THE GREAT ILLUSION

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 31, 1 August 1923, Page 14

THE GREAT ILLUSION

"The point about the Capitalist sya- '• tern.: is that it works,'', said the ProEessor of- Economics recently. "We -. want business men to rUn the coun- . try," said Henry.

; Now sneaking Jas ajVag, and a Vag is one tiat love V.a Dul?b,, speaking as a Vag, I would like to warn King George never to have his;photo taken in his pyjamas. So long as : he sticks to gold 'lace and epaulets the crowd will stick to him.

That's why .there is a ceremony at the opening-of-Parliament. A thousand people stood in the drizzling rain and watched the Governor walk up the steps: That's all they saw. It was cold, wet and miserable. But they came up and stood in the rain and watched his "Ex." get; out of «,. motor car, a few small shivering boys presented arms, a cold band played "Gor Save," and that was their share of "it" .■'*;'.■•'-'■-■

Now if Lord "J" had ridden up in a dust cart in a suit of dungarees, nobody would have taken the slightest notice. "•Capitalism/-', said Hen. to his cobber next 'day, "works." Which brings one to the Christchurch trams.

The Holy City has got electric, cars. Some years ago we had, horse :cars and steam cars and donkey cars. But for some time we have had electric cars. They are pretty little cars; and the "juice that works them' comes from a lake 70 miles west of the city. In Wellington the City Council manages the cars. In Christchurch, it's a special Board. Christchurch, generally speaking, is a flat city. So we find cars leaving the Square like trains, dragging a number of trailers behind. Because it is flat, fares ought to be cheaper than in other parts. But no so. . The fares .are so high th*\t the Grabitalls find it cheaper to buy motor cars and the Dubbs to buy bikes. There are more bikes in the City of Christchurch than in any other city in New Zealand. But the cars were new and pretty. All the editors of the local newspapers own motor cars. So they write yards and yards and yards of tripe about business men running our trams in a business way. * The cars ran smooth and empty. Henry rode his bike and said it Wouldn't do to trust Labour men to run our cars. There are four wheels on each car —one at each comer — showing that the people who designed them meant them to trayeL »>>""*- But iiu.tr uur rauway "trucks, the wheels are only put on to make you step up. Because our cars run to dead ends. Then they, stop there some time, apparently to give the-en-gines a chance to regain their breath. But they stop both ends. Both end* of the'car, of course, but also both ends of the run. Say you are going to Papanui and you get in at the Square. The car-comes into the Square and stops. The conductor walks around one side, . the driver walks around the other, and an inspector inspects. You get in. Of course you are not in a hurry. No one hurries in Christchurch. You sit down and read all the "ads'- and then you look out of the window. By and by, the driver, who is called a motorman,, gets up, kicks the gong, and the car moves out. When you get to Papanui you get out, go for a stroll; .come back and catch the same car. ■"'■

"The beauty of capitalism- is, it works,"' said the Prof. "Socialism: is a dream and it won't work." But

the cars are now showing signs of wear and tear. And there's going -to be dirty weather at the cross roadssoon. The business men are on the defensive and Henry's asking "Wha for."—THE VAG.