The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11,1903.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2556, 11 March 1903, Page 44

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11,1903.) THE WEEK.

" Knoquim aliud Datura, aiiad upientit dliit."— JtrriMAt,. " Good nature and good vase muat erer join."— For*.

Impatience of criticism has always been one of the Premier's characterisThe Premier tics, and, therefore, no one at Hanmer, will be in the least surprised

at the indignant outburst in which, during his speech at Hanmer, he inveighed against his journalistic critics. Mr Seddon concluded his oration by saying that the Government did not claim to be perfect, thereby admitting that he occasionally made mistakes, and he might, therefore, not to feel aggrieved when these mistakes are criticised. He averred that the Government had endeavoured to do their .best to make the people happy, but their happiness may be rather dearly purchased .•lf at the price of too much borrowed money. Mr Seddon tested the credulity of h : s bearers somewhat severely by asserting thnt "the good prices now ruling for wool, cattle, sheep, -mutton, and .grain "were the direct; result of the policy of the present administration, anfi challenged the "most rabid opposition journal in the colony to deny the 'statement." Perhaps one of the most remarkable flights of fancy in which the Premier indulged was the following : — "If to make New Zealand a self-contained country was Socialism, then he was a disciple," which idea he elaborated by affirming that the colony ought to manufacture its own goods. Should air Seddon elect to work towards his Socialistic ideal more eealously than in the past, it is to be feared that trouble is in store. The one encourag- j ing passage in the whole of the speech was that in which the Premier promised to emend his ways. He declared that "The Government meant to keep down expenditure to the lowest possible point, and to use the surplus for the development of the country, and thereby reduce taxation upon the people." If these words had been , nttered prior to the recent failure in loan flotation, the Premier might have carried nonvicition to the hearts of his hard-hearted critics.

At the present time the oat market is very much and, in the

Oati and Freight,

depressed, absence of a "brisk export demand, there is a prospect

of low prices ruling for this cereal. For the past two years the South -'African demand has greatly helped New •Zealand growers; but so far this season, although there are rumours of South ■i&frican .. orders, these rumours have lacked confirmation. At the same- time, re'cenfc New York files bear witness to the fact that considerable quantities of oats are Tbeing shipped to South Africa from the >United States, and there ought to be no reason why New Zealand should not coms>ete. An examination of the situation shows that, despite the supposed advantages of a so-called subsidised direct service, the real difficulty lies in the matter of freights. Keen competition between the rival lines Df steamers trading from K'ew York to South African ports has resulted in much cutting of freights. To such an extent has this been carried that at the present time train can be shipped from the United tates to South Africa at less than one half of the rates charged by the New Zealand direct service. This, although New Zealand growers can ship a better oat at the same price as the American farmer is prepared to accept, yet in actual competition in South African markets the orders go to the United States, owing to the low freights procurable. We have always contended that the two essentials for a permanent and profitable export trade were a high grade of produce and a low rate of freight. It is disappointing to the farmer, after striving after the first ideal, to be shorn of the real value of his produce owing to Governtmental bungling in the matter of freights. But then the farmers of this colony have become well imbued to bungling of the crassiest sort when the present administration undertakes to legislate in their interests.

Time works queer revenges, and just at a

The Fight in the Flour-milling Trade.

time when a fierce dispute is raging as to the authorship of the compulsory industrial arbitration legislation which obtains in these

