AS THE WORLD WAGS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14040, 24 April 1920, Page 8

AS THE WORLD WAGS.

(By Mercurius.V' 1" \ The. Wellington grocer who was, fined , £IOO, carrying.With it £7 costs, would . I get a fright when the Magistrate gave ; ! his judgment,, and if the Bnb in this small arfair reflects itself oh the actions of cthersr who have been. assisting the "soaring prices" to soar still higher 'like the aeroplauist who sets out tor establish a record ij/* altitude, it .will, liave dene seme good in the interest of these who, on a weekly wage that has net risen 62 per cent., have to turn and. twist to itiuKe both■..-ends meet. The-' price of Mellin's food for infants is net • the alpha and omega of the profiteer; nor yet does a tin of molasses, a reel ol cotton, a .pair of boots, or any other ol'»the trifles'light' as", air that bump ii|) liitc-observation prove a limit to his conception cf what is "a fair~Thing.'' Wheu we leave the articles that x>n,e could put into his "coat pocket without attracting- the attention, of a watchful . policeman we get up. amongst the real loragers for big profits aiid quick < returns, and these are the' individuals' tnat the public more especially would like to get &•. Balance-sheets are. not a I way; it safe guide to- the profits of ft tobacco company nor yet.do they disclose all that has been r done by a shipV ping company in the way of providing for the sunshine of the present time and' for the gloom "of a rainy day after. "When we turn' to the comhierV rial columns »>f the London daily, papers there is hardly anything that cannot !)Q ticketed a good thing., The annual dividend may not "exceed 40 or 50 per cent., but there is hidden away from. those who are \not , accountants a niaze of figures that aie just as baffling as they are intended to be. Sometimes the share list is amplified and extended, by the creation of new shares that the 'share- - holders pay nothing for, that part o? , the affair being provided for out of-the individual profits. The race, we are told, is not always to the swift, and! while that saying has the assurances of truth in it, in these instances the 7'swiff' generally cOnie in first, and in most cases they are ready to start on another sprint. Upheld by the assurance that'they will win again, and win. they do every time. It is patent to everyone that "profiteering is at the present time a world game. It is riot confined to any one country, but "has spread over the world with the same devastating results as a plague of'locusts over a South ; African veldt; -But how are the profiteers" to be got": at? A British Minister has laid,it down as a maxim in political economy that where a manufacturer's profits, are to a large extent drawn from the agony and purses of" people it would be injudicious to imterfere, because this kind of profiteermg, while it mar inflict hardship on the people of Britain, is .compensated for bv the fact that it draws money to;Bfitain, where it is badly needed to provide the interest on the National Debt. All the other nations. are_ in the same have takem to plundering each other; and look with a lenient eye on the plundering that goes on within their own borders. The cost of living is less in New Zea- ' land and Australia than m- other countries. So Mr Massey tells us. That being the case, we can only utter the pious exclamation that a wise providence will speedily do something 1 to temper the wind to the shorn lambs of other countries, wtto, before vlontr, will hardly have a tuft of uool left" to compensate the profiteer tor his diligence in plucking it.

