THE MAD WORLD.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17750, 29 June 1929, Page 13 (Supplement)

THE MAD WORLD.

IF one could get above our planet and view the far-outreachlng cosmorama he might well exclaim at the wonder and the beauty of It, and consider It a lit world for the habitation of gods with lands rich and fertile enough to provide f»od for all; yet it Is that same land that is least of all, available for the purpose designed, that Is individual husbandry, and so the few feast and the many starve, which shows how- far behind human necessity Is the means to adequate human government. It is not a personal, individual failure, but a mass failure that Is indicated; the failure of the mass to elect capable representatives of humanity as a whole. The world, however, enters upon a better phase of government with the franchise granted on adult suffrage. The only success .our massed humanity seems to achieve is in destruction; that is in war, which is a costly success. •

Consider the Possibilities.

In mass production for the manufacture of arms, armaments, and munitions, when human labour is conscripted, success is also achieved, and this seems to indicate that governments are only capable of organising industry and production in economic crises; that' is when they set the task and pay the wage. Yet that is the very task that all governments have shunned in times of peace from the fear, mostly, of being styled Socialists and Communists. To interfere with the long-established and sacred rights of land-owners for the sake of producing cheap food for the multitude, could not, of course, be considered, much less deliberated upon. Recognising the capacity of our earth to produce, we must at the same time, recognise man's failure to organise human effort in the matters of production and distribution. It has even occurred to me that all labour might be more efficiently employed under a beneficent conscription than under the rafferty rules that now exist. There must be, in some later and not very remote day, a sorting out of individuals and an applying of. each man to the job for which he is best equipped. This method works in a great industry like Ford’s. 'Why then should it not be tried if only experimentally in several associated industries? Indeed that very thing is happening in our midst, and all concerned are reaping a benefit, while commercial and industrial cooperation has passed the experimental We must drop ibe names communism” and "Socialism" as opprobious designations ,for parties, and consider their potential possibilities.

Bogey Beaten,

Manifestlv, in the Australian Commonwealth, arbitration and conciliation have failed, yet humanity must never admit, though many experiments fail, that it hao arrived at a dead end. If Socialists of high intellect, education and ability, such as Mr Ramsay MacDonald leads, can demonstrate good results, what does the designation of the party matter? There are none here who know exactly what socialism and Communism really mean, although we have limited dictionary definitions. We shall now have an opportunity of judging them as organised forces in government, and it is the effect that must be judged,

All Things Come To The Enfranchised. . j (By "Darius.”)

A Well Intentioned Party

not the terms applied to the parties, which have hitherto been used as a sort of bogey man to intimidate the already timorous. To divide the enemy in order to defeat it is common political strategy. The extension of the franchise in Britain, has, however, countered the latest move in that direction, and the party in power has now an opportunity to make good, such as it never had when on the treasury benches for a previous short and barren period.

I do not think that Great Britain will ever return to Parliament any other than a well-intentioned party. There are many men in each party distinguished for political genius and great integrity. Each party fully recognises this in the other, and it always seems to me that what England does at the time is the right thing to do. Now, on warrant and authority granted by the British voter, Mr Ramsay MacDonald comes from the King at Windsor Cqst/e with the seals of office and a humane and creditable policy. The worst that the Conservative Press has to say is, that no Socialist government could inspire confidence but, at least, this one need mot Inspire political alarm.

Such a statement shows a great advance in political charity and an abatement of the heat that so lately inflamed political parties when individualism obscured the issues of vital importance to the masses. Not only that, but the attitude of Empire has altered already with the modification of the Conservative view at Home, and the fine philosophy and toleration which that party has shown in defeat. We must take It that the feeling is a reflection of the rare and heroic spirit of Baldwin, than whom none has blundered in a more gentlemanly way or with such an abortive sincerity. Is There A Possibility of Union. Speculations upon the verdict in Britain must exercise our minds, because we have the same problems to solve in our Dominion. It Is true that the cleavage between labour and capital seems to be too wide to bridge at present, but is a union of these -two necessary at present? I do not see how the spade-work of Socialism is going to seriously interfere with the operations of capital, for it appears that the more labour that is employed remuneratively m production and manufacture the better it will be for capital, in a general way, and for the country, as capital will find good investments at hand. With us there is the example of one bank showing a declared profit of distil*button among shareholders of a million pounds, and that institution is only one of several associated banks. These are trading in the country to tremendous profit, and yet those profits go over-seas for investment, as a greater profit can be obtained there than here. It might be reasonably supposed that a country that pays the piper might have some say in the selection of the tune, but capital for investment has neither conscience, charity, nor patriotism. If it were otherwise we should have cheaper money for developmental purposes and the country would have a balanced budget.