COUNTRY PARTY POLITICS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXII, Issue 2722, 11 May 1931, Page 1

COUNTRY PARTY POLITICS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —The address of Mr R. H. Fiesst, of Cambridge, Vice-President of the Auckland Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union, as reported in the “Hauraki Plains Gazette” of Friday, May 1, 1931, can scarcely be accepted as a valuable contribution to a solution of the difficulties of the times. On one occasion the speaker appeared to be almost on the verge of stepping out of the groove and of volunteering a useful statement, but just at that point, when common sense was required to follow up his argument, he invariably “faded out.” Mr Fiesst must realise that the conditions of the Dominion to-day are in no small way due to the Reform regime and the influence of its counterpart, the British ’(Tory Party. With the late Mr W. Massey, and Mr J. G. Coates, both of whom were agriculturists, the Government of the Dominion has had a very high percentage of farmers as Cabinet Ministers and members. The actions of these gentlemen, taken in the sum total over a number of years, are not such as to inspire confidence in farmer administration. The speaker suggests, and rightly so that the foundation of the industry of the country is the primary industries section. In pursuing his subject, Mr Feisst then makes this astuonding statement, that “all industries are equally important.” From whatever angle this statement is considered it must appear farcical. Roughly, the output of the present system can be grouped into thre'e main sections. 1. The essential wants of man. 2. Products seriously detrimental to man and quite outside of essential wants. 3. An intermediary classification comprising items which do no particular harm and yet do no particular good. Following this theme further we find that class 1 contains foodstuffs, textiles, medical attendance, schools, highways, concerts, parks, houses and laboratories. In in the second, class 2, we have patent medicines, distilled spirits,

I opium, machine guns, poison gas, prostitution, gambling and speculation, dishonest advertising, quackery, super luxuries, and all other items which break or distort the bodies and minds of men. With reference to class 3, the list must include tobaccco, chewing gum, I fashions, moving pictures and commercialised recreation. All industries cannot be grouped as equally important if a little careful study is given to the question. In spite of the depression, the meetings of Mr Feisst must have been enlivened when in one breath the speaker stated “many palliatives are suggested, but these are of no use,” and in the second breath the Farmers’ Union representative goes “over the top” to present a plan of operation. In a general statement such as this the speaker condemned his own arguments, “burnt his boats,” and certainly must have left his audience awaiting a programme of drastic remedy, which in the language of our* Communist comrades spells ‘“mass action.” If there is one attitude which acts with boomerang effect it is a statement by a speaker that his opponents lack sincerity. In charging Labour leaders with holding one view in public life and another in private life Mr Feisst does his cause no good service. Can he substantiate this charge with chapter and verse? A lesson of political insincerity could perhaps be read in a detailed survey of the Reform Party platform for 1925 and the actions of the party since that date, together with a survey of the utterances of the United Party in 1928, and subsequent events relating to the Government. To re-quote Mr Feisst, “the present depression is the one and only remedy for correcting the false • standards which are in operation to-day.” Verily the speaker hit the nail on the head in the latter part of this statement. New Zealand is producing a greater i amount of the good things necessary for human livelihood than ever before. To-day, from the speaker’s own figures, the production per cow stands at 2101bs as against 160Ibs a short ; time ago. Coupled with the abundant production and wealth we have distress and starvation in “God’s own country.” The first contract to be j honoured by the representatives of , the people is not the paying of inter- . est to bondholders in London, New York, or Timbuctoo. The first duty of a Government is morally, l if not legally, to provide a fair standard of living for its people. From a humane standpoint the first charge on indus- ( try must be to provide a fair living for its workers and not, as to-day, to 1 provide dividends for shareholders. A study of the problem of the British 5 coal mines, together with the evidence ( and reports of Commissions, illus- 1 trates this point very forcibly. 1 As a representative of a party likely to appeal to the electors for sup- 1 port, it would be interesting to learn £ Mr Feisst’s view, on behalf of his £ organisation, with reference to the in- ; comes of New Zealanders. In 1928 1 half of the total income of the Dornin- s ion went to 100,000 persons, while over £23,890,000 was the price in unearned income which the workers paid

to support a leisured class. In 1928 there were 63 persons, who had £8,382 left after paying income tax, while 18 had £9,571 left in income for the year. To offset this position, 3,154 families of more than four’ were receiving less than £4 per week, while 18 of these were receiving only 8s per head per week. What remedy or change would the Union make in this condition of affairs? Mr Feisst stated that the incomes of the country must go up or costs come down; that it would be preferable to levy a tax directly on incomes; that the fixing of wages in relation to the cost of living is a policy, to be condemned. To complete the puzzle the speaker made the bald statement in reply to a question in which he agreed that the Government had been forced by the economic position to do things which the Farmers’ Union has been advocating for years. The speech reminds the writer of the man who decided to build a house. Without any plans or any idea of the lay-out of the finished structure the builder, erects a kitchen, and when that section is completed endeavours to add other parts, until finally the house is an ugly, lop-sided business, without system or co-ordination. Such is the patch-upon-patch idea of the capitalist system. The one underlying inference from Or. Feisst’s address is that the charges levelled can be interpreted as a condemnation of the present system of capitalism under which the economic machine is clogged to-day. Unscientific industrial and agricultural development, management and effort, coupled with expensive, overlapping, private enterprise is the hall mark of capitalism. The gospel of captalism, “seek first profit and all things else shall be added to you,” must pass away when a “common sense” policy is applied. To-day the feast of capitalism is being celebrated, but history repeats itself—the handwriting is on the wall. C. A. Y. Paeroa, , 4th May, 1931.

Miss Karin Anderson has the distinction of being the first woman to go to the Antarctic. She is the stewardess and the only woman on board the whaling store ship Lestris, which returned to Gaptown for coal early in March. She went to the 1 Antarctic last year in the Lestris, and found the conditions so difficult that she vowed she would never go again, but she went this, season, and now declares she is used to the work. In. the course of her sixteen years at sea, Miss Andersen has been shipwrecked twice. In 1926 she was in the Swedish ship Orno, which was going to salvage another ship, and went on the rocks in the Baltic. The second wreck was a year later, when the Swedish ship Ordon went aground in the Baltic and Miss Andersen lost all her property and was rescued in the middle of the night. She has been a year and a half in the Lestris. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed the big fat, jolly man, when offered a “gasper” I at an Auckland smoke concert, “a cigarette is about aS much to me, my my boy, as a leg of mutton would be to a vegetarian. Give me my old briar, and I’m happy.” There are plenty of smokers like that. A cigarette is all right now and then, but the seasoned smoker prefers his pipe every time. Ten to one he prefers toasted tobacco, too, because of its captivating flavour and delicious fragrance. He values it for another reason, also—lt is practically free from nictoine. The toasting rids it of the poison, while most of the imported tobaccos are full of it. You can market. That is the penalty every course there are imitations on the of uniform quality—the very best. Of no harm. There are only four brands: Riverhead Gold, Navy Cut No. 3, Cavendish and Cut Plug No. 10. These fine tobaccos vary in strength, but are smoke toasted till all’s blue, and take good thing has to pay.* K Good printing is essential to any business. No matter what your re« quirements may be, “The Hauraki Plains Gazette” will print it accurately, neatly and promptly at a reasonable price. '