POST-WAR ENEMIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17254, 2 September 1919, Page 7

POST-WAR ENEMIES.

PROFITEER AND BOLSHEVIK.

MR. HUGHES SPEAKS OUT,

GO SLOW" POLICY CONDEMNED.

The Bolshevik and the profiteer were strikingly denounced by Mr. W. M.

Hughes, Prime Minister of the Common-

wealth, in a declaration of his policy as it affects labour problems.

" The industrial heavens are all overcast with black clouds; the, position of

unionism, of organised Labour, indeed, of society generally, is hedged about with

very grave and complex problems," he said. " Unrest, not confined to the in-

dustrial sphere, but extending into every

corner of human activity, everywhere

manifests itseli. Tb<a n-crld is in coninu-

■•Tonslargely the ssrxr-effeeia of the frightful war in which it has been enj gaged these last five years. Wars and

rumours of wars, strike?, discontent, unrest of -all kinds, are seen on every hand throughout the whole world. It" would be foolieh to deny that the cutlook is grave. The masses are everywhere in a state of great unrest, their minds reflecting the conditions in which they find themselves, and in turn accentuating or rendering those more difficult, by their acts and attitude. " When we ask in what direction or by what means we are to find the solution, for the problems that confront us, howare we to avoid the dangers that encompass us about, we are overwhelmed with a babel of cries. There is no lack of advisers, but there is much difficulty of choice. Broad'"" stated. Labour's progress has been d& -st to the justice of its cause, the loTw.ess of the ideals that animated it; and secondly, to the sanity of judgment of its leaders and the common sense of the rank and file of the great army of Labour.

Labour Ideals and Methods. "When tie workers are urged to leave the well-beaten paths, we, who have served and led Labour in its great struggle for recognition and for justice, are entitled to point to the great progress made, and the means by which it has been achieved. During the last quarter of a century Labour has become a great power in the land, its status has been immeasurably raised, its conditions greatly improved. " Whether Labour is to come speedilv or at all into its kingdom, whether ft is to be entrusted with the responsibility of government, whether it, is to ensure for i itself a place in the sun and a fair share of the goodly fruits of civilised society depends upon the ideals that animate it, and the methods by which it seeks to give effect to them. If it is to be animated only by a sordid materialism, then it can • hardly succeed. It must prove itself ,worthy, it must lift society up to a higher level. " If the world is to be saved—if thi3 dreadful sacrifice of blood and treasura expended in this war is not to have been in vain Force must give way to Reason, Might to Right. Labour may lean; — indeed ail sections of society may learn —from the fate of Germ, ny, which sought dominion over the earth by force at the j expense of right and of justice, what will befall it if it resorts to similar methods.

ifet, had Germany been content to pursue that policy of peaceful penetration which had everywhere met with such great success for another decade the substance of the world would have been within her grasp. Menace of Bolshevism.

" As it was with Germany, so will it be with Bolshevism, which rests on force and not on justice. The god cf Force, arrayed in the shining armour of military despotism, against whom all nations of the earth have been waging bloody war these last five years, has, after fearful effort and awful sacrifice, been at length overthrown; but is Force, so far from having been destroyed, to take on another and even more deadly shape? Out of the ashes of military despotism has sprung Bolshevism—that dark, menacing, and hopeless creed which sets out to save the world by first destroying it. - " The workers demand, and rightly demand, higher wages. They want for themselves' and their wives- and - children a fair share of the goodly fruits that modern civilisation has provided. And these things must be granted unto them. It were monstrously unjust, even if it were possible, to deny them these*. " But these things will not come through Bolshevism, or by the making of speeches, or the passing of resolutions, or even by the passing of laws— only through work, well done, and animated by the right spirit. For nearly five years the world has been engaged in the work of destruction. Like men who have indulged for a long period in riotous dej bauch, it has now got to turn with dei termination to the work of making good j that which has been lost; it has to bear I the burdens, grievously heavy, of this 1 great war; it has to produce wealth in j sufficient quantity to enable high wages jto be paid. And these things can only be j done by a recognition of the facts of life and of modern production.

Capital's Just Eetrara. " —whether it be oontroSled by the individual or by the State is not material from this standpoint —must have that return which is necessary to repair wastage and ensure sufficient supply. The world cannot consume without producing. Labour cannot produce the maximum output without sufficient capital to ensure the most effective methods of production. Capital itself is the margin which consumption leaves over from production. The only way by which a sufficient amount of wealth can be produced to give those high wages that the workers are resolved to have is that capital in sufficiently large quantities shall be available to enable labour to produce in abundance. '* In order that the workers may get that which they desire, the most up-to-date methods of production must be resorted to. And every man must be animated by that same spirit that, carried the Empire through the great war. That man .who produces to the utmost of his capacity is the citizen to whom the State and his fellows owe most. He who produces nothing, or as little--as he can, is the enemy of society. " Two things that act and react on one another and are both fatal to the development of that state of society which alone can create satisfactory conditions in this or any other country, are profiteering and the go-slow or the 'cacanny' policy. The profiteer is, as I see him, one of the most deadly menaces to any country. Enemy of Society.

" By his exploitation and his extortions, by his soulless disregard of the welfare of the individual and the State, he shares with the enemy, whose instrument he too often has been, the responsibility for Bolshevism. He is the most prolific cause of industrial unrest. He is the enemy of society, the breeder of Bolshevism. At all costs the profiteer must be repressed. " On the other hand, restriction of output—and not only restriction*of output, but that, spirit of careless in®ffere:;te to production—must be condemned, unsparingly. Those who counsel restriction of output are the enemies of Labour, and if their counsels be 'needed will suioiy lead it to destruction. " The workers have everything to gain and nothing to lose rv increasing output. They are now powerful, enough U> insist upon their fair share of that which is produced. The more they produce the greater their share will be, The less they produce, the less they will get.