CORRESPONDENCE

Horowhenua Chronicle, 6 February 1912, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

! U ii <\,r> ;<tre their own ; Iho _ i cs(.;;n;;ibi!itj ot rWimi onl'iakt'i r.;ftiei*ut ballast for the editor'* shnut'ifirn. i oxw who wants to know. (To the Editor). •Sir, I ]invc on numerous occasions invited comwpondonce from-the ''Workers" in reply to my question regarding rises in wages, It is this'''How will they ever be ablo i'» prevent, by Act of Parliament, or otherwise, tho j)rices of commodities ■and necessaries going up in proportion to their demands?" I still maintain that rises in wages to tho "toilers" meanrs rises in merchandises, so bow can the latter be frustrated. Tin's same query appeared in your paper lately, and it was put to our present member personally, and he does not soem to be ablo to offer a solution. On .Saturday a telegram appeared in all the press of the dominion, lioadod Passing Tit On, Union •Steamship Company raises fares and froigbts owing to increased wages to waterside workers." Tile company in a, manifesto states that it is not seeking to recoil]) itself for the full additional charges, but it is itself absorbing one-third of tho extra ex[>ontse only. Wj; cannot argue that the Lnion Company has a monopoly because other steamship companies in Sydney and Melbourne have had to do the same, as cables of Sydney, -January 11th, and Melbourne, January 24th, will illustrate; and it always applies to business houses and employers who have no monopoly. It is only a natural seqnonco, and Mr Robertson and the toilers cannot cram down my throat that increased wages to butchers' and bakers' omployeeis do not mean dearer meat and brea<l to me and my family. I have heard of a, "Limitation of Rents" Bill being "tried on," but do tho Labour members intend to introduce Bills with such titles as "Limitation of prices for meat, bread, butter, etc." Bills. The day these are carried, then the increases in wages will not affect the consumers. I would like to hear Mr Robertson's views on the matter.— Yonrs, etc., ENQUIRER. Levin, oth February, 1912.