FALLACIES OF SOCIALISM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14357, 29 October 1908, Page 8

FALLACIES OF SOCIALISM.

Sot,—lnstead of proving the superiority of JsoeiULism or disproving my figures—in. other words, instead of squarely meeting my criticisms, my critics still"hug the delusion that the '' idio rich" receivc twothirds of tlie iiationaljncomc of tho United Kingdom while "mental and manual labour only roeeives one-third. Now, I proved the opposite, and distinctly stated t.no figures wero to bo found in Case Against Socialism," p. 26H. To elincii the matter further, Fabian Tract No. 5, a Socialist publication, which my critics have evidently not staked, shows tliat " manual labour' alono received £690,C00,000 ami " rent of ability" or " profits and salaries'—in othor words, labour other than manual -received £460.000.000. Manual ar.d mental labour then reecived £1,150,000,000. The same publication shows the balance of tho income viz., £6bo,ooo,ooo—ivus received bv landlords and capitalists in rent and Ln--labour received about twothirds of the national income, and not onethird, jlist. what. I previously said, and w.hen niv critics rightly defined labour as menial and manual" they tumbled into a pit of thoir own digging. Then All* Money, the Socialists' friejid, states m the " Case Against Socialism" tliat •every family 6f live up to 38 million people earn less than £160 per annum." Now, divide the landlords' and capitalists' income equally among those 38 million people and it gives about Is per day per head, or 5s per day per family, but tliis letups five million persons to starve, the whole population being 43 millions. Or '' 10 '°tal annual income— ±<I,Boo,ooo,ooo—equally among the whole population, and it gives the 33 million pwplo referred to a little over 6:1 per head per day, or 2s 6d per day for every , mi '- v <; f fi vt - over their present earnings, which would be infinitely less under tho •blighting influence of Socialism. And Malleoli shows 'tliat out of this each fann'lv S o ",' l '' ■' !avo ,0 about £16 for taxation. Such paltry result; are expeclod lo euro poverty and better tho ccnd/tion of the working classes! As the matter is important, I wiil again snow that intellect, and not labour, is a prime factor in wealth-production. Think of the elfecl the intellect, of ail Arkwiiglit liad upon spinning cotton. I know a msri who invented a machine that enabled t,hi> sima emplr.yecs in the same time at current wages to increase enormously tho pro- ; ductic-u of certain books and reduce tha

price. Who produced tho increase and was entitled to it? tiocialists of the Match-, ford type say, the employers! Who prodttwd the weal lb of Sir Isaac Riiuuiji, who lived to a rijic oid ago toiling 12 to 16 hours a day, who buili up an enormous publishing business, and whose gcjuua created sliorthand, by which thousands now obtain ahandsonieliving? Think of the lata Thos .Nelson and \V. siwl R. Uhmnbore, who starte<l as poor newspaper runners, often almost starving, and left munificent bequests in the end for-charitable and other purposes! Think of tho early struggle*; of the Jatc Hoddcr Will iams, the princeiy founder of the Young Men's Christian Associations! Samuel Smiles, too, shows tliat most of our brilliant engineers started l oor ami were as poorly educated. .Such wero creators, not. creatures of 'opnor.t-v.nity. llocl;, . ,00 .' 1 hear, gives a caj ital sample in j !(S t ( w |.; c i, j j lav<) 110 j nad time to read), foincwhat- I believe as 0 .owe, which in any case suits my point. authoi" 0 ™ nm si, "! liu ' l;oob b - 7 <li'fcront tlm each atc produced having o sa.ne amount of type-setting and getTjw» m' 1101 rame l' tci ' ar .v eontenw. 1 ic master printer and employees are paid the same for rac h at curCt author- L awl ruins tlm enriches £Jt ° US ' Rn<l tho •. our sav. thoiHi thpv l' l "i , c< ' lids surplus, » ->"dy ,rodS°t bs ;s superior, tv of the fow «.|, mental fund bv which a rise i„ ji° > . a, J ßmen4 - I , h But kill all incentive IT ' bund .Socialism would, aiul as 'a "frim, 7 10 ",' Uioie wero no! manv if mv millionaires 100 years ago was' e»erjbody then was infinitely poorer" Tlm Cniteil Kinpdoni now lias a l arger brainier Mpu atl T)mreforo jt finitolv 6 "" !ods Production and inweahi |iOWPr • , • for Pacing i ro-l )tJ r° Ver ' , Stilll6tics abundant-lv 1° "'f llie people arc fcest off whero Mr 7 !" ,mbcr 0f "''"'oiaircs exist Mr Btychford unconsciously arjmits this in Britain for the Brilish," thus: "It 5 instructive to notico that" our most dangerous rival is America, where wages i'c higher and all tlie conditions of tho W °rk Cl I' tC . r ' llan in tliia Col 'tilry." then Socialism cannot stand eoinnetiihl« /°-i °. ne ° f . mT critics admir1® tribute to the people's preference for capitalism, with all its fauC when ho admits that Socialism can never succeed m any isolated community surrounded by a capitalistic system." Nor would it succeed nationally, as the brainiest and most SnePr r me " "iffate to .nonSoeiahstio countries; and ns for sueccedinz universally, that is impracticable. -then, to score a short-lived victory tho saimegentleman misquotes mo by leaving out the worm m small capitals in tlio following sentence, and somewhat alters its meaning: 1, too, would checkmate, b v judieiom legislation, not uy confiscatiox, the trust.! that crush out all comoetition for I'iie pdrposb of exploiting the people." y" s 1 jvould suppress speculative gambling and r " u ' a F l i ably brinff financial luin, just oa [ would suppress strikes or lock-outs. lliey create depression bv throwing people out of employment-, and enormously decrease tho value of everymi"' " lfla , tCtl y alues "°ver real wealth. Tlio real value of land and of everything elso is the average rovonuo it derives under average, not inflated, conditions. l ]! e Hon. Mr Rigg recently perpetrated the fallacy in the Upper Houso tnat, as employers passed every increaso m wages on to the public, and something ULr! wi' increased tho employers' piOflts. Why, oveiy tyro in business knows that increased prices invariably diminish the demand, therefore -the output or turnover, therefore tlio total profit, and that' reduced prices have tho opposite effect, as witness the success of penny postage and cheaper telegrams. Of course, our present social system is not the best for all ti.mc. 'Existing anomalies are being gradually adjusted. Closer settlement, either leasehold or freehold, whichover encourages the settler best is oncstep. A more perfect Arbitration Act is another. But no [rawer on earth can equalise tho natural inequalities of man. ere education free to-morrow from primary school to university, and taken lull advantage of, it would accentuate those inequalities. When my.critics grasp this they "vvi JI ceass to ho Socialists. Finally, we etill await a definite constructive scheme of Socialism.—l am, etc.,- 1 JOSEI-H BRAITHWAITS.