PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 79

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE SOFIA FETES. What are they? you will say. The papers are full of strikes and armaments, and it is only now and then that there is a rumble ehomng that in the Near East there are the elements of an upheaval. It you take up a map of Turkey, s.'tj, 50 years old., you will find that Turkey included Roumania, Bulgaria, Rumeiia, Servia, Bosnia, Her/.govina, and Montenegro, all of which have hived off. The last two named, against their will, wore annexed by Austria, who is seeking to possess the eastern shore of the Adriatic, and possibly a way through to Saloonika, which in time will become a most important port of the /Egean Sea. It was thought some years ago—and probably truthfully so—that Russia had designs upon the other little kingdoms named, but though the Russian Bear, in conjunction with other nations, was able to i free them from Turkish domination, and j to establish them as separate entities, he was not able to embrace them in his comI prehensive hug. Now, those principalities—they have kings, but we can hardly call them kingdoms—have aspirations. They evidently see that they cannot maintain'their independence against their more powerful neighbours, and as racially they are related students of history see in these little nations the making of a larger one which will effectually bar the progress of both Russia and Austria. But what has all of this to do with the Sofia fetes? Perhaps it is just as well to say that Sofia is in the south-west of Bulgaria, and is its capital. Take your maps of the Balkan Peninsula, look up the five provinces named, read this from the weekly edition of the London Times, and you will see why I have made the Sofia Fete a text for a portion of my Chat to-day. The paragraphs appear under the heading " The Coming of Age of Prince Boris," and were wired by the Times correspondent : SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SOFIA FETES. Sofia, February 2. To-day all the future rulers of the Christian States of the Balkan Peninsula are assembled under one roof in order to participate in a solemn act of thanksgiving —for the coming of ago of Prince Boris —in accordance with this ritual of their common faith. The occasion is unique and peculiarly interesting. A hundred years ago none of these States, except little Montenegro, had come into existence, and the Bulgarian race, crushed by ages of oppression, had almost lost consciousness of its nationality. Events have moved rapidly since then, and to-day the five States have attained such a degree of moral and material advancement as to render their united strength! a powerful factor in the future political developments of South- ! Eastern Europe. Whether they will realise this truth in time it is difficult to say, but there are .many indications of a growing tendency to abandon the unfortunate jealousies and dissensions which have hitherto sovxi rated them and rendered them the victims of foreign intrigues and ambi- , tions. In view of this tendency the meet- ; ing of five Heirs Apparent of Balkan King- j cloms may denote the inception of a new policy of' joint action for the defence of | common interests and become a landmark in the history of the Peninsula. NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS. , Sofia, February 2. The attainment by the Crown Prince Boris of his majority was celebrated here today. A Te Ucuin was sung in the Cathedral in the presence of the members of the Royal Family, the members of the foreign missions, the Diplomatic Corps, the Ministers, and the chief civil and military authorities. After the service the members of the Court and their guests proceeded to the Military School, whero the Crown Prince took the oath of allegiance as a soldier. | In the evening a Court dinner was held, followed by an official reception. The city : was brilliantly illuminated. Thanksgiving services and military reviews were held in all parts of the King-AUSTRTA-HUNGARY. In this week's Witness—or was it last' week's?—you will see that the Emperor Francis Joseph and the Hungarian Parlia- ! merit have come into conflict, the Emperor : saying that the Hungarians were trying | to interfere with hie rights, and that if ! their action were persisted in he would , abdicate. I may refer again to this, for it brings up a question now over 60 years old. In the meantime remember that the Balkan States are a powder-magazine, and i Austria-Hungary is another, and what will happen when the present Emperor dies—he is 82 in August—the most far- \ seeing diplomat or statesman will find it difficult to saw ROYALTIES. We hear a great deal just now about . the great injustice done to so many by J

tlie Home strikers. I am against strikes, out and out, especially in a country where every man and woman has a vote and one vote Only. But where this principle is not in operation it is quite conceivable that men are justified in striking under present conditions. Capitalists are not compelled to invest their money where they do not wish to, so on the same line of argument the workman cannot be compelled to invest his capital—his labour—whoc* he does not wish to. If the results of close study show that a certain minimum sum is absolutely necessary for a bare existence, I cannot see that any man ought to be expected to work for less than that sum. Two statements are being made just now. The mine-owners cannot afford a minimum wage, and will have to shut down if it be insisted on. Put plainly, the second statement means the demands of money must precede the demands of humanity: it should be the other way about.

Then take the other statement. Will I mines have to close down? And, if they j do, will not a corresponding increase of employment come from other mines? j May it not happen that the enforcement |of a minimum wage will force mineowners to see some other way out—a way not hitherto sought? As long as cheap labour can be got there is not the same necessity to study economics and the introduction of improved methods of winning and handling the coal. But perhaps , there is another way out. ! Often enough the mine-owner is distinct j from the land-owner who draws royalties. 1 In a book I have by me as I write I read that the Duke 'of Hamilton exacts £114,000 in royalties. "So unreasonable 1 are his exactions that for several years • he has succeeded in producing a sort of special local depression of trade in Lanarkshire. He grants leases for 21 years at fixed rents varying from £SOO. to £SOOO. These are* payable whether the mines are worked or not. If worked, royalties varying from 9d to Is 6d per ton are exacted Ihe moment a certain output is reached. What is the consequence? The hewer's rate has been forced down to lOd per ton, while tho ducal spoil averages Is 3d a ton." This was written some years ago, but tho system still obtains; and it is a question whether these royalties should not be reduced, if not abolished. Here are two or three instances showing how royalties tell against industries—they are taken from the same source, and as far as I know have not been disproved. The Barrow Hematite Company has a capital of £2.000,000, and for years did not pay a dividend. The site of the town is owned by the Dukes of Devonshire, Buccleuch, and Muncaster, who draw among them £126,000 in dues, while the wages of the hands sweltering at the furnaces amount to £63.000. A blast furnace in Scotland produces 600 tons of pig iron a week. The royalties to the landlord are £201; the wages for the same time amount to £95, or less than half the sum paid in royalties. A Cunard liner in a return trip uses 4125 tons of coal. The royalty on this amounts to £206 ss, or more'than the amount paid in wages of the entire crew from captain to cabin-boy. The R.M. steamer Adder, running between Ardrossan and Belfast, pays more in royalties on coal consumed than it pays in wages to the entire crew. The Campania, 28,000 horse-power, consumes 500 tons a day. In the return trip she uses 6500 tons, upon which the royalty amounts, at 9d a ton, to £243. On board are 72 fireman and 52 trimmers, who earn £243 15s. One man. draws in royalties, for which he does nothing, an amount equal to that earned by 124 men engaged in a most laborious and exhausting occupation. Judging by these and other figures, and by what may be done in adopting more modern methods in winning coal and ore, a minimum wage is possible without lessening employment.