The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” THURSDAY, AUGUST 11th, 1921 A CHECK.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 August 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” THURSDAY, AUGUST 11th, 1921 A CHECK.

(jeni-: the most disappointing item of nous in Tuesday night's onblegranis, was llio announcement mndo by 1U lliin. Lloyd George that ho would not ho able to attend the forthcoming conference in the. United States. The news was disappointing, because it discounts very materially the high hopes llnn were being entertained ns to the outcome ol' that conference; also, was the item very disappointing in the folding that matters even more important than disarmament, were likely to detain the liritish Prime Minister at Home, j There was yet a third reason why the j message struck a disappointing note. | flll d that was that Mr I'Joyd George was j not going to enjoy the semblance of a j holiday which the jaunt to the United j States would have afforded our great- j ost political a.«set. The last seven years ! of the statesman’s life have been ardu- i oils indeed. Probably there are no two | or three other men in the whole world •vho jointly have had file like yoke of

responsibility to bear, and duty to perform, than has been the lot ol Mr Lloyd George. Fellow statesmen in England have not lasted out the pace, nor did they “wear” as satisfactorily. Many of them, no less willing, and no less ready to do their duty, had to give up the work, their health breaking down. Others had to yield up their portfolios. Providence has been kind indeed to Great Britain to give* her in the hours of crisis a man of the acumen and stability of Mr Lloyd Georg*. Of course, he has not been always right in those seven critical years, but be has been many times indispensible. Despite all that has passed; all that Britain lias done, or attempted to do, our nation stands to-day on the proudest pre-eminence, and for that notable position the greatest measure of credit is due to Mr Lloyd George personally, who. through fair wind and foul, through blinding storms and rocking seas, bas kept firmly to the helm, and held on the good ship of State td that great haven whore she would be. That Ik* may not go to America at this juncture we regard rather as a cheek to the high hopes held of possible developments at the American Conference, and it is just to he leafed that nearer Homo there is the shadow of a cheek to a I masterpiece of negotiation now going on which does not promise that early happy release the nation, wo are sure, is devoutly praying for. Whatever holds j hack the Prime Minister we may be : sure it is something more important j than the special business the President j ot the l lifted States has suggested, and j Hiking that view there is the consoling i fact that again Mr Lloyd George will | be at tin* pest of duty to render to the | nation a continuance ol those eminent j services lu> lias given always to the j Empire. Probably Britain will he i'‘presented at. the Conference by Mr I Balfour ami Lord ('nrzon. both of whom ri;Und particularly well with the .Americans. We don't know, in fact-we doubt, ' if Mr Lloyd George stands in the s ame | esteem with the American nation, but j bis magnoctie personality and bis gift of outlook would assist so much the more to enlighten our American cousins as to the real man Mr Lloyd George is. Still, if lie may not go, others mju.st lake his place, and no doubt the best possible choice will he made. Wo hope sincerely that, the check wo fear will j he more imaginary than real, and that ! in the end all will he well, and the J' great November Conference will yield I results whit'li will he all for the better j moot ol Immunity at large over all tin* world. j I Since the foregoing was written i'tirj tlwr cablegrams bring the more eheerI l ul news that the first report was *in--1 accurate, and that there is still the J probability of Mr I). Lloyd ( Jeorge atj tending I lie fateful conference.] -a--"* ,wjpm.s*i-wi*.-rx' JSIWTT'V j Tun query as whether “Trade Unionism | is sound " has been put forward by Mr i.l. 11. Bunting, an economic writer at j Home. He was prompted to study the question in “ a fearless attempt to es--1 tablish a permanent improvement in the I lot ol tlie workers,” and to make “ an I attack upon every attempt to destroy I l In* freedom of exchange which is inseparable from national prosperity’.” ; In his treatise, Mr Bunting propose* to i Labour that its unions shall, for a i period of three years, and under de- ; lined safeguards, cease to be agents for securing a minimum wage, and become instead registrars of labour and the menn s by which it shall receive a greatci proportion of its own product, hi place of endeavouring to lix wages, the unions a.re to register tint rate paid by the employer to every worker, with the conditions of employment. Wherever and employer is found to he paying less than the market wage, or imposing had conditions, tlm unions will facilitate and assist peeiiiarily the removal of workers to places where better wag 's and conditions are olferod. Every i \ orker is to arrange his own terms with employers, tin* union helping him ; by affording flic information which enables him to sell his services where they haw the greatest worth. Employers ape to he encouraged to train workers ißt become more efficient, producers: I where, a trade pay s generally a rate of wages'much below the average, workers ,'ii e to he helped to enter more remunerative trades, the cost of training being , ailviineed to them. This, again, would , raise the wages in these employments through the competition ol better-paid i trades. Swell is the fairest outline of the author’s project, and although there j will ,!ouhtlcs s l,e many who will disagree with his views. this book is worthy of more than passing attention, by all serious-minded persons. The j broad idea, ol the scheme seems to he j peace in industrial walks, and to seek I to uplift the lot of tin* worker, not j under stress of strikes or direct action, but, by a system of amelioration for the betterment of employer and employee through improved production ami higher quality. .Just as we are j offered disarmament as a panacea to i cure the prospects of war,' so there is j an offer here of a scheme whereby work will be found for the worker under ini- j proving conditions, created not by exacting unions demanding the reforms, but by organisations capably working to that end without threats or reprisals, j The new theory will not he readily accented of course, it would not suit many

