NEWS AND VIEWS

Maoriland Worker, Volume 8, Issue 353, 28 November 1917, Page 1

NEWS AND VIEWS

Japanese as well as western peoples are feeling the pinch of the high cost of living. The artificial business boom incident to the. war has brought much money into the country, which has led to speculation in foodstuffs and all necessaries of life. The editor of "Yorodz'U" Calls for a rahiction of taxes on consumption and the imposition of a tax on war profits to lessen tho burdens of . the poor. Improvement in transporta-- ! tion facilities are urgently demanded as | a means of cheapening the cost of living. The C.S.R. Co., the big exploiter of ' the sugar industry, which is always on the right side of the ledger, is (reported at latest advices to have a difficulty i again. That difficulty is the old one of , not knowing exactly what to do with the ] profits. However, tho shareholders, after a big dividend, will be handed ■ shares which cost them hand-: some investment against the day when ' nationalisation takes place.—"Brisbane : "Standard."

"The American war loan of $2,000,000,----000 has been oversubscribed to the extent of about $900,000,000. Small subscribers will bo given the preference in making allotments. ,. There's method for you. Distribute the loan among the email subscribers, and the danger of repudiation is minimised. At least, the capitalist politcian thinks so.

The Jurabunna Coal Co. (Victoria) is to Be wound up because the .minors have refused to resume work, while the agement states that to employ inexperienced labor would be far too costly. Seems from the foregoing that the individual to whom is rightly applied an opprobkras term is not the great worker Fat's press would have us believe.

Says the "Australian Worker" of October 18: "A startling revelation was made before the Interstate Commission, sitting in Sydney, on Tuesday last. It was admitted that following the strike the trade found the cost of killing so heavy with 'loyal' labor employed, that the trade Disked the Attorney-Gen-eral to allow the increases obtained to continue beyond the time of expiration (August 18). This candid admission ;is in striking contrast <jo,the ifl; the paidrp^e^v^ttri^v "loyalists" were killing 18 beasts to the union tally of 10, at award rates, or doing the work nearly half as cheap! * * *t *

According to the "Cambridge Magazine" (18.8.17), ther© was tt Conference of Allied and neutral Freemasons, und«r auspices of the Lodge Grand Orient of Fraace, held in Paris towards the end of June. A resolution was passed defining acceptable peace terms, in which no mention was made of the acquisition of Trieste and tho Trentino by Italy, whereat there was a great howl in the Italian Capitalist Press, and Ferrari, the sculptor, head of the Italian Grand Lodge Orient, hast been compelled to resign his office. The Italian Clerical Press also draws attention •to the fact that the Paris resolution makes no mention of the restoration of Belgium, and insinuates that this is so, because "the German occupation of Belgium was essentially masonic in its object, "Belgium being notoriously a stronghold of "Clericalism. , The Lodge Grand Orient of France is strongly anti-clerical.-"

When the Mongolia struck misfortune it had on board a Sydney woolseller named Winchoombe, of the firm of Winchcombs and Carson. The .wealthy woolseller was saved but he afterwards" died from shock, and it is now stated he left nearly .£60,000 behind him. He started ac a olerk, but found selling the fleece more profitable than pen driving. * * * *

Mr. G. B. Ardill, who has lived' for yeara on the gospel in Sydney, has re* signed the secretaryship of the N.S.W. Publio Morals Association, after holding the job for 20 yeare. The oily George once brought on action against the "Australian Workman." Maorllaria readers may not know the man, but if they have read Dickens' "Bleak House" they have Ardill to a tick in preacher Chadband. Ardill ran a home for fallen called the "Home of Hope." Dick Sleath, M.P. for Broken Hill, described the institution as the "Home of the Hopeless." The Master Builders of Australia have been going for the scholarly Justice Higgins of the Australian Arbitration Court. "Australian Worker" on the bricks and mortar brigade: "To find a small body of ignorant and greedy master builders (all reaching out witb both hands for big jobs) attacking n judge of such dignity, erudition and. ■brilliance, is enough to make the gods weep. The unionists don't get all they want from Justice Higgins by a kmg