colonies, it is significant that in Dunedin a fierce fight is raging in the flourmilling trade, whilst in Auckland a lockout has been declared against the cabinet-makers. At the moment of writing it is hard to say where the flourmilling fight will end. The Milling Trust was unsuccessful in securing all the original signatories to their new agreement, which dates from the first of the present month, ami they seem to have decided upon making it as uncomfortable as possible for all the millers who are standing aloof. In Dunedin the bakers have been exhorted to be loyal to the association, with the result that the free millers' have been practically boycotted by the baking trade. Accordingly, they turned their attention to the storekeepers, and it is reported that they secured a good share of the trade, which .is mainly fo.r flour in 50lb hags, for which an extra charge of 15s per ton is ordinarily made. The trust thereupon notified the storekeepers that they were willing to supply them at the same rate as the bakers — viz., £11 10s per ton, thereby hoping fco spoil the free millers' trade. But the free millers, not to be beaten, promptly dropped the price of flour in sacks to £10 15s per ton, and there the matter stands ior yhe present. It is rumoured, however, thai, *>L« trust is determined to crush all opposition »-*> en n il—l -"'■es&itatey reducing the pr.ee oi ..om ... £10, or even £9 per :on. From the M*mers, point of view this 3<;ht is of iutere&fc. as the tower the urige

of flour is brought the less millers will be willing to pay for their wheat.

Another step towards the union of the churches was taken

The Union of the Churches,

during the sitting of the Methodist Conference in Christchurch, when the Presbyterian over-

tures were enthusiastically received. During the discussion which ensued, it was significant of the trend of the times that no difficulty was apprehended in matters of doctrine, the basis of union being therefore practically reduced to settling details of the government and polity of the Church that is to be. Tc those who remember the bitter doctrinal feuds of past ages this is indeed a welcome change, and augurs well for the religion of the future. The National Church of New Zealand, should the present proposals find fruition, will embody in one great denomination the three leading Evangelical bodies, and will represent fully one-third of the population of the colony. Such a Church will wield a power and a prestige at present possessed by no other Church, and the consummation of this union is likely to work it marked change in the religious life rf the people.

In the Fortnightly Review Mr R. E. C,

Long has a most interesting

The Greatest Financier of Moilern Times,

and instructive article entitled, "M. Witte, Atlas of the Autocracy," which will

come as a great shock to that section of New Zealand Socialists who regard State ownership as the democratic

ideal. In perusing this article, it is impossible to resist the temptation to substitute for M. Witte the name of the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, and then endeavour to imagine the future of New Zealand if left much longer at the mercy of the originator of the State coal mine and the author of the State Fire Insurance Bill. It is ten years since M. Witte was appointed to his present position, and th-3 purpose of every measure undertaken by the Minister of Finance during that period is alleged by his critics to be the creation of an omnipotent State, owner and sole dispenser of all sources of wealth in the Empire : a State with the civil inhabitants merged in officialdom, dependent on the Government for their daily bread, and servants of an autocracy henceforth safe for evei. As proof that such a project is not altogether impossible of realisation, even in the lifetime of one man, the financial history of Russia during the last decade speaks loudly. Within the past ten years the process of concentrating •wealth in the hands of the Government has gone on with incredible speed. The three leading principles adopted by M. Witte in his financial methods have been : (1) Indirect taxation ; (2) the creation of State capital out of current revenues ; and (3) expropriation and monopolies. So successful has the system proved that the Imperial revenue has increased from 965,000,000 roubles in 1892, to no less than 1.947,000,000 roubles in 1902 — an increase of 100 per cent, in the 10 years.

This great increase in revenue has been utilised in building up the

The Slate, a Trading Corporation,

vast fabric of State ownerfchip and State patronage, which, under M. Witte's re-

gjme, is proving the strongest pillar of irresponsible rule. The State is to be a trading corpoiation first and an organ of government only as a subordinate function. The total debt of the Empire has increased by only 1.748,000,000 roubles in ten years, a sum on which the profits from the drink monopoly, when completed, will alone be more than sufficient to pay the interest. • M. Witte has. therefore, placed to the credit of the State in ten years some 30,000 versts of railways, without incurring a penny of indebtedness. It was M. Witte's skilful usi of indirect taxation which resulted in' annual surpluses enabling him to Build up 8 State property of incalculable value, while making no proportionate increase in the indebtedness of the Empire. The system of State monopolies begun in 1895 is proving etill more effective. State monopolies in one form or another are indispensable features of M. Witte's economic policy, for while there is only one monopoly, so-called,, in the Russian Empire, known rjs the "State Sale of Spirits," the whole industrial system which has developed so rapidly within the last ten years is nothing but a network of monopolies masquerading under other names. Having estalished the State monopoly in spirits, M. Witte proceeded, as any other trust would proceed, to make the public pay fqr it, by raising prices all round, with the result tlmt in 1902 the gross revenue from the drink traffic was estimated at 463,000,000 roubles. Encouraged by this success, the greatest financier of modern times is now committed to a further progress of expropriation, which is destined to end in the absorption by the State of all industries and in the reduction of the producing population to the position of managers of State departments, civil servants, and State labourere.

