“THE FAILURE OF CAPITALISM”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21671, 15 June 1932, Page 9

“THE FAILURE OF CAPITALISM”

TO THE EDITOR. gut —ln its letter published in your issue of June 11 .'the Welfare League brings in one or two points that are not so easily brushed aside as would appear. To quote its own words: ‘ To say our system has broken down is, of couise, nonsense/ 1 Later on it says: It is iepair that is called for, not destruction in favour of a completely new machine. To use the league’s own analogy of the watch, when a watch is taken to be repaired it must be broken. The same applies to any machine; it must have a breakdown, otherwise no repairs would be necessary.

In the course of time the watch becomes worn out, and repairs become more frequent. 1 find it much cheaper to scrap the old watch and buy a new one, no matter how faithful the old one has been in years gone by. Now, is it riot possible to liken the old watch to the present system? It is being patched up and repaired more frequently than in the past. Depressions are coming more often, and at every depression the system has to be patched up to ensure that it will go again for another little while. It is becoming so old that it cannot stand the strain of progress being forced upon it by science and other forces. I feel convinced that it is only a matter of time when it will break down completely (if that time has not already arrived), and will have to be replaced by a new system. It will be far cheaper to replace it, both morally and physically. So far as I can see, the present system is slowly destroying itself. Private _ enterprise is being abolished by the capitalists themselves. Every week we read of firms merging into some big combine or other. Immediately a combine is formed it proceeds at once to reorganise; workers are paid off, old machinery is scrapped, and later machinery is installed; and goods are produced more cheaply. All this is being done to enable the combine to compete in open market. It is all necessary under the present system. Now, every country; is doing the same. It is practising intensive production, and flooding the market. Tariff barriers are being erected in every country, chiefly because pressure has been brought to bear on their respective Governments by combines and private manufacturers who, in so doing, are slowly strangling themselves. Private enterprise is clogging its own wheels by paying off its workers and at the same time increasing production by 100 per cent. * Irrespective of what one’s political opinions may be, it is very hard—indeed, pretty well impossible—to believe that the Welfare League is serious. It upholds the present system, with its attendant misery, and attacks Socialism at every opportunity. Another quotation from its letter reads thus: “Even under capitalism, State - enterprises almost invariably proved failures.” I ask the league whether State enterprises could prove anything but failures under the present system. Private enterprise, sees to it that State enterprise is not a success wherever it is possible to do so. One might as well look, to the Temperance Society to encourage whisky drinking. Again, the league writes: “Under the system of private enterprise the great progress of the last 100 years has resulted.” I would like to remind the league that private enterprise was a very sordid thing, and it was not until the Labour and Socialist Parties came into being that reforms were forced upon it. I say “forced," as the league must be aware that the fight • for the “ progress ” we “ enjoy ” to-day has been very hard and bitter. I would like to remind the league that it advised us most strongly to vote into power the post-war politicians who, it says, mishandled such matters as war debts, tariffs, etc. Allow me to quote from the Welfare League’s letter once more: “Capitalism may be taken to be the name for the system of State-protected freedom for the individual to work, to spend, or to save, as he pleases.” I will leave it at that, as comment is useless. May I remind the Welfare League that parrot cries do not all come from the one quarter, and that parrot cries are sometimes very true to life.-rl am, etc., , W. F. Dunedin, June 12, . TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— ln your issue of the 11th inst. the New Zealand Welfare League wrote at length giving your readers a definite assurance that the capitalistic systepa has not broken down. Some doubt, however, may be expressed as to whether the system in question is a capitalistic one or a “ creditistic" one, the latter title, I understand, being a gift from the supporters of the Douglas Plan. The 54,000 unemployed in this country, to say nothing of the thousands of young men whose opportunities in life seem to have vanished, may be inclined to the ; opinion that this is a distinction without a difference. Be that as it may,- trade depressions have been occurring periodically for over 100 years, so that it seems logical to assume that they are an essential part of the system, which would be destroyed by their elimination. The idea, therefore, that a trade depression is a sign of breakdown is clearly seen to be wrong; on the contrary, it is really a sign that the system is functioning normally and well. I have no hesitation, therefore, in subscribing to the opinion expressed by the New Zealand Welfare League that the present system, whatever its name, has by no means broken down, and that it will emerge from this depression, as it has done in the past, stronger than ever. —I am, etc., Dunedin, June K Simple Simon. TO THE EDITOR. g IR —Because it affects each and all of us in every moment of our lives,_ the nature of the organisation of society is the most important subject that can engage human attention. Upon its efficiency or otherwise, ou r happiness largely depends. In the course of this study the truths evolved through the researches of philosophers and economists necessitate the frequent use of certain terms that most fully express their meaning. In the mouths of ignorant or prejudiced people , these terms tend to become hackneyed and their meaning obscured. No doubt this is what the New Zealand Welfare League means when it refers to parrot cries. There has been a tendency to this weakness in the letterß from the league. In one sense it is true that capitalism as a system has not broken •down. Probably it was never more efficient than it is to-day. What has happened is that it has been so stupendously successful in its function of producing surplus value and in developing the technique and machinery of production that the essential condition for its existence has been destroyed and now, instead of advancing, it is increasingly retarding production. Being a system for the production of commodities, capitalism must have an expanding market or it must perish. Since the larger part of the world has become industrialised, and not only produces a great part of its own requirements, but an exportable surplus as well, that indispensable condition of an expanding world market has gone forever. In its stead wo have a rapidly contracting market, a slowing down of production, mass unemployment, and increasing poverty throughout the world. These, of course, are necessary consequences because the general object of production is the things commonly used in the daily lives of the masses. The market, in fact, consists of the purchasing power and the needs of the common people. By large increases in wages and by shortening or halving the working day if might be possible for capitalism to restore the market upon which its life depends. It might thug increase production, absorb the unemployed, allay industrial •unrest, and proceed on its course indefinitely. Fortunately or _ unfortunately, these remedies are not available for capitalism. Before they could be applied it would be necessary to establish a court of discipline through which the individual capitalists would be compelled to conform to standard rates and conditions. Such procedure would violate the inherent laws of the system and would therefore be impossible. There is, of course, no blame attachable to capitalists as individuals. They probably are ‘ as mild a-mannered men as ever scuttled ship or cut a throat,"

but as an economic category theft day is done. They must vacate the stage, ■which is to be reset for the next scene in the drama of human progress.—l am, etc., A. B. PowxLt. f