factions who dearly love a tight and desire to keep on fighting, irrespective of the cost, Imt it must be admitted that there arc great possibilities in the such a proposal were worked out to its logical conclusion.

Tun Hospital Board is still putting off to “ a more convenient season ’ the work of erecting the additional wing and administrative. quarters, which the public are told so often, as so urgently required to complete the internal economy of the Westland Hospital. For years now, the Board (past and present) has been pleading with the public for the money. The people were told that the ward to he' replaced is “a. disgrace.” Chats with the staff and a casual look through the quarters confirm that opinion. The people were told too, that the nurses’ quarters were specially faulty; that tin* night muses could not secure proper day rest, under existing conditions, nhcl so on. Still, the work is not undertaken. The Board has now in hand a sum in advance of the amount it was first anticipated would he necessary. Yet no action. The members justify the delay by waiting for costs to fall! They ignore the inefficiency of the present buildings, an-d the risk patients run in inhabiting the condemned ward, or the lack of comfort and privacy the nurses have to put up with. Apparently that has no estimate in value. Prices in the aggregate are not likely to fall materially unless labour drops, and that is not within sight yet. 'Tradesmen everywhere are scarce, and the scarcity in skilled labornl means prices must keep up. Some commodities have dropped, hut the sawmillor holds cut little hope of timber falling in price. Bricks and mortar are not likely to fall readily, if then it is a case of waiting for a drop in prices, the wait will he long drawn out—years in fact. The public in their generous contributions to the building fund showed their interest in the work, and for a thousand pounds or so more or less in price, tin do not wish so necessary a building to he deferred indefinitely. In any ease the building will not go up in a month or a year. It will take probably two years to erect, and long before the building is a retted, the difference between whnL is now in hand, and the actual cost, would be readily forthcoming, for the people have always been liberal in their contributions when an appeal was made on behalf of the hospital. Wo feel quite satisfied that if the Board lias the courage to go forward in this matter (which the members have

held always to he very urgent) the people and I real bodies will he behind the scheme to carry it through, and sen the sick and alHietedj and the mu-s----ing stall healthily housed and comfortably settled. It is the fashion to rail against the Government in regard to the. condition of a neighbouring institution on Sea View Hill, but here is a work directly under the control of the public, the need for which has beer published time and again in the years gone bv, and s till the building is not I rovided. The members of the Board and the public have a dual liability, therefore, to see the new building pushed to completion without further lackadaisical delay.