FROM ANCIENT GREEKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 673, 27 May 1929, Page 10

FROM ANCIENT GREEKS

SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY ADDRESS BY MR. RUSHWORTH (From Our Otcit Correspondent) CAMBRIDGE, Today. Tracing the development of poliiiI cal science from the days of the an* j cient Greeks. Mr. H. M. Rushworth. j M.P. for Bay of Islands, delivered an I interesting public address here on Saturday evening. The Mayor, Mr. C. H. Priestley, presided. After relating a number of humorous incidents in connection with his electioneering campaigns Mr. Rushworth dealt with the science of political economy. The speaker referred to the beginning of political science in the palmy days of the ancient Greeks. He traced its development in various stages up to the present time, and said the problems of individualism and Socialism so prominent today were propounded by Socrates, Aristotle and Plato 2.500 years ago. Mr. Rushworth fully explained the mercantile doctrine which dominated the civilised world of the 16th cen- j tury, and denounced the evils of this j system which gave too much import- j ance to the value of money and the • denseness of population. The present deplorable state of j Russia was due to the teachings of ! Karl Marx. The problem of today j was not.one of production, but of dis-I tribution. We had 60,000.000 acres of j land, only 22,000,000 of which was | under cultivation, and land settlement had come to a standstill. People were drifting from the country to the j towns, increasing the problem of unemployment. The reason was that the rewards and the amenities of those on the land were less than in the cities and we should set out to improve the conditions of those engaged in primary production. The high cost of living was one of the causes of the trouble. This was due to the fact that all the necessaries of life were taxed. A protective tariff raised the cost of living to everyone and this was passed on, finally coming back to the primary producer, who could not pass it on. A protective tariff wasoineffective, like a dog chasing its own tail. “If we would emulate the success of America we would have to get their economic unity. Humanity is dynamic, not static, and we must change our conditions or cease to exist.” concluded an eloquent plea for-every man and woman to realise the responsibility they had in helping to frame the destinies of the world. The speaker was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Mr. W. Harbutt. Mr. Rushworth and his wife are making a short holiday visit to Cambridge.