The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1913.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3111, 29 October 1913, Page 47

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1913.) THE WEEK.

“ Nunquam allttd natura, ollud eapicntia dixit."— Juvenal. “ Good nature and good sense mast ever join.”-* Popm.

The spectacle in this Dominion of two significant strikes, both of The significance considerable magnitude, im of the Strikes, full operation on Labour Day is being generally commented upon, and it evokes thoughts which may not lightly be dismissed. Mr Philip Snowden, n ' prominent British Labour advocate, who abhors strikes and denounces Syndicalist methods, Las laid it down as an axiom that no strike can be successful nowadays which is not supported by public opinion. And he adds that the only strike which can enlist " public opinion is one where the. matter at issue is simple and understandable, and where the workers are clearly in tho right and are seeking seme reasonable aim. Mr Snowden does not hesitate to declare that on the whole strikes do far more to alienate the public than to enlist their support for such methods. As a generalisation, this fairly accurately expresses the idea of the average man, but it does not go to the root of the matter, especially in regard to the strikes in New Zealand." According to the accepted standards, there is scarcely a worker in this Dominion who is not' well paid, and in comparison with his brother worker in tho Homeland his position approaches to a Paradise. And the significance of the strikes at Huntly and in Wellington, as in other similar recrudescences in the recent past, is that the slightest circumstance is eagerly seized upon as occasion for ceasing work, and that the original causes of contention, if submitted to arbitration, might easily have been reconciled without proceeding to extremes. But the fact may. as well be faced that the workers of the world arc not in the mood for arbitration, on the level of existing standards; rather do they desire by a campaign, of revolt, and if need be of violence, to make a radical alteration in the construction of society before proceeding to arbitrate with a view of permanent settlement. The attitude of the Labour party towards tha Government’s Conciliation and Arbitration Bill furnishes apt illustration of our assertion ; tho opposition to this measure proceeds, we are convinced, not so much from the wording of any one of its provisions ns from the fact that it provides for arbitration; and seeks to suppress the strike. In Lis present militant mood, it is tie strike that appeals to the imagination of the worker; the strike he will have, and be satisfied with nothing else. To tha would-be striker agreements become edi much waste paper, economic fall upon deaf ears, and the public well/ being disappears. He has become