There is a growing belief in Russia that M. Witte is determined to

The Destruction nf Prirate Enterprise.

absorb into the Statt oil private enterprise. Among<-t the peasants rumours are

circulated to the effect that the sale of tobacco will shortly be carried on by Government. "All Tnokers will have green stamps affixed to their foreheads, without which they will not be allowed to buy tobacco." These seemingly absurd rumours appear, however, to have some foundation in fact. In Russia two more giant monopolies have already parsed the stage of conjecture. Within the last eight years Mr Witte has created, in the form of spirit shops, a universal distributing organisation, which he has now determined to use for the further destruction of private enterprise and the further enrichment cf the Treasmy. The pretext is beneficence. For the benefit of the peasant, who lacks the luxuries of tea and sugar, it is proposed to turn the State spirit shops into general grocery store 1 !. In the interests of health the Slate is aKo =ecunng the monopoly of the clienuwl and drnji stores..

The apothecaries in Russia are nearly all Germans. "Monopolisation," argues M. Witte, "will hit the German invader without injuring a single Russian, and it will enrich the State, for next to selling spirits to kill the body, there is no trade so lucrative as selling drugs to cure it." But the subordination of all private interests to the insatiable State only begins with direct State trading. A subtler means of concentrating the -wealth of the people and destroying private enterprise is now in full operation in Russia, where everything from the bakery trade to the publishing trade is municipalised. The State is content with COTrying on the transport of the Empire, working mines, mismanaging steel works, and selling vodka ; but the local governments admit no limit to their enterprise at all.

As the local governments are completely under the thumb of the

The Redistribution of Wealth.

Minister, their enterprise is merely State trading in another form, which has the

cardinal advantage that it hampeis individual enterprise, and passes thousands of free individuals under the yoke of administrative tutelage. Monopoly, however, is but a detail in the system by which the State marches to wealth, the people' to ruin, and the Minister to omnipotence. The task to which M. Witte has set himself with accustomed thoroughness is to organise a system of control over every great capitalistic enterprise. Under various pretexts he has appointed in every comoany a "representative of the Minister of Finance, whose ostensible duty is to report abuses, but whose real mission is to rule the undertaking." Thus nearly every important undertaking in the Russian Empire is now under M. Witte's control. The private banks are practically State departments, and P.ll factories subject to excise support C4overnment official?, who calmly assure the manufacturers that the State thinks only of their interests, the victims testing the sincerity of the Government by demanding more protection and higher bounties. The restriction of output; is an essential feature of the new system. The sugar refiners in particular are M. Witte's humble servants. While sugai in Russia is 200 to 300 per cent, dearer than in England, and is, as native consumer? say, "exported to feed English pigs," the refiner.* make incredible profits, some refining companies paying dividends of 66 per cent. In return for the privilege of exploiting the consumer, M. Witte asks only that the companies shall be transformed, de fftcto, into departments of State. The distilleries, the iron masters, and the fire insurance companies are blessed with the same system, with the usual result — high profits, the exploiting of their clients, and total subjection to the will of M. Witte. As a result, the "'redistribution of wealth" goes on with ever increasing speed, and at the present time there are probably more millionaires and more paupers in Moscow alone than there are in the whole of England. This object lesion, in State trading and protection directed by the "greatest of Finance Ministers" has surely a moral for Xew Zealand, with its one-man Ministry.