> way, but they have come to trust him ■ as.a man who can be neither bought . nof bullied." "The most important event in thie ■ mouth of August in American politics, ' ; with the single exception of the Pope's ', peace proposal, is the Socialist victory ; iri .Dayton. Dayton is a fairly repreS : i entattve Middle West city of just over ■ ' IIIO.UOO inhabitants; yet w e have the 1 i Democrats snowed under, Republicans ' 1 beaten to a frazzle by avowed Socialists j first real protest in the United > ■ States in favor of peace."-^Fran-k Harris, in "Pearson's Magazine." i •β-ani.: AFhistle blows. Start work. ' ] Don't bustle. ■ I ' ' 10.30: Light lunch, smpke-<oh! and loaf*! : ohi ; 10.45: Light work. i '12 Noon: Whistle. Heavy dinner ' steaming hot, wine, cigars, ladies in at' : tendance, inoluding Madame Melba. 2 to 2.30: More loaf-ob, stnoke-oh, and kill time-oh. "' & p.m.: Lunch. 4.15-5.30: General slowing down —direct ' inaction. ■. "■; , ! Glorioa , ? "condition?. But it is NOT the time-table of the I.W.W. man or the I trade unionist/ That is the prbgraanane •'. of the miserable cheese mites, who took the place of the sturdy union men who went "on strike against the system of^i, grind and drudgery and a barbarous : card code that the capitalistic Puller Government tried fa foist on tlieui.— Brisbane "Daily Standard." In Australia the annual value of production, ;as from 190G is stated to be as follows:—----19Q6 „.. " .1912 57,022,000 ,1913 01,586,000 :',1914 62,883,000 ,j 1915. 62.883,000 Tliia proves that Australian workers have beeu "going slow." In the "Socialist Review" Mr. Moreli says only a tenth of. the population ot Alsace Lorraine is Frenoh. Alsace was German territory till IC4B, wten it was ceiled to France by the Treaty of Muns:f<iv.' Lorraine was formerly ceded to ifranceionly in 17GG, ,on the death of ;'|fch'e- prinee.r.Stanislaue LeSzenski, Dulie vl Of"toi'raine. ■""• ;••.■■>■.:-■•,

The United States and Canada have announced a wheat deficit of 400 million bushels through : reserving a supply for neutrals Who are furnishing vital necessaries. TJje Allies' requirements are 577 million bushels against' a North American/ surplus of 208 millions. The North American surplus in other cereals, mostly fodder, is 950 million bushels, against the Allies' requirements of G74 million bushels. The Food Administration recommends American to. substitute a lb of other cereals for a lb of wheat flour weekly per head and to reduce consumption from 5 lbs. to 4 lbs.

As a means of economising in home transport a Eoad Transport Board has been formed in Britain, and butchers, "bakers, grocers, ftc, will be compelled to use the same vans. Tradesmen will be restricted to certain areas, exchanging customers with others to avoid overlapping o|) deliveries. Motoring for pleasure will be a punishable offence.

San Francisco commenced the municipalisation of its trame in 1912. It now has fifty miles of publicly owned track, or about one-fifth of the mileage owned by private companies. Last June the wages of conductors and motonmen, then the highest in the > States, were raised from $3 for a day of eight hours to $3.50 a day, with time and a half far overtime and half time for waiting orders. These city employees are also given twelve days' vacation eaoh year with pay. There is no gradation in pay, the new employee getting the 6ame compensation as the man of long experience. *fc •£» % •£ In Socialist papers from Great Britain scores of meetings weekly in favour of peace are reported. Enthusiastic re' ceptions are given to peace speakers. In only the exceptional case are they met with uncontrollable opposition. A gratifying feature of these reports is the demand for Socialist and Pacifist literature. At nineteen week-night open-air meetings mentioned in recent British exchanges no less than .£2B worth of literature was sold, mostly penny pamphlets. * * % * A daily paper telle us that tlw utmost freedom prevails in Ireland. Tho same paper eaya that the military authorities "proclaim" (forbid) meetings and not only proclaim them, but chow that they are able and determined to enforce their proclamation.