Wairarapa Daily Times (Established Over 60 Years.) SATURDAY, 18th JULY, 1936. EUROPE AND WAGES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 July 1936, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times (Established Over 60 Years.) SATURDAY, 18th JULY, 1936. EUROPE AND WAGES.

The comparatively low standard of living of the millions of European wage-earners directly affects international trade, and the exports of primary-producing countries in particular. Delegates to Geneva has drawn attention to the under-nourishment of European populations at a time when primary producing countries are unable to dispose of surplus foodstuffs, and in some cases have been obliged to restrict production. Under existing wage rates millions of people in Europe cannot afford to wear wool, and are resorting to substitutes of inferior equality. They cannot buy our meat, butter, fruits and other primary products, which are luxuries beyond their means. Any increase in real wages should consequently open up a vast new stratum of purchasing power, which would be reflected in an increased demand for the exports of primary-producing countries, for it is the millions of people of moderate incomes that are the basis of the market for the necessities of life and health. Another effect of the removal of disparities in wage rates and labour

costs would be' an amelioration of extreme protective tariffs. Just as exchange rates indicate the different purchasing power of currencies, so do tariffs, to a certain extent, indicate different costs of production, and of those costs wages are an important element. This especially applies to discriminatory tariffs imposed by high wage countries to protect home industries against the competition of imports from countries whose wage rates and standards of living are so low as to render reasonable competition impossible. There are, of course, other elements in most protective tariffs, but any abatement of extreme fiscal policies most certainly depends on the success of attempts by international or purely national action to temper existing disparities in labour costs.