THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15398, 9 March 1912, Page 4

THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS

in. ; SOCIAL DISCONTENT : ITS SIGNIFICANCE. Br " VtniTAs." •Thcro must be discontent so long aa tlio conditions which prodnco it aro allowed to exist. Excessive wealth and undue poverty; in other words, too much inequality in the burden oi toil and too much inequality in tho distribution of comforta oi lite must f.tircly produce. it. Tho over-indulged quarrel with the conditions of existence bccauso oxeww of comfort palls upon them, and the needy quarrel with tho conditions imposed upon them by their necessities because of tho . consequent hardships and diocoinforts. The rational way to get more ionte.nl would seem to be to provide conditions which at least would tend to prevent tho production of extremes which exist ill this respect. The least discontent eeems to exist with those who have congenial occupation and reasonable comfoit. In tho turmoil caused by the clash of conflicting interests wo find two extremo and opposite views—one advocating totnjiletc individual liberty in t!ie aopiittitiou and use of wcalh, and tlie other opposed to any individual |>os6ession of width at all. Public opinion inclines from time to time from one to the other, according to the evils from time to time making themselves felt.. Tn healthy social conditions a healthy public opinion is neowsary. As with tho individual so with the social, a sound mind ih essential to health : "Mens sana in corporc saim" applies equally to both. When disc Mis ap|ieara the cause must he found and removed. A rise in temperature in the individual organism is a sure indication of something wrong, so also with the social. Heated controversies indicate a canoe of irritation, a dieease working somewhere. As the leni perature rises, bo dues the danger. The . only remedy is to get at the seal of the trouble. Too high a temperature allowed to continue will produce delirium, madness, and Helf-ileslructinn. Society seems to lie bordering now on that condition. To lemedy that the cause should be removed. It is conceivcd that ill the root the cause is to lie found in the pursuit of essentially false ideals; ideals which luro on men with hope« of happiness which in the end prove false and deceptive. Kor many years past great industrial and commercial davclopmenl« have led to tip enormous access of national wealth. Hut tSiu proper function of wealth has not In.vii appreciated. It has not been teuliscd ;i«' it should have been that, unless properly distributed ami properly tired, its very posseiwioii moot provo a danger to its possessor. Some such perception may at timw liuvu dawned on some of its possessors, but the temptation to possess has Wen too much for their sense of responsibility. It might liiivi) been better for everyone if lhe ficiencc of tho proper uses of wealth had been studied inure, and the science of how to make it studied lc*s. hi the feverish race for wealth men have simply striven to outdo each other without ft thought to the couseqiiciiccs. As a conseipienee public sentiment has been contaminated with false idwilti, false standards of business morality in making money, ami false standards of private conduct iu the using of it. These false standards ;u;<! false ideals have permeated and ciiculated through all elates of the community. The social organism is suffering from a general blood-poison-ing, the microbe whereof is the mammon of unrighteous greed. Until il is purged of this there is little hopo of a restoration tit health. No community tail devote itself to an ignoble ideal without risking an ignoble fnie. The industrial acquisition of pecuniary gain for the sake of mere selliish ends, without regard to the welfare of otlicic, is surely 'in ideal hasu in its con(vptiou and nature. The driving to attain such an ideal must, as a natural result produce iu a large degree merely discontent and envv, Midi as, iu fact, we find existing. On tfic other hand a community true to the noble ideal of patriotic zeal for I lie general good may hope for contentment, goodwill, and peace amongst its members. If is not suggested, however, that individual pwsessiou of wealth must he regarded as iu itself a wrong principle or that it it e.ssential to the lomuion good that it should not be permitted. On the contrary, it niitiint be forbidden without detriment to public interests. It ia a mistake to snpjH>f-.t! that we are compelled to accept in its entirety either one or the other of the two ophite views before referred to. Kxlremisiti are apt iti imagine that the truth, the whole truth, and iwlliing hut the truth is cioWicd iu their pet theories, They fail to rccog. nise that a theory, however true, will not necessarily lie universal iu il* application, will not neeessnrilv be the universal panacea for all ills. 'I'hey fail lo recognise 1 the infinite variety of which mankind if composed. All kiniU of men go to makr up a world. No one principle or tlicorj can lit or suit the lot auv more than one particular tnhke or size of clothes will. The principle of individual aequisi. tiou of wealth, it is believed, must hi permitted and even encouraged, hut tin obligations attaching thereto must Ik recognised, carried out,, enforced On the other hand the principle ol national ptwsessitm of wealth and of public utilities, *1 far as public interest require: it, must also lu applied and adopted It is as vain to hope to develop all iflau kind to the best advantage on any urn plan in it b to expect to grow all kind: of plante on one soil. Plant liie ant human life have much in common beyond inert* comparison. The)' both havt organic life. They both depend for theii existence on the' soil and what comes from it and on water and air. They nix both infinitely diverse in individuality They both require capital and lalioui for "their growth and development. Tlx plant requires capital in the shape ol accumulations of organic mailer in ; form suitable for its consumption, and s( does man. The plant requires to pul forth continual effort, and all its variom members must work in harmony logethci to produce the best result. The leaves the stem.l, the roots, each have theil part to do. and unless done proper!} the result will he a failure. No pari of a plant, can strike work wiihout tin rest suffering, li the roots refuse t( obtain mid pa*s on supplies of nutrimeiv the plant must perish. So with men Moreover, the different varieties of plant; require their own s|>ecial conditions a: to soil, locution, and treatment. N< gardener would Iv mad enough to attempi to grow all varieties 011 the same soil . in the same locality, and with the same treatment. That, however, is what souit social theories would endeavour to di with regard to man. 'These fads oi nature illustrate wlm is meant by laws of the universe govern ing the relationships of men Such law: are equally aiso facts. Thev are no designed or made by man. They canno he altered by any human agenev. Theii .-peration may he modified to some ex ten «« long as xho modilication is consislen jvltli such laws, hut the laws remain. Al "■iiiian laws (iitd theories, .«ivi:il. political mid otherwise, are helphvi and impotrn to chaugi the limitation* imposed b; these laws. Any human plan or theor; inconsistent with such facts—or. in otlie \votds, not based on truth-must fail Schemes of social equality based on 1 theory of natural equality must ol neves sitv he ho|>ek'S of attainment for Ilia reason. There is no such thing as natura equality. Men are not equal in utn respect, either in sire, weight, or meuta or physical capacity, or any other respoc whatever. Such scheme* ate therefor, based on what does not exist. Not on!; that, but they are contiary to what doo: exist. Infinite diversity is the lav throughout the univertv so far as mat is capable of perceiving it. Inequality not. equality, is what is found in fact and any schemes to be sound and work able and to endure must recognise tha fact.