SATURDAY. DECEMBER 9, 1933. THE LABOURER’S LUXURIES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 940, 9 December 1933, Page 8

SATURDAY. DECEMBER 9, 1933. THE LABOURER’S LUXURIES.

'T'HAT THE LUXURIES of today become the necessities of to-morrow is an apothegm that provides a sufficient answer to the nonsensical view of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce that “ the unskilled labourer is not entitled either under a natural law or under the principles of justice to the luxuries of life, but to little more than the barest necessities.” For years the ruling class in England regarded bathrooms as a luxury, even for themselves. Smoking, teadrinking, linen sheets, electric lighting and a host of other modern necessities came in as pure luxuries. The transition from luxuries to necessities will be swifter in every age, and there will be an increasing recognition, too, of the fact that the amenities of life, which the Wellington body regards as an “ inheritance not to be enjoyed free by the unworthy ” are a common inheritance. One soweth and another reapeth, as the history of this young country strongly testifies, for many of the sons and daughters of the pioneers have fallen to a level from which the Wellington Chamber of Commerce would never allow them to lift themselves. EMPIRE SHIPPING. r I \HE WORLD has too many ships to carry the world’s trade. Between 1913 and 1931 there was an increase of 58 per cent in international tonnage, which, with greater speeds, increased the carrying capacity by 75 per cent. Owing to the competition of surplus shipping, tramp freights fell by 7 per cent in 1932, and this brought them to 20 per cent below their pre-war level, with working costs well above pre-war rates. But in meeting national losses to tramp shipping by a subsidy of £3,000,000 Great Britain is going to add to the already severe strain on her taxpayers and make it even more difficult to struggle out of the present subsidy “ war.” The United States is prepared to go to any lengths to put more of her ships on the sea, and from 1916 to 1931 had actually faced an outlay on construction and operation of £743,000,000 and a loss of £1,000,000,000. But a similar policy would be financially disastrous for Britain. Her best alternative is a common Empire policy. The British commonwealth of nations owns one third of the world’s merchant fleet, but in the face of the present onslaught on her trade lines there will need to be a strenuous effort made to retain control of the arteries of the Empire. A DISTURBING TOLERANCE. A CIVIC CONTENTMENT with the familiar ravages of time and weather, or a too deeply rooted respect for utility, may become in due course a toleration of ugliness. Therefore the many blemishes to beauty this City Beautiful tolerates in the casual erection of buildings and fences and in the dilapidation of existing utilities should serve as a warning to thoughtful citizens. The corner of Hagley Park from which the brush fence sheltering the Canterbury College tennis courts has been removed is a case in point. The fence had to go, but it is a question whether the zeal of the beautifier will avail against the permanent buildings that mar the westward view from the entrance to the park. So much loveliness of tree and field and lake needs gentle handling. Yet one meets it casually by way of a bridge in disrepair and through ugly rusty gates, where one imagines there might be a bridge with wide, stately lines sweeping towards simple but noble gates, as if the beauty of man’s mind answered the inspiration oi nature.