Patea & Waverley Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1920. WAGES AND PRICES.

Patea Mail, Volume XLIV, 15 December 1920, Page 2

Patea & Waverley Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1920. WAGES AND PRICES.

It must be galling to the thousands who appreciate the sacrifices that have been made on the people’s behalf during 1 he recent war to find that there are still a number who do not realise that their prosperity of the future depends to a very great extent on everyone endeavouring to produce more and consume less in order to make up for the ravage-i of war. Britain alone lost over 670.000 of her bravest and best sons, who were killed outright in the late war, whilst her total casualties were over three millions. These six hundred thousand men gave up all they possessed , even life itself, that the people of the world might live in security and comfort in place of being the slaves of the Hun. Realising the sacrifices that have been made, it; is galling to find men living in comfort —one might almost say in luxufy—in this well-favoured corner of the Empire who, in place of appreciating what has been endured, and what has been done on their behalf, and instead of straining every nerve to the end that these sacrifices shall not have been made in vain, are ready to sacrifice the interests of the country in order to obtain extra benefits for themselves. The time is essentially one when increased production should be the order of the day, and a strike the very last thing to be thought of. The Federation of British Industries puts the position very clearly in a statement issued recently which deals with the vital question of the future of wages ami prices. The Federation finds that the three chief changes in the economic situation which have been brought about by the war are:— (I) The extreme shortage} of capital due to the enormous destruction which took' place during the wav, and to the expenditure by the (.Jovernment of the now savings of the people during the same period; (2) a considerable reduction in the supplies of peacetime commodities available for consumption, due to the withdrawal of a large portion of labour and to the submarine menace; and (3) the increased buying capacity of the public owing to the .('Jovernment ’-i method of artificially increasing the supply of money in order to finance the war. Particular emphasis is laid on the necessity for increased production as an antidote lor the present high prices. “The only really effectual moans by which prices can be reduced and the real wages of labour improved is by working the existing instruments of production at their maximum pressure, and so inereasing, as rapidly as possible, the mass of commodities to be bought.” The present-day industrial worker woidd do well to understand that “ca’ canny” and similar methods not only tail in 1 heir objects, but, by causing a rise in prices, actually reduce the purchasing power of' their present wages. Further, it is pointed out that, (lie working classes cannot expect any immediate improvement in (heir standard of living; ‘‘they have, indeed, more reason to fear the reduction of. it.” The position can only he restored and fresh capital obtained

by working to their maximum capacity “the few instruments which the war lias left us.” It appears that the Federation considers the Government responsible for concealing the true position means of subsidies and inllation of the currency, but, as pointed out. although these methods arc being discarded and the Government is attempting to restrict existing credit the workers are still pressing for further increases in money wages. Much as the industrial world desires peace, it is difficult to see how this can he accomplished while workers arc “obsessed by the vain dream that it is possible to obtain additional purchasing power simply by increasing the number of units in which their wages are reckoned.”