SOCIALISM AND MILK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22144, 25 June 1935, Page 13

SOCIALISM AND MILK

Sir, —Mr. Montgomerie says that I "insinuate." 1 intended to be a little more emphatic than that. 1 said quite definitely that the effect of certain Milk Council recommendations would be to establish a privileged class of milk suppliers and I quoted Mr. Moutgomerie's published objection to "all and sundry being allowed to bring milk into the city" to support my case. If some suppliers are to be permitted and some excluded then obviously the fortunate ones constitute a favoured and privileged class. The inference seems unavoidable. Jt is noticeable that Mr. Montgomerie did not dispute it, but contented himself with describing me as a "defender of capitalism" a compliment I am modest enough to feel that I do not deserve. The "capitalists" themselves do not seem to like my way of "defending" them though they must know that I do it for their good. If by "capitalism" Mr. Montgomerie means freedom in general and freedom of trade in particular then 1 am for this kind of capitalism every time. But intelligent students of the social problem know that "capitalism" in the sense of the existing social order means nothing of the kind. The present system is based upon the opposite principle of multitudinous restrictions and restraints upon industry and trade, most of them originating in what Professor Laski in discussing this subject describes as "the fundamental restriction of monopoly of land." it is in the conditions of land tenure that the troubles of the milk business begin and it is there that Mr. Montgomerie and his fellow socialists of the Milk Council must search, in the first place, for the cause of the evils they are attempting to correct by uneconomic and unnecessary restrictions upon commerce and trade. Mr. Montgomerie invents the funny excuse for regulation that "Auckland could not possibly consume all the milk produced in New Zealand." Who on earth ever suggested that it could P I think it would be a perfectly lair thing to give Aucklanders a chance to consume the milk that is offered for sale in the City of Auckland for a start. If experience proved that there was either too little or too much Mr. Montgomerie might be surprised to find how swiftly, efficiently and quite fairly a balance would be struck by the non-stop natural law of supply and demand. No socialist tinkering or "planning" would then be* required. G. Henry.