that Capitalism is his avowed enemy, and he -has declared war with a full determination to provoke a fight to a finish. The recent railway and other strikes in the Homeland elicited from the London Nation an article headed “The Meaning of the Strike,’’ a portion of which has a distinct bearing upon the present position in New Zealand. “There are several very disconcei mg symptoms in this season’s strike epidemic. Perhaps the most serious is the inadequacy —indeed, the triviality—of most of the causes assigned for the stoppages o ■work.” And, seeking for explanation ot “the irresponsibility and unreflectn eneis which are leading characteristics of the latest Labour movement,” the Nation quotes Mr James Sexton as finding a partial solution “when he points to the rapid growth of the ranks of trade unionism by the admission of masses of raw young Workers undisciplined and unversed in. Labour tactics* who are clamorous for immediate results. The stnKe fever has got into their blood.” Even this, however, is scarcely as elucidating the reasons for revolt in New Zealand, and the Nation, in seeking tor other reasons, comes very near the truth in the following comment: —“There can be no doubt that these troubles are symptoms of a discontent- among the working classes that is becoming chronic and is attended by a growing feeling of class-, consciousness. This in our judgment is the natural result of popular education m enlarging and enriching the outlook of the workers upon life. New needs, tastes, and aspirations are spreading amongst them, which they have not the chance to satisfy. They want more money, more leisure, more liberty to enjoy the ‘good things’ of life; and they chafe ever more insistently against the narrow economic barriers which shut them in. The curious commentary upon this argument, which from an English standpoint is correct, is seen in the position in this Dominion, where many, if not all, of the conditions ' for which the British worker craves have been realised. Yet here we are faced by the same symptoms of chronic discontent and the same new needs, tastes, and aspirations on the part of the worker. While it is the duty of the Government to preserve law and order, it is also the duty of press and public to look the changing. conditions straight in the face and to enlarge the popular notions about the scope of industrial reforms if the new situation now steadily emerging into view is to be adequately coped with. The first step to the restoration of peace in the industrial world is to earnestly seek to re-establish in the mind of the ordinary working man a confidence in the possibility of achieving his reasonable aims by the pursuance of orderly political and economic methods. The remarkable changes in social conditions prefacing that compete reconstruction of society which the far-seeing ilreaJy perceive on the national horizon has vivid illustration in the courageous way in which Mr Lloyd George is tackling the land problem in the Homeland The policy propounded by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his speech at Swindon has special interest for all oversea dominions. Should it in any degree realise Mr Lloyd George’s anticipations, it must in the long run stem the tide of immigration which has already to such an alarming extent 'depleted the rural populations •of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Although in the long run matters will undoubtedly right themselves, and the existing aggregation of congested populations in the great cities of the Old World will be relieved and'their conditions alleviated, there must be an amount of confusion and chaos ere the new era of permanence be attained. To all acquainted with the innate conservatism of the average Englishman in regard to land tenure, the Chancellor’s programme, which he asserts has the consent of Cabinet, will come as something of a shock. The initial step in the new policy is for the Government to assume complete control of the existing monopoly in land by placing the lands of the Kingdom under direction of the State. To that end it is proposed to appoint a responsible Minister of Lands, who will replace the present Board of Agriculture. This Minister of Lands will be empowered to acquire at a reasonable price derelict and neglected tracts with a view to their proper cultivation. The Chancellor declared that it was stupid to allow tens of thousands of robust workmen to go to the wilds of Canada when much of the land at home was in its present uncultivated condition. The country hemorrhage must be stopped. Another plank in the programme was the provision of cottages for the agricultural labourer, and every cottage is to have its vegetable garden. While Unionist newspapers and speakers are denouncing Mr Lloyd George’s proposals in the strongest terms, the Chancellor has the support of Earl de la Warr, who contends that the present English land system would not be tolerated in any other country, and that if Mr Lloyd George realises his reform, he will accomplish one of the greatest tasks consummated by any Minister in the realm. Earl de la Warr pictures the cities of England overcrowded with starving families while the land lies idje through the absence of labour, lacking in its turn through the want of hoiising, and this is caused by the absence of capital. Although these startling proposals will excite tremendous opposition, there is the fact that the Chancellor has been able to put his Insurance Act into actual operation in the teeth of opposition quite as strenuous. It will not bo surprising, therefore, if before many years are past a radical alteration has been made In the English land laws, paving the wgy to ft real revival of farming and agriculture

Causes nn 1 Comments.

Mr-Lloyd Qeorge] and Hip Laud I’ltWeiu.

There is an aspect of the promised agricultural revival in the Homeland -which from a Dominion viewpoint must not be lost sight of, and that is the increased competition in farming products that it will presently mean in the markets of Great Britain. The oversea dominions have not been slow to take advantage of the decline in agriculture in the United Kingdom to establish a- firm position for their products; and, unfortunately, in many cases, presuming too much on an established reputation, the quality of the exports has not uniformly been maintained. The awards made last week at the Dairy Show at Islington, London, while on the whole gratifying to New Zealand—and, in the case of the Taieri and . Peninsula Company’s butter, to Otago in particular—serve to show that the reputation of New Zealand dairy produce has suffered somewhat of late'years by reason of carelessness in manufacture. The quality of the prize butter and cheese shown at Islington demonstrated to what high levels dur dairy factories can attain when put on their mettle in competition, . whilst the fact that the Taieri and .Peninsula Company was able to secure first prize for both unsalted and salted butter in open competition in London is the severest possible commentary on the quality of much of the butter supplied under the same company’s trade mark which consumers in Dunedin for months past have been compelled to nut up with. Whatever the cause for the inferior product —a proportion of which finds its way. to the Homeland —and whatever the reasons for the defective manufacture, they must be sought out and remedied unless this Dominion is to suffer serious loss, both of reputation and revenue.

Quality of II a ry !’i oiluce.