Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] TUESDAY, 10th MAY, 1932. WAGES AND TRADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 10 May 1932, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] TUESDAY, 10th MAY, 1932. WAGES AND TRADE.

Mussolini, a week or two ago, exhorted the nations to avoid too frequent international conferences, for the reasons that they excited hopes that were doomed to disappointment, leading to an increase in the general feeling of depression, and that they caused delay in putting into operation obviously necessary reforms. Some day someone in New Zealand will issue a smilar warning in regard to the appointment of expert committees. It is not on record that any previous depression—and they chase each other through the zodiac of history as Taurus chases .Aries —has been removed by following the advice of economic experts; probably because such advice rarely is followed. Usually easy of discovery, there have been behind every period of depression unquestionable causes. “In nature there are no rewards and no punishments”—there are just consequences. The mind of man has not yet developed to the extent that he is able to control the operation of natural laws. It is the view of economists the world over that the origin of this—as of every other depression—lies in the violation of natural laws. With

almost equal unanimity tliey tell us that continuation in that course constitutes the main difficulty in the way of reconstruction. There is also a striking unanimity of opinion that one of the gravest errors of policy on the part of most of the nations is a determination to control things that should be allowed to run free. The first question that arises is this: “Does historical precedent suggest that currency, wages and trade can be successfully ‘fixed’ or controlled, or are they all regulated by natural laws that no nation can tarn-. per with excepting at its peril?” The argument is tenable that if we tamper with one of these things we may have to handle the lot. If the people insist that wages shall be arbitrarily fixed, and that our trading conditions shall openly defy all the laws of supply and demand, then finally we may have to take control of the currency and of everything else. The founders of the Russian Soviet were at least wise enough to foresee this, and if their plafi fails it will not be because their procedures have been inconsistent one with another, but because of error inherent in the plan itself. In New Zealand we are trying to run a partly socialistic and partly individualistic plan. What wonder that large sections of the community are “guessing” as to which half of the plan is bad.