SOCIALISM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15185, 3 July 1911, Page 7

SOCIALISM.

--,■». ■ — ADDRESSES BY PROFESSOR MILLS. Professor Mills, M.A.. delivered two very interesting addresses in the King's Theatre yesterday—one in the afternoon and one in tho evening. Thero was a good attor.daneo in tho afternoon, when tfco lecturer spoke'on "Publio Ownership, of Monopolised Industries." He was listened to with great attention, and his points, which were well made, wcro marked by ready applause. ' In the evening tho theatre was crowded, and the lecturer, who was introduced by the Hon. J. T. Paul, based his remarks on "Winning Wcdd's Markets Without War. 1 ' The speaker commenced by saying that it was no longer disputed that all the world over the cost of living was advancing more rapidly than was the purchasing power of wages. It was also tine that tho cost of producing; the.means of living was all the tinw poing down, whilethe price they paid for the means of living was all tho time going up. During the last 10 yeare there liad been a. marvellous increase in labour-saving methods of production. Yet it was true that the cost of production went down, but the pries they paid for their necessaries was never go*ng up so fast as it was now. The speaker quotca instances of this. In the steel industry thoy had introduced wonderful laboursaving devices, where ono nian, did the work formerly done by hundreds, yet the prioo went up. Formerly a. man. produced tor himself everything he wanted,; he supplied himself with all necessaries by his own industry, but now a man only produced ono article or ono kind of article, and the production of all tho necessaries was spread over tho whole community. All these people worked and produced not that they might live, but that they might find a market. So the whole world was a huge ■workshop and a huge market. There were two markets, however: thero was the monopolistic market and the competitive, market,' and the speaker illustrated tho diflbrenco between ono and the other. No doubt they had no monopolies here. This' was a free country; but when ho wanted | to go to Australia, in, a few, days he would' go to take his ticket out,'and.he would either have to pay exactly what was asked for it or stay at home. He had no choice; Referring to trade unions, ho 6aid they were a hundred times better off with the unions than they ever had been without them. Let by them and make them a single lxxly in New Zealand.—(Applause.) The biggest union in America' was the Farmers' Union, which numbered some three millions; but they did themselves no good, becauso thoy did not all keep togethor.' Let them look at Switzerr land now, who had no warships and no army to speak of. Then look at England; busy building Dreadnoughts whilo Switzerland was busy making clocks, and sho sold them to Canada—a British possession. Wherover Switzerland's products came ■ into competition with England's products they won in every place. If Britain wanted' to sell British goods let hor rafe) the purchasing power of British labour, and then that labour would provide a market for British gocds.T-(Applause.) At the conclusion of his address the lecturer invited questions,'and Mr G. B. Nicholls asked whether the speaker belioved in tho public ownership of tho liquor traffic or in the abolition, of that traffic. In replying, Professor Mills commented on what he described as tho terrible increase of nervous disorders amone tho people of New Zealand, and there was nothing else which attaqked tho nervous system of the human body as tho drug alcohol. He himself had never drank, nor even smoked. If there was ono monopoly in New Zealand which they couldi afford to do without it was tho monopoly which made its living out of the drink traffic. To every working man who was there that night ho would say: "Go to your fellows and tell thorn that nothing but harm can come to them from the presence of the drink traffic in New Zealand. If they could, close the drink traffic in New Zealand it would go further towards cutting tho ground from under every remaining monopoly than would tho striking out of any othe? . .duopoly.''