The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1945. Wages, Benefits And Production

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23323, 5 October 1945, Page 4

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1945. Wages, Benefits And Production

ADDRESSING the annual conference of the New Zealand Police Association in Wellington yesterday, (tie Prime Minister said: ‘There will be no more soul-grinding poverty in this country. This can be maintained only if work is available and provided. The secret of success will be the production of increased wealth.’’ With his promise given, and the method by which it would be fulfilled presented, Mr Fraser then said that the present situation of the world was difficult and he referred to the “troublous times ahead.’’ He added: “Never was there need for members of the British Commonwealth to stand together more closely and determinedly than at present.” In those few sentences Mr Fraser covered more ground than might be readily observed. He stated the humanitarian objectives of the Government, with which there can be no rational quarrel. There should be no “soulgrinding poverty” in this country, and no matter what Government is in power there will be no repetition of the pitiable policy pursued in the last depression years, but while it is simple to promise the banishment of poverty, it should not be so easy in present circumstances to promise that the present standards of life can be maintained in New Zealand when the general economic condition of the world is considered. At a time when the Prime Minister is promising that the Government is determined to “retain the progress that had been made in the past 10 years,” millions of people in other parts of the world are destitute; the best prospect before them is a supply of the barest essentials of living, while the worst is death through starvation. Even those countries not actually threat- • fined by starvation are facing a period of trial which will match, and may exceed, the austerities of the war years. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer in his latest speech gives an account of the economic test confronting Great Britain. “A great effort is required to bring British imports and exports into proner balance,” he said. “Until this is done we run a great risk in our home economy and trading relations. We must therefore take every step to increase otir exports to all markets throughout the world as rapidly and on the greatest scale possible.” Dr Dalton is not in the happy position of being able to promise the people of Great Britain an economic future -without trammel or anxiety. Within a measurable time it is not likely that militant labour organisations in the Dominion will be completely satisfied with the Government’s assurance that all danger of poverty has been removed. Already there are mutterings which may develop into a storm for the Government. The secretary of the New, Zealand Waterside Workers’ Federation, for example, has discovered that “the change-over from wartime to peacetime production has already meant reduced wages for the workers.” Longer working hours made necessary by the war meant higher wages; the standard of living for large bodies of workers was fixed by the abnormal returns of the war period; shorter working hours must reduce wages and the workers affected will necessarily be alarmed by the economic problem now beginning to develop; and it is one which must ' develop rapidly during the next year. Thousands of men returning from the war are coming on the labour market; they had no share of the wartime wages boom and it will be difficult to persuade them of the justice of the complaints of workers who did not dispose of their excess income as wisely as they might have done. A guaranteed minimum family income will not be a wholly satisfactory palliative for workers who profiled richly from the war. For many the inevitable reversion to normal working hours made necessary by an increased volume of labour will be regarded as a dubious blessing. The security promised by the Prime Minister depends, he says, on the production of increased wealth. How is increased wealth to be produced? If the Government has the answer to that question, then the future would be less doubtful. NewZealand's certain source of wealth is the return gained from foodstuffs sent overseas, but principally to Great Britain. Another source of national wealth is to be found in the manufacturing industries, many of which prospered during the war, and then chiefly on account of war conditions which gave them protection additional to that provided by the imnort licensing system. These are the only ways in which New Zealand can produce wealth, and both of them are dependent in part upon conditions prevailing in Great Britain. The price Great Britain can pay for the Dominion’s produce will be determined by the success of Britain’s efforts to increase her export of manufactures. The best terms must be offered to those countries recognising Britain’s needs for a prosperous export trade. There may be ways of preventing a conflict of interest between the Dominion’s manufacturing industries and the manufacturing industries of Great Britain, but it is not clear what they are. One prospective certainty is that if New Zealand continues to restrict importation from Britain the return received from this country’s exports will be reduced. It is not difficult to agree with Mr Fraser’s statement that there are troublous limes ahead.