The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1920. THE NEW BONUS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1920. THE NEW BONUS.

When the decision of the Arbitration Court relative to the bonus to workers to meet the increased cost of living, as evidenced by statistics for the half-year ending September 30th last, was made known, the question that occurred to all thoughtful people was: Where will it end, and when? The matter is affected by so many factors —direct and indirect —that it is impossible to arrive at any reliable conclusion thereon. The new award grants a further bonus of 2|d per hour to male adult workers, 4s 6d weekly to women workers over 20 years of age, and 3s to those under that age, while youths and apprentices are to receive 3s weekly, the increases taking effect from the first of the current month. This award follows the principle of adjustment adopted by the Court previously, and the increases are only subject to good causes being shown to the contrary, it being necessary for all unions to file, without delay, formal egglicatiott for the increment

The granting of bonuses may be regarded as the only alternative to strikes and industrial upheavals, yet the effect is merely a palliative, and not a remedy for the evil into which the. world has drifted. The question of the root cause of the increased cost of living has been the subject .of considerable argument, but no practical result has followed that would enable an effective remedy to be applied. It is a quadrilateral problem affecting the workers, the employers, the public, and ■ the stability of industry, while it cannot be said that the cost of production is wholly responsible for the rise in prices; rather is it the volume of production and the law of supply and demand that are largely responsible for the present situation, which certainly evokes considerable anxiety. In the course of his remarks when making .the new award, Mr. Justice Stringer said: "Prices are controlled by world influences, not by local variations in labor conditions." "We venture to think that the learned judge would have been nearer the mark if he had stated that prices were controlled by world influences, as well as by local influences and conditions. The granting of bonuses lias certainly been found by experience to operate in a vicious circle. The workers obtain more money, the employers (wherever possible) pass on' the increase, and the public eventually pay all the increments. The expedient is that of following the line of least resistance, and though "it is manifestly inequitable, it enables industry to be carried on without inflicting excessive hardship on the workers or dislocating progress. At the same time it is evident thai those workers who have no family responsibilities are far better off than they ever were previously. One of ti'o important points to bear in mind is the imperative necessity, for safeguarding an/i developing industry and production, and in this connection it is advisable to recognise that the greater the purchasing power of the masses the more will production be stimulated, while the moment the demand for manufactured goods falls off a slump sets in and unemployment follows; thus" we are faced in industry with the Scylia and Charybdis which presented such dangers to navigators—the rock of high prices and the whirlpool of unemployment. How to steer clear of these dangers and emerge into the.calm of normality and stability is the problem that awaits solution. That to accomplish a durable readjustment on safe lines the process must be gradual is generally admitted, as also is the fundamental fact that increased production must be the main factor in solving the problem. In considering the matter it is necessary to have 1 regard to the interests of the whole community—the employers as well as the workers, the manufacturers, the wholesalers, the retailers, and the public. The position is complicated by the depreciated purchasing power of the sovereign, the tightness of money, the increased taxation, and the tendency to profiteering and speculation. In the ease of some commodities—notably those which constitute our key industries—it is not so much a question of price, but of a sufficiency in the supply that matters, hence the all-impor-tance of increased output in order that other dependent industries shall not be adversely, affected. It is above all things essential that there shall be progress, expansion, and ample employment. If bonuses contribute in this direction they will be of service, yet it is apparent, that the expedient is at best temporary, a fact that emphasises the need for all classes uniting in a common and intelligent effort to place the cost of living on such a basis that the granting of bonuses will no longer be necessary. At present there is no evidence of a disposition to do otherwise than drift.