THE PROFIT MOTIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26033, 22 December 1945, Page 10

THE PROFIT MOTIVE

Sir,—The attempt by “ Matilda ” to reply to my letter of December 14 hasbeen a complete failure. , Instead of answering the questions put to him, he enters not only on a tirade of insult and abuse, but deliberately misquotes what I said in order to hide his ignorance of the subject under discussion. He was asked to prove liis propositions and show how wages are paid out of profits, when capitalist enterprise was free in New Zealand and how it is possible for a worker to make a profit on the wages he receives from nis employer. His statement that " as gross profits are Included in annual receipts I fail to see how wages could come from any other source than profits ” is so funny that it would make Charley’s aunt laugh. More than that, it also shows his lack of knowledge of modern accountancy. In his next sentence " Matilda ” unknowingly admits that wages are not paid out of profits, but that wages are the father of profits. "No business man in normal times would use capital or borrow to pay wages.” Why should he, since he knows, if “ Matilda ” does not, that by the simple employment of a worker on raw materials for a certain number of days or weeks the product will sell for a sum ■Marge enough to pay for the raw material, all other expenses, including wages, and also leave a profit to the employer. Thus the worker by his effort' pays his own wages and his employer’s profit. I am afraid, Sir, all this will be too much for “ Matilda ” to absorb in one lesson. Here is “ Matilda's ” deliberate misquotation: “Mr Silverstone declares that he has never met a worker who would sell his labour power to him.” He then becomes abusive in his most exclusive manner. What I did say was: "A worker has never sold his labour power to me at a profit." Your readers, whatever their shade of political opinions may be, will see the difference between " Matilda's" quotation and my statement. Asked to state when capitalist enterprise was free, “ Matilda ” tells us “ that many foreigners coming, to this country ” enjoyed freedom under the Tories. Are we to inter from this that New Zealand should be grateful to " Matilda ” for the privilege he bestowed on the country by consenting to be born here? Does he not know that mhad Napoleon’s mother been able to gather enough money to take her from Corsica to England that Colossus would have been an Englishman? Of course, the city has recovered from the " shock " of Labour finance. To-day the City Council’s respective reserves are larger than ever before. The city’s banking account grows, but its population declines —an almost natural corollary of “ sound, finance." —I am. etc., Mark Silverstone. December 20. Sir.—To comment on that multitude of raucous meanderings contained in the epistle on ancient Rome by Mr J. N. Brown would be to condone and encourage a flair for irrelevancy which apparently is his last line of defence when cornered. The looseness and inaccuracy of his statements, made for the purpose of “ smearing ” are not incompatible with Labour technique. Obviously when he made the false claim that I was silent on the subject of slave labour, he was not conversant with measures contained in the National Service Act, which has directed, and still is directing, hundreds of young women from the South Island to Wellington as unskilled workers to various industries, etc. When a Government by regulation, and the threat of a fine or imprisonment for disobedience, forces a worker-to accept labour in order to make profits for another, that is slave labour as I see it. A soldier’s wife was fined £6 the other day at Invercargill because she disobeyed the slave-master's commands to accept work as directed. Is that not slavery? Arp trade union methods of conscription and the right by law to force rnen to join unions against their will, and compel them to support with contributions ideologies and politicians they detest, British freedom or Fascism? Is the payment of union funds to political parties without the knowledge and consent of all members, as well as the closed unions and the efforts to monopolise certain occupations, a sample of Labour’s freedom? When we see hordes of inspectors and snoopies poking and prying into private businesses, when we see mothers and sweethearts of our fighting men queuing up for rations, with the grim prospects of a cold or meatless Christmas dinner, one is forced to ask, Is this a relic of the slave days or a natural condition of progressive Socialism? —I am, etc., Matilda. Dunedin, December 21 Sir, —" Matilda’s ” last letter has made it impossible any longer to credit him with good faith. He has mutilated one of Mr Silverstone’s sentences, omitting a vital phrase and inserting a misleading word of his own. Apart from his personalities and misrepresentations, he indulges in the most audacious sophistry. He says that wages do r.ot come out of capital. But if a business man is to make profits the wages of his workers must come back to him with the addition of profits. And money spent with a view to its increase is called capital.—l am. etc., H. Gow. Balclutha, December 20. [This correspondence is closed. —Ed., O.D.T.j