The Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1921. BRITAIN'S UNEMPLOYED

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14597, 22 February 1921, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1921. BRITAIN'S UNEMPLOYED

The report of the debate in the British House ol Commons on the Address in Reply to the King's Speech shows | how serious is the, condition of trade in ! the country and die extent of the unemployment problem. Mr Clynes, who has j lately become leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party, declares that the conditions are worse to-day than in December. He demands on behalf of I Labour that work be provided, or, it that be not possible, that adequate maintenance he given, and he says that [the benefits of the National Insurance I Act are insufficient. The reply of the .Minister for Labour was not so effective las a speech of Mr G. X. Barnes, who is himself a Labour member. The Minister quoted the amount of money the Governmenl were prepared to spend on relief works, and said |bey were finding (employment for 70,000 men. lie,stated that the work they were doing was productive work: bul those who have had experience of what is done in relief works will not expert any great value to he given. The Government are raising the contribution to the unemployed, and incidentally he said that the refusal of the building trade unions to absorb ex-service men is costing the country £30,000 a week. When the unemployed waited on Mr Lloyd George some four months back he said that the Government would no longer tolerate that refusal, but apparently no action has followed the declaration. Mr Barnes went much nearer the heart of the question in asking what was meant by the demand for adequate maintenance. for It was essential that nothing should be done to lessen the incentive to work. He pointed out bow much time bad been lost during the previous year in strikes Later- speakers pointed out the importance of resuming trade with the Continent, so thai il is evident that the causes of the trouble are beginning to emerge, and also that Labour members are giving close attention to a problem that affects their followers in an especial degree. The financial effects of the war were such that il was hopeless to expect that, suffering could be avoided, and such suffering falls on victors as well as on vanquished. It was, of course, possible to do something to mitigate the evils, and equally possible to make the situaticn worse than it need have been. It is unfortunately, true, that much of what has been done has not helped. Workers have struck, gone slow, wasteJ time, and spent money extravagantly Employers have taken advantage of the shortage of goods to charge excessive prices, and have been more anxious to make big profits than to supply requirements. Each side has concentrated on I he faults of the other, and have overlooked their own. There has been endless talk about, improving the relations between employers and employed, bul nothing definite has emerged beyond a willingness on both sides to fight, without any regard for their customers the public. The Government are also responsible for a large amount, of the trouble and unrest that afflicts the business community, Their policy has helped to make money scarce. , They have spent money on abortive expeditions against the Bolsheviks, and also on an attempt to set up' a Government in Mesopotamia, and a similar attempt to control |he Persian Government. The military expenditure in these directions has gone far to lead to Hie stringency in the money market, and economies in the departments though badly required arc mere trifles to what is spent in this way. I'inance depends on policy, and if the country decides on military measures the cost must be met. But this is only one of the directions in which the policy of the Government lias tended to make matters worse. The Peace Treaty ignored the economic aspects of the peace, and concentrated on the nationalist question and the territorial arrangements. The amount of the German indemnity was P onsetlled. The Austrian* were saddled w.:'< an Indemnity proportioned to the population as il existed before the war, although fiveeighths of that population have been separated from the Empire. Now an amount of indemnity has been state,] for Germany, although consideration of the matter has again to be taken. The result of Ibis is that the trade of Central Europe has collapsed. Many employers were quite willing to have it so, because it left Britain the only country capable of supplying manufactured goorls. The world, however, wants many lines of German goods, and wants Germany to purchase goods and produce from us. The ]i >oplc who continue to live in the atmosphere of war will not bear of German goods being imported. They want an indemnity, bul' insist that it shall not take the form of goods. So loner as people demand incompatible ends so long they must he ia trouble. The Government under"stantl thai a, German Indemnity of the amount staled must prevent the resumption of trade, and hinder to that extenl the restoration of normal conditions, bid, then they are bound by their election promises, which the French arc quick lo bring forward. It i* impossible for the Government to provide work for the unemployed, and any attempt lo do so can only make mailers worse. They can. however, do much to help, by altering their policy, by insUtutlng a system of economy, by refraining from assistance to maintain the prices of meat and wool, and various other lines which have come under the Food Minister's control. Any losses which may he made by drooping prices will be more than compensated by the

benefits to be derived from cheaper food and cheaper raw material. It is necessary to pet bark to business methods, though it is unfortunately true that there will be loss and suffering in the process. It is a mistaken idea that, the suffering can be aVoidcd by Government relief works, and equally mistaken to think that losses can be avoided by cornering the great staple lines o r produce. We have lately bad an object lesson from America of Ibe results of endeavouring to maintain an artificial price for wheat. Governments everywhere profess a desire to get rid of restrictions and regulations, but they ran net as an earthly providence. The Labour Party are apt to think the same, though they recognise the failuce of what, has been done in that direction. The unemployed difficulty will not he cured by palliative measures, and it is to be feared that it will exist in a greater or less degree for some time to come.