THE H.B. TRIBUNE. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 28, 1911. THE REAL FRIEND OF THE WORKER.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 290, 28 November 1911, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 28, 1911. THE REAL FRIEND OF THE WORKER.

It is > egreli able and extremely inconsistent that candidates on the (iGU'innieni side should, for the jittrpose of attracting the support of Labour, deem it essential to make virulent attacks on the capitalist. That these can have any effect on the thoughtful members of the class to whom they are addressed can scarcely be coneeh cd .but unfortunately there are some among our I working' men who arc inclined to an- | cept without demur or dissect ion | whatever falls from the lips of the j cand'date they favour. Labour aml| capital are entirely independent and tlie aim of the sincere politician should be to bring them into harmonious contact and not to incite estrangement between- them. Ihei supporters <>i the present Admims-| t rat ion especially should fully recog-j pi,e their indebtedness to the capi-j t.-dist. for without him i’imv of the t benefits they claim to have conferred! cm the les- fortunate of our common- | ilv would have been entirely impos-j sible. A party which during the (■mil sc of the last live w:**- has lu.-n abb- '.,.>■ i <■•.' some nineteen million! i" ostensibly io>- the good cl, the people, should sii'tl.V be tin- last Io aiimraie the e?;timiion of the capit ali- ; '. N<> doubt the great, majority of us would like to sec some mo re (■’.(■ i i d l s t r 0 ■ n. I. ■ 11 ol 11 m .v t < 1 11 h of Sim world, for most ef us would gain some apparent, if < vam-semit. advantage from the new division. I’mt so long as money represents the reward of etTori ami ability, so 1-mg >mt -t it ii nd to accumulate in the ’lands those who in that basis be . doses \e it. ft is quite conceivable tha* under the direction of a imrnl capable of gathering it together iimi'cv lie imide to do more good for the mass ot mankind than it it were ■ i- .■ n broadcast among them for t ach io administer his own littb* Tin- best workman, and therefore 11■- most productive ami v.ilttmember of the community, is the one who looks forward Io colsecting to himselt some of the v esihli vv hi. Is. as things are and must 1.-ng f oiiiinm- to he. forms the most common inrot'lm’ to individual eitdeavmr. Tim health’. . ompetilion v.l-h-b the essence of commercial i:f<- num cea-e. and it our place among th.- nations must be b>st. it material reward does not follow on per-.mal cff.>st and self-dent.".!, I he .■ li*Ii*ni, nt .U tlsritt seems to Itaxe l, ,-n .mtireiy eliminated from the , a-eg..rv of virtues in tlie minds, osa; mi.. ■atm upon tin- tongues, ot the da v i.oiit ieian. W ere t It is • ,m • • :, I.cp. :■■■ uh-ated ami more S( lie- longed I or re ... Js ;■ lucre ■ rtii.'. ■!■ <i:-t ttbtit ton . s’ ... I nm-.: im-vit ably follow, ■j -i ■ ' 'i larire augregat tonm. ai.d in lite ixro'ig hands made t;,.. hi i5m.,..,!! of oppression ..■atrmsi

bi* denied. But on the other hand one requires to give but little consideration to the subject io come to the cotmhmion that the great bulk of the capital "f the world is turned to benefit ends which could not be attained were its application not under strong and callable guidance. The capitalist is after all but the almoner of the people, and through him wealth is perforce exjiended in directions which must in the process of its necessary circulation operate for tlie good of the many. The man of vast wealth can only spend but an inconsiderable po>*tion of it in supplying his own necessities and providing his own luxuries and pleasures. and even in doing this he i.annot but. involve others in the benefit of his expenditure. For the rest, he cannot, unless of an essentially diseased mind, stow it away in his cellar, and every pound he invests must prove of some service to a fellow man. and the more intelligence there is exercised in the investment tlie more good the community derives. Witiiout capitalists few of the great enterprises of tlie world, ojiening up new sources of national weaitli and fresh avrnui’s for the employmcnt of the less capable, could have been under',aken. It is surely therefore the duly of our statesmen not to hold rhe man of means up as a monster deserving of all scorn anil contempt, but rather to induce others, by the strenuous exercise of sm h i':miilt.ies physical and mental as have been bestowed upon them, to try and win for themselves such part of the contemned wealth as they may deem their fair proportion.