The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1916.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12828, 22 April 1916, Page 4

The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1916.

BATTENINC ON CALAMITY. The complaint of a correspondent ol the Westminster Gazette that increased freights are unjust when the shipping companies are paying larger dividends an«l bonuses will elicit approval everywhere. And yet the shipping companies would probably justify the imposition by pointing to the greatly increased prices realised for the products they carry. New Zealand, for instance, is »fixing fat. on the extra financial sustenance which is coming her way as a result of the exigencies of the- war. Those who have the greatest cause to complain are the middle and wages classes, who do not adequately participate in the supplementary benefits. In New Zealand it is felt that those who are reaping exceptional wealth from war prices .'.hould contribute much more to the State than is being exacted by taxation. We all know what is right, but wc all fail in doing it. There should be no levying of extra taxation on those who are doing no better, and may be doing worse, than they were before the war. Now Zealand's-share of the cost of the war ought to be paid by ttliose whose pockets arc benefiting by the war. The great surplus is not theirs—they have done nothing to make it —it is the result of the world's misfortune: That is New Zealand's duty. The Imperial Government's duty is to check auy exploitation of the shipping companies. Not only is it impossible for tradesmen to get sufficient goods with which to keep their profits up to the mark, but the freight exactions add materially to the cost of what they do get. When .the nation maintains a navy to keep the paths of commerce clear it has a right to prevent the greedy exploitation of its subjects. This is one of the Imperial questions that would bo settled by a Council of Britain and its dependencies, in accordance with the suggestion made by Sir Joseph Ward and recently resuscitated by Mr Hughes. NEGLECTED HEROES. A paragrapli which appears in the Otago Daily Times narrates that about 100 returned soldiers in Duucdiu decided to form an organisation "to see that the applications of discharged soldiers for employment receive consideration from public bodies and associations; to bring any cases of neglect of discharged soldiers under public notice ; and to keep ,all discharged soldiers in close touch with one another and with all events and celebrations of interest to them." The writer of the paragraph surmises that "the recent action of the City Council in passing the applications of discharged soldiers for a municipal position has been partly responsible for the movement.'In accordance with the soldiers' decision a meeting wa3 held at which the organisation was constituted. It is not creditable to the community that returned soldiers, many of whom have been irreparably injured physically in the ! groat fight for freedom which is so universally acclaimed, and who set forth to their perilous task with deafening plaudits ringing in their ears and all sorts of promises of honor and reward, should be compelled to fight their own battles when they are of uo further use as our "glorious champions." What of all the legislation, and of all the funds which have been created to ensure that these men shall not suffer for their supreme sacrifice? If they, do iJot. suffice to effect the object in view 'then they shoukl be extended. Kor instance, if public "bodies .which arc partly supported by the State do j < not ; give preference to the claims of j the soldiers who are capable of filling appointments; then they should be penalised:' How remarkable • the fact that, -though individuals, composing public bodies may have been amongst the loudest in- their protestations of admiration and, obligation to the sol-, diers, they, When in their assemblies, • adopt an 'absurdly mock".: conscientious attitude, consequent on! an exaggerated sense of duty" to the public. It is a pity that dictatorehipsfeare- so liable to abuse- that, -, in every . dependency, ot such an anxious period, when everything «nould be so nicely adjusted and effected so promptly, the conduct of public affairs is vitiated by all kinds of personal assumptions and antagonisms.

WANTED—MORE SHIPS. The shipping difficulty i< vatcd l>y ;i -hortny »i '!"' labor n-v

>.j:y to comph-tc vessels in inv.i

construction in Britain, and ill*"- (",il.i. net lias now decided to h:io- ih" vi-m-Is completed. Tili- iln' . :;i.

tonr.se to pursue. It i.s u-ele-- m;-m- | iainiug a navy; to protect commi-wv it I there are not enough ships, apart I'mni those requisitioned for war purposes. lo carry it on. Ordinary wastage and the destruction by war should nt least be made good, and there should be an iucrease of as many vessels as possible by keeping the builders going night and day. It is satisfactory to see that Mr Henderson has expressed the opinion that all the workers engaged in the shipyards and engineering establishments should give full time and whole-hearted service, as this was inflispensable to winning the: war, for he is a workers' champion/and his utterances should have"" weight with them: The difficulty is, however, that amongst the workers there is a. smouldering dissatisfaction at tho■•.'outrageous profits lieing made by shipowners and others whilst their pay ".is raised only in trifling degrees through perpetual protests and strikes, and the cost of food is rising in proportion. If Britain can expeditiously'turn "out the ships now on the■; stocks and secure the use of the, enemy's interned /steamers, it ought to be able to keep pace with their destruction by .submarines and | mines. .. "-■ . . ~-