Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1928 PROBLEMS OF THE DAY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 25 October 1928, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1928 PROBLEMS OF THE DAY

COMING as it does from one who for many years has made a special study ot economics, the annual address of the Hon. T. S. Weston, President of the .New Zealand Employers' Federation, should receive the serious attention of the thoughtful members of the community. Mr Weston's effort is not a mere twelve-monthly academic 'dissertation. He speaks not only as an experienced student, but as a man of affairs, a man with large industrial interests who realises that mutual co-operation between Capital and Labour is essential for the production of the best results for employer and employee, and, consequently, for the whole country. The ideas he expounds in the extracts from his address which we publish to-day are not new. He himself has enunciated them before, and is so impressed with their great importance nationally that we have no doubt he will not hesitate to bring them for(ward again if necessary in the hope of obtaining tangible results. We refer more particularly to his stressing of the fact that if our returning prosperity is to continue we must have industrial peace and mutual co-operation between labour, management and capital. He cmj phasises the disastrous results of strikes i and their effects on trade and unemployment. The calling together of the Industrial Conference he regards as one of 'the great achievements of the present Primo Minister, and one which when i carried further, as it is to be, promises Ito be productive of much good. He I gives duo credit to the trades union reI prosentatives who entered into the spirit jof the conference. At the same time he (points to the clanger of a compulsory ■plan of co-operative working, but ho proves his own sincerity by offering to , co-operate witli trade union leaders in n voluntary scheme to test the principle. ; He speaks truly when he states that the evil influence of Moscow and its ideas is : disappearing, especially in New Zealand.

As Mr Weston recalls, it is just on ten years since the Armistice was declared after the Great War; ten years beset with many troubles and difficult problems. "Time, however, backed up by individual effort, is a great ally and restorer." We agree that to-day we can congratulate ourselves that most of the difficulties following upon the War have been finally overcome, and that the prosperity now steadily returning is based | on secure foundations. Mr Weston conI aiders that most important of these

foundations is an abundance of capital (saved in New Zealand and not borrowed by the Government) available for development of our industries, farming and manufacturing, at a reasonable rate of interest, the efficient organisation of those industries and an industrious and thrifty population. At this point in his address Mr Weston pays a tribute to the magnificent lead given by the dairy farmer to the rest of New Zealand—by improved herd selection, more extensive use of manures, and more scientific cultivation. He realises that the country must obtain more from the land, but is faced with a difficult problem in its endeavour to expedite land settlement. In his opinion it is the individual effort which counts. With lower land values, more and cheaper money, and improved nett returns, Mr Weston believes the tide has definitely- turned. Yet many will share the uneasy feeling he expresses that there are too many engaged in distribution. There is over-development in the cities to the detriment of the country. More producers, especially primary, are required. Alter this note of warning and advice, it is good to read "that Mr Weston's summing up is that New Zealand is on the eve of an era of steady, if not startling prosperity. He strongly advocates the cultivation of habits of self-reliance. It may sound hackneyed, but it is none the less true that "nothing in this world is worth getting unless we have to work for it." There is no royal road to success. Without doing so in actual direct words, the thoughtful exposition given by Mr Weston "brings home to us the fact that a great deal depends upon the general government and administration of the affairs of the country. Individual effort and self-reliance are essential. They might easily be checked or repressed, or even stifled by a reactionary Government. Socialistic progress would be to walk (backwards, with individual enterprise and initiative suppressed. Real progress is not associated with extremism. Electors must awaken to the fact that their votes at the coming election are of great value and should not be lightly cast.