ’nterest of capital that everything used in the production of wealth be maintained in the highest state of efficiency. But is the principle recognised when individuals as workers are concerned? Does the individual as forming a part of a collective whole, receive the full consideration that is his due as an instrument in production? It is seldom, indeed, that he does, and most frequently he receives less consideration than is given to every other form of capital that is employed for the production of wealth.

SOCIALISM IS RAMPANT,

WHY?

It has become, clamorous to be heard, and demands are made for the State to control all channels of production in the interest of workers. But the interference of the State in the way suggested is not a likely solution of the present difficulty. Differentiation operates among men in civil, social and industrial life as among everything organic. You may strive to obtain identical results by the application of seemingly similar conditions, but you will soon discover that differentiations exist in degree and kind in all organisms, whether near or remote, so that it is useless for a Socialist to claim uniformity of treatment. And yet the State must do something for its individual members if they are to prosper in face of capitalism. (To be continued.)