A SYDNEY LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 12

A SYDNEY LETTER.

—♦ OUR DAILY- STRIKE. [From Ouk. Corkesi'Oxuexx.] f January -0. Tlie war has already affected Australia in many ways, but it, has had no effect upon tho great national habit of going on strike. Striking seems in this part of the world as natural as having breakfast. It is a solemn fact that down ab Ballarat the other day the Presbyterian parsons seriously discussed a strike against the attenuated stipend. In tho industrial field, however, strikes aro not discussed—people just go on strike and talk about the matter afterwards. About twenty strikes a day was tho average just before the war. It .s probably 60 per cent greater now. Last week there were dozens of little striken <ioing on, but throe were of considerable importance —the 'strike of South Coast millers, of waterside workers at Melbourne and of the miners ab Broken Hill. Added' to this, the owners of cows supplying Sydney with milk were threatening to go on strike unless tho Commodities Commission increased tho price they received to lid per gallon. In all tlicso cases the machinery for pottling trouble is available, and will iu tho end be used, but as a prcliminj.ry ovtryone concerned seemed' anxious to" start by losing a few days' pay and to impose loss and 7 inconvenience to others. At Broken Hill the result of tho strike is to interrupt tlie making of shells; at Melbourne, the result of tho wharf lumpers heconling idle was to seriously choke the railways and to add to the already great difficulties of the Government in obtaining transport for tho wheat crop, many vessels being thrown idle. Tbe public takes all this in a philosophic spirit.. It would' be a blank day indeed in Australia if one was unable to hear of "seething unrest" somewhere, this unrest mainly consisting of resentment at being asked to abide oy the terms of an agreement. Yet there is certainly something deplorable that during a period of war when the -work of everyone should lie devoted towards the common aim of adding to the national nroduction, there should bo this veritable orgy stopping work. And in the midst of it all tlie politicians and their innumerable laws to prevent striking look'equally futile. In a review of last year's work just issued b/ tho Miuister of Labour, the following delightful passage catches the eye : "In the great majority of the dislocations which occurred, intervention in tho public interests was made by the Department, and many of the disastrous effects of ftrikes upon both employers and employees were cither wholly prevented or substantially mitigated' It is probnbl? that in tbe industrial confusion and alarm caused by tho war, the standard of living of various sections of employees was for a^ considerable period in actual jeopardy, and that many groups of workers found themselves in an unusually bellicose mood throughout the greater part ot the rear. In cases where the danger was imaginary rather than real, the effects were none, the less serious, ami tho Department was practically continuously engaged upon highly onerous undertakings for the reconciliation ot employers and their employees." _ It might have been added that in thesa cases tho Department's continuous activity is mainly in the direction of helplessly wringing its hands and imploring everyone concerned to sink their differonces. THE FINANCIAL POSITION.

Takin" tivarytliirg into consideration, : business" in Australia, though loss in volumo than a couple of years ago, is still sumrisiugly good', fhero is sti "plenty of money about,' caused maiulv'lbv enormous Government expcnditire" and" partial realisation by gro.vo.-s if the wheat crop. Money for rnvcstmo.it is plentihil, and, though most of it is going into the war loans, advances are not difficult to obtain when the security is good. Die real estate market is inirly active but the Stock Exchange ,is very dull, blune values are well maintained, but in most cases quotatiens are on y nominal. \n T extensive selling would quickly break the market of sixty leading stocks, including bie veiies 'coal mines, Government debentures, banks, etc., it is shown that market vanes have on the year declined about 7 per cent, which nbout corresponds with tit higher price of money. Brewery share, have fallen heavily, and so, too have coalne shares, the fall in the former Tass o shares being fully 20 per cent, the result, no doubt, of nervousness at the insistent demand for early closing. The decline in coal shares may be* attributed to' the almost continuous ticeable feature lately has been tho enormous accumulation ot coin m the banks-a not particularly hen thy-sign "What is going to happen? said a well-known banker the other day to the writer of this letter "Well, jo be quite frank. Ido not know 101 lme when the war will end and how and then the future will be reasonably dear. As it is now everything is clouded. The certain thing is that if the war goes on for a year or two the markets for our produce nvil show a marked change in the wrong m ay. And equally certain it is that the less wo spend and the more we produce tlie better, for though a crisis n the old sense is almost impossible, only by a miracle will Australia, if the war goes on for a year or two, escape a severe shaking. Yes, values keep up well, but the underspinning is not particularly strong, and don't forget that there is a big bill to pay." PROTECTION OF GAME. Suppression of the " game hog,", a useful term employed by Mr Lewis, inspector of fisheries and game, in a report to the Chief Secretary in Victoria, appears to have been accepted resignedly bv the hog aforesaid, but the professional duck-shooter has raised his voice against a regulation which not only limits the bag to fifteen bird, per gun per day, but prohibits markctW the contents. To the professional shooter's mind this is undemocratic, more knee-bending to the wealthy and greasing of the fatted game hog. MiLewis's report to the Minister controverts this view. He says that the men who shoot for tlv.market use■ thei largest lccal gun possible, and often hasten two guns "together and thus lire them although this is illegal and may kill 100 birds or more at one discharge, while wounding as many more, lwo or three of these men working in a district will practically clear it ot ducks in a very short time, whereas it tho birds had not been attacked by professional shooters they would have provided sport for " a. thousand members of the community." Where one gun was sold to a "market hunter •' 100 mins would be sold to men who shot for snort Dealers would emplo v as many men whether th<v sold game or poultry and the farmer would receive better ' returns for geese, ducks, turkeys or chickens when game could not be sold Such, anvhow, are the equities of the duck problem as they present themselves to the mind of the inspector.

THE PRICE OF FRUIT.

Everv now and again one hears impassioned speeches or roads bitter lottors to the editor about the manner in which the man who grows fruit and the man who eats it are fleeced by the middleman, and urging the great benefits to be derived try co-operative marketing. It has never been very clear to the writer that this held out mueii hope of salvation to the eater of fruit, because the idea of the grower seems to go on getting the same old piratical price from the consumer as the shopkeeper exacts. Still, that there

is a tremendous difference between what tho grower gels for an apple and the man who assimilates it pays is a commonplace of domestic ' economics. 1 he writer made some- explorations into the field of commercialism the other day and found (1) that there is more cash in selling peaches' than in growing them: (2) that when tho citizen buys a shilling's worth of tomatoes from the trusty Greek ho buys about 3d worth of tomatoes and ninepenco worth of [ent, commission and downright loot. This is the history of the exploration. Through tho agency of a friendly commercial magnate who controls a "wheelbarrow, I obtained n case of excellent peaches at the wholesale market rate of I3s (plus a pint of beer for the aforesaid magnate, 4d). There were seventytwo peaches; market price, Jd each, which grower received, less railage, cartage, selling commission and the loss of the fruit that always evaporates on the journey. Two days afterwards .1 bought one shilling's worth of peaches in a shop a-nd was handed by the compatriot of M. Venezelos a bag containing five of inferior quality and one at, the bottom of the bag that was of no quality at all. If you care to reckon it out you will sre that the Australian grower got about 2d and the Athenian lOd. Next day the commercial, magnate discharged a case of fine tomatoes on the premises and departed with 2s (id. There were five dozen tomatoes in the box. The same day T saw the shop to which T usually go to get robbed decorated with the legend, "Prime tomatoes, 8 for Gd// Whether the man who markets his produce in this sort of fashion or the cjtizen who completes the deal by buying at such a. figure has the thickest head seems to be a fair subject for investigation.