The war is said to have cost Britain, Germain-, and America no. less .a sum than twentv thousand million pounds. Perhaps the amounts will; be more easily if they are set out in words instead of fieures, for the reason thatHome peor>]e fail to grasp the value of figures when they run into huw denominations. France, Italy Belgium. Serbia, Greece. Rotimarua, Russia, and Turkey are left out of the calculation, but if their expenditure were included the total would amount to newg thirty-five thousand millions. kofne or the countries mentioned have been hacked up into segments of their former selves, and figures for them would have 'no meaning; either to themselves: or.-to their creditor*. For instance, if TurKej ever had a Minister of Finance what «ort of an exposition could he give of its finances ? A Philadelphia lawyer would be swamped in Irvine to unravel them ond straighten out then; tortuosities. France, Italy, and Belgium will know where they stand, but most of the others will be in a state or nnaiunaJ cnaos till some Allied experts takejAe subject, in hand and endeavor to grope for a little more light on-the subject. However, the present purpose is to confin'attention to the three Powers named Britain was muchthe heaviest contributor to war expenses She Mt*alh raised ten thousand eight hundred and Srtv-one million pounds but this sum was not entirely confined to her own actual wnr expenses, for liean-h two thousand millions were provided to carrv on her Allies, while during the period of the war Britain raised the\vast sum ol three thousand six hundred and forts Sons by means of taxation or c-ve one and a. half times theL.amomrb thai the war actually cost the United States This would leave Britain's actual dehtf inclusive of her pre-war h^ <V something like- five thousand nulhons but-as five hundred and sixty.eight mi* lions of the Wo thousand .nnH.ons to her Allies were made to Russia, * is doubtful if that sum can be lrtMK upon ae a good asset.- Britain's actaa present debt is about five thousand fiw hundred millions, and on this sum sin ha- to prov.de interest. The methoc of providing that- interest is as. hwr week's cables showed? the great problen that confronts the'Briteb Chancellor o the Exchequer. The debt of Germany inclusive of her pre-war burdens, wa expected to amount, to ten thousaii< three hundred millions last month. bu this does not .include the debts of th. various kingdoms, principalities an< duchies, of which there were twenty-si: before the war: nor yet- the greater par of the indemnities and reparation Nearlv all of this was raised on paper which" has "drareciated -to such an ex tent that it is impossible to place Ger many hi any other category than tha of a bankrupt. America . raised nv, thousand million pounds for war pur poses, but two .thousand fellr hundra millions were, for -loans to her allies Britain being indebted to her m tn< sum of eight hundred and sixty-tro millions. This leaves Americas actua war debt at two thuosand six .hundra millions America, has thus lent mor< to Europe than has Britain, but- he own debt, will not trouble Tier. Europt may be said to be -in a- hopeless finaii cial tangle. France demands her in demnities and reparations from Ger manv. and if she were willing to tak< them in German paper money, which v. valueless. Germany- might oblige her Anv othsr way is seemingly hopeless Russia has cut out of.hej difficulties; She declines to recognise her debts to Europe.-which is-dishon-est, but as she could'not pay them the dishonesty is largely a matter of expediency, and does not much matter in the meantime. Most of the others ha.v« net bluntly seated their intentions, bui for all practical purposes they might as well have done the; same as Russia.

' Do not let-it be supposed that the cost of the to France lias been as great as it has been to Britain, but France does not..stand on the same level as Britain in respect to wealth, and:is therefore more concerned about the pajmeut of" the sums assigned bv the Peace Conference to her as indemnities and reparations, and the figures lelating to Germany's liabilities are given to show what chance she has of getting them. Even if Germany tried, and she is not trying, to pay them, how is it to be done? I Moot -of the Powers haie ceased borrowing the effort to reduce the amount of their paper money, which has been inflated so prodigiously, and is of so little value, that it lias created a. .fictitious value for all the necessaries of life Germany, however, cannot cease borrow mg because she has. to make provision not only for the payment of interest but for the payment of monevs that have not been taken into account in the ten thousand millions that she owes. She is without the trade necessary to kjeep her people employed and provide them with food; therefore, she has to continue borrow-; ing, and .ordinaTv horrowhig from her! own noeple would not meet her! necessities. She proposes to raise ,a. loan bv means of a huge lottery, and 'is follotving the example of France in t this" respect. It may iei explained thoj^ *ai lottery: loan is ajg^mple jm tfjrribjdics

is infinitcsimally small, but a large number of prizes are offered, and the fortunate drawers of these get something—from a large fortune down to something lees than they would draw were thev paid the ordinary rate of interest. The spirit of gambling is inherent in human nature, and it is expected that every. German will take tickets in the lottery loan with the same abandon that the New Zeaiander takes tickets on his favorite horse in a I toteiisator. It is impossible, for Ger- | many to raise the: money required by other means than a lottery, and the Germans are not a people who will express any conscientious scruple on the subject. A liottery loan was proposed in the British House of Commons, but it waJs spdeedily turned down. The fact, however, that Germany is about to raise a lean at all shows that she intends to pay someone, even if it is only forth© food that she cannot do without. There is dire distress in Germany, and there is a revolutionary spirit abroad m the countrv, the one being the outcome of the other: but how it will end and when it will end is at present a serious perplexity.