The Waikato Times. With which Is incorporated The Walkato Argus. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1919. NATIONALISING INDUSTRIES

Waikato Times, Volume 91, Issue 14232, 5 December 1919, Page 4

The Waikato Times. With which Is incorporated The Walkato Argus. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1919. NATIONALISING INDUSTRIES

The position of coal in the Old Country evidently continues to give anxiety, and apparently the Government have difficulty in deciding on a line of policy. Our reasons for saying so are that the price of coal has just been reduced 10s per ton, whereas a short time since the price was raised by Gs per ton < The whole position is peculiar, and it would appear that the facts of the case are compelling a resort to nationalisation in spite of the reluctance which is felt by everybody outside the ranks of the Labour party. The cabled statement of Sir Auckland Geddes gives some very interesting figures, which help to elucidate the position. The control of the trade is still in the hands of the Government, and at the price which had been fixed they had made a loss from April to October of £9,000,000. Of late, however, the price of such coal as can be exported has risen to an extraordinary height, and immense profits are made on coal sent abroad. So great are they that it is anticipated that the loss made up to October will be wiped off by December, and that by the end of March a profit of £17,000,000 will be made. As the world is situated to-day a market could be found for all the coal in the country at immense prices, but the internal position is much the same, for many industries are languishing for want of coal, and the iron and steel trade which,is at the root of all recovery, is especially dependent on coal. The Government are likely, therefore, to be assailed with the cry that they were shipping more coal than the country can afford to part with. A reduction in price will be of little value if coal cannot be obtained, and it will probably be recognised that a mistake was made in not accepting Mr Justice Sankcy's recommendation to nationalise the coal industry. The chief merit of his report was the provision which he made for the control and working of the mines, independently of the Government of the day, ov of the ordinary civil service bureaucrat. The District Councils which he proposed to set up would have been free from political pressure, and would have had only their mistakes to shoulder. Unfortunately, for Ihe Government the majority of their supporters are so strongly opposed to any interference with the

rights of capital that they refuse consideration to any scheme of nationalisation, in spite of the strength of the arguments in the case of coal. It is not as if the industry could be put upon the basis of private enterprise; it is already under Government control, and must continue so until the world's supply of coal is equal to the demand. The only question, therefore, is to put the management on as good a basis as possible, rather than allow it to continue

to be the sport of politics, and an ever fruitful source of unrest and agitation. Coal is only one of the great industries which is falling into the hands of the State. It seems to he recognised that this is the only possible method of dealing with the railways. During the war the Government took control of the railways, fixed the rates and guaranteed the shareholders dividends. The loss was slight during the first year or two of the war, but became heavier towards the end, and as wages rose, and the effect of continued neglect of track and rolling stock was felt it rose to great figures, and is expected to reach £90,000,000 during the current financial year_ The only hope of overtaking sucli a deficit lies in drastic economies and unification of services. Such economies mean the loss of facilities to traders and manufacturers, as well as to the travelling public, and such curtailments of accustomed facilities arc certain to be strongly resented by all classes, who would probably bring pres- j sure to'bear on the Government to force thp hands of -railway companies. It is felt that no power short of the ! Government itself could iesist the outers' that Would be made at sucn changes, and here again we are faced by the existing fact of State Control. Circumstances will probably guide the railways into the haven of nationalisation in the same manner as the coal industry. It'is pretty certain that some of the trusts which are now operating on a world-wide, scale will be recognised to be greater and more powerful than any State dan permit a single interest to attain to. The natives of the world have always combined against any single nation whose strength had grown to be a threat to others, and in the same way the overgrown power of trusts will require to be dealt with,. It is, therefore, a matter of the utmost importance that some method should be devised for the management of the enterprises, which the State already controls, and to all appearance will continue to control. It will be noted that in the case of both coal and railways the legitimate arguments which exist for the nationalisation of the industry are entirely independent of the demand made by miners and railway servants that this course should be adopted. It is to be.feared that many people will be* unable- to see any other factor in the situation, although as we have shown the labour question is but a small part of a.,large and wide-reaching problem. It is the same in this country where the argument which each candidate brings forward and finds most effective is that he is opposed tooth' and nail to the Labour extremists. It is a very right and proper position, but the elector should be able to see something more. Messrs Seiiiple and Holland and tho party they represent undoubtedly cpnstitute a problem which requires solution, but after all they are but a small part of a very wide and difficult question. That the country can see 'nothing'else" leads to the thought that concern for the threat to the pocket has obscured.all thought of the Empire, of the future, or of the economic changes in which we.are entering. It is clear that, for good' or bad, we are to have much more Socialism than in the past. The National Government introduced it during the war, and Mr Massey's Government have extended it since the war, and the country is apathetio and acquiescent. It perceive that the economic changes., demand statesmanship of a high order. The popular member everywhere is the man who is duly attentive to local business # We cannot, however, all take this line, and somebody must decide on policy. Within a short time there will be bitter dissension between different classes of the community, owing to divergent views as to the rights of dealing with property, and such dissension will be increased for want of a Government which realises the position, and has the courage to lake a definite line.