THE WAGES QUESTION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3262, 3 February 1931, Page 4

THE WAGES QUESTION.

In speaking to a delegation from the Alliance of Labour last Friday, the Prime Minister set out some plain home truths. Mr. Forbes, in the course of his remarks, said: "My opinion is that this country will come through with a minimum of hardship, but anyone who thinks we are going to do that with a high scale of wages is living in a fool's paradise." Mr. Forbes went on to state that our national income had been cut by twenty millions and asked how the country could carry on with its present enormous expenditure. Mr. Forbes previously announced that he was strongly against granting sustenance to men who were capable of working, and this will have the hearty endorsement of all right-thinking people. To-day we have nearly 17,000 registered unemployed, and this figure is being added to every week. With our national income so severely curtailed it can be asked how it is possible to deal with the unemployment problem unless the funds available are as widely distributed as possible. The money being spent on relief works was never meant to pay wages in the ordinary sense of the word; it was meant to provide temporary • relief for those out of work, and the sooner this is realised the better it will be for the "unemployed themselves. Evidently the Premier has come back to New Zeaand firmly impressed with the necessity of taking drastic steps to stabilise the economic and financial position. He now speaks with a decisiveness and clarity which never before characterised his words and actions. If he will act in the same way he will have public opinion strongly behind him. He says there is no short cut to bring this Dominion back to the road of prosperity and progress. It is going to mean a course fraught with many anxieties for the business men and hardships for the workers. The

short and easy way is available, but this will only lead to a limited period of normal times, and the repercussion will only bring about problems of greater magnitude than we are facing to-day. We are now dealing with a situation which is world-wide in its ramifications. We have much in our favour when attempting to bring the Dominion back to normal conditions, but our natural assets will be of little use unless there is co-ordination between all sections of the community. In addition to this there must be hard work by all; for it must be realised that we are competing with countries

n our exports where the hours of

labour are long and wages low as j compared with the Dominion. It is a popular fallacy amongst the leaders of unemployed and many others that there is unlimited capital in the country to deal with the problem of unemployment, and that the necessary funds can be obtained by taxation. It has to be realised, however, that taxation is a direct attack on wages. When the Government spends money on unproductive

works in order to help those who are ' workless,. wages must be paid out of revenue derived from taxation or by borrowing capital on which interest has to be paid. Both these sources of revenue mean a levy on capital. The workers "live on trade and commerce, both of which are subservient to capital, and every pound collected in taxation means a contraction of trades to which the workers must look for permanent employment. At the present time it is necessary to obtain revenue through taxation to help the unemployed," but the greater that taxation is the more trade and industry will be handicapped, and this will inevitably react on the workers and mean an increase in unemployment throughout the country. Most people who wish to see initiative, enterprise and the will to work maintained in this country will welcome the Premier's -statement that the sustenance fund will only be paid out in necessitous cases. We have had the experience of Great Britain on the dole, and do not want a repetition of the conditions in this Dominion. Employment of some kind should be made available - for those out of work even if it unproductive. The majority of the unemployed would scorn the dole if work was offered them, but there are some who would not act in the same way, and it is the conscientious worker that should have first consideration on these matters. It is most regrettable that Labour will not face economic facts, and realise that with our much depleted revenue the question of wages must be revised if the country is to emerge with honour from the most severe crisis in its history.