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NZ Truth, Issue 817, 9 July 1921, Page 7

refusing to give the nine shillings bonus, and >also refused to listen to the suggestion of the Unionists to give a butter bonus. Business people, who should kno,w better, have helped m the scare, and now, as a. corollary, the court finishes the scare by refusing to give the 5s bonus which has been earned by the workers during the months from November to March. Now, your Honor, if I were an em-. ployer I might grumble if you increased my wages bill, but if you helped to scare my customers out of my shop I should swear very much at such proceeding, and the people are being scared from buying because hard times are prophesied wherever you go. This court could go a long way m helping to restore cdnfidence m business affairs. There could be what is known as "the soaping of the geyser." Giving the workers^ the ss< bonus would show that there was very little fear of disaster. It would- also increase' their spending power and, if the Government could be induced to continue an active Public Works' policy, business would- go on as usual. A country is great because of the' justice of its institutions. This court came into operation 'January 1, 1895. and for the first tfene m history within the law of the land, the workers got a voice m the arrangement of washes, hours, and conditions of labor. The workers ha.ye always. been treated as a negative force rather than a positive force m the affairs of a nation. NATURAL LAW. There is a natural law operating m social affairs. Adam Smith, the economist, recognises it m th,e basis of his political' economy, viz., "That the annual products of labor is the annual, income and has to be consumed annually." - Man is proud of having gained the art of preserving food, of being able to take it from one country to another, but there is no person desirous of eating preserved food if it is possible to get it fresh, and a surplus of products left over to the following year- causes disturbance. For instance, one year's surplus wool held by the British Government is a great trouble, and is responsible for- Australasia's ! wool trouble. With all due respect to the court I venture to say that if the workers, my .class, were needed for fighting to- defend the country, the surplus wool m Britain would be used to make clothing and blankets for j them, and the wool this side of the world would find a ready market, or if the British surplus of wool took fire it would restore circulation. This is a proof that rather than economy, spending . power is what is needed by the workers. Another instance can be given, when Prussia 1 fixed a two hundred million pounds indemnity on France m the year 1871, France set her looms, forges, factories and workshops into full blast and within two years she had paid, the indemnity, and, what is more, her workers were never m a more prosperous state. Shortly afterwards France was looked upon as. being the richest country m Europe. The annual products of any country must be used up or there is trouble. The way it is done to-day is that those who get an unfair share of the products, and who cannot consume their share, lend to the Government credits which are used for public works. Thus a big number of Avorkers are given a chance to earn money, to buy and use up, what would otherwise be kept on hand — butter, meat, wool, grain, etc. If this were not so there would be trouble every year. All this shows «hat the naturar'lanv operating demands a bigger spending power for the workers. ■"' If a flowing river has water constantly up to its fullest capacity, by increasing its sources of supply, its if Dr. Thacker resigned the mayoralty, springs, and failing to provide a corresponding increase m its outlet, disaster must follow for the surroundingcountry. Our universities are teaching Industrial Psychology with the intention o J .' increasing the output. For instance, a. blouse factory, by speeding up and with a different organisation, has increased its output of blouses from 30 to 45 per week, per girl worker. If the. workers are not given a corresponding spending- power, who are going- to buy the extra, blouses? About two years ago the employing classes were criticising the buying of fur coats by working-- class women. I am of the opinion, your Honor, that this was a compliment to the producing power of the workers. Our women should not only have fur coats, if they so desire, but so long as they were prepared to do the,ir duty they should have a fair share m the best the country is capable of producing. In reference to stabilising. This is impossible under the present order. Bank assets, which influence prices, etc., are usually fixed by land prices and interest. As a Councillor of the City of Christchurch, I know the difficulty of borrowing-. The Government has laid it down that we cannot offer above 5% per cent, for loans, but wo are allowed to go to London for money. Interest there is 6% per cent, and it will cost 3% per cent, commission to transfer it to New Zealand. There are also other incidental expenses. The court will understand that on such' loans interest will be fixed for a number of years. Under such' conditions what does it mean? Have wages to be lowered while interest is stabilised? I submit to the court that the only possible cure for the present social troubles is to increase the spending power j of the big mass of workers to balance, j it with their great producing capacity, j