The Week in Review.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 2, 12 January 1910, Page 1

The Week in Review.

NOTICE. The Editor will be ploeaed to re. Ceive for tfoaairieratinn Short Stories *nd Descriptive Articles illustrated frith photos, or sufgoatinna from contributors. Bright terse contributions are wanted dealing with Dominion life and questions. Unless stamps are seat, the Editor cannot guarantee the return of unauitw able MSS. The Problem of Unemployment/T\ R. WINSTON CHURCHILL, C I ■ according to the cable news 4J- A / ’ ilst week,* has ' stated in a / letter that the lesson both from the German and American tariffs is that however high, they are unable to prevent (severe widespread and chronic unemployment among the industrial population. This declaration is no doubt intended as an electioneering counterblast to the reiterated assertions of Unionist Candidates, that Tariff Reform will provide a solution of the problem of unemployment. It is amazing that a cry which ho economist of repute would endorse Should be addressed to intelligent people. Nevertheless, the cause of Tariff Reform, which is perfectly defensible on O.her grounds, is being widely supported s * a panacea for unemployment, notwithstanding the fact that this evil causes anxiety to the Governments of fill countries pretty equally, and has iß'ven rise to numerous remedial measures. In Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, Labour colonics, insurance, ■the establishment of home shelters for workmen travelling in search of work, associated with relief stations and a Well-organised system of Labour Bureaus to facilitate the distribution of surplus

labour, indicate the intensity of the evil. Mr, D, P. Bliss, in an extensive report on the subject, written for the United States Labour Bureau, states that “neither in the United States nor in Great Britain has there been any real success in working out the problem of the unemployed.” The same statement might truthfully be made in these new, thinly-peopled lands, where the cry of want of employment is periodically beard. Tariff Advantageous for the Coloniqs. Mr. Balfour, with the characteristic caution which has marked his attitude towards Tariff Reform, does not go so far as some of his militant followers in claiming that protective duties will provide constant work for the people. He has repeatedly stated that he does not believe that Tariff Reform will cure unemployment, but he thinks it will steady trade. Commenting on this suggestion, Mr. J. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., one of the ablest of the Labour members of the House of Commons, says! “The experience of America and Germany —in neither of which countries, however, are there accurate statistic* of unemployment—throw great doubt on the fulfilment of that hope, and it is not held by any section of the organised working-classes nor by a single Labour leader of national repute.” •Cycles of “good times” and “bad times" recur from causes so obscure, so varied, and so difficult to trace, that it is impossible either to forecast or prevent them. Careful investigations into the origin of the wave of depression that raised the ratio of unemployment in Great Britain from 4.7 in 1907 to 9.5 in 1908, and also seriously affected Germany, indicated that the chief determining factor was the monetary crisis in the United States. Financial stringency, accompanied by commercial

contraction, must bring about the discharge of a number of workers in various branches of employment, and this reacts disastrously upon trade generally. During such periods, the United Kingdom, whose volume of foreign trade enormously exceeds that of any other nation, necessarily suffers most, especially as a very considerable proportion of the nation’s workers are engaged in the business of distribution, and belong to that unskilled class of casual labour which is the first to go when retrenchment becomes the order of the day. ■ The importance of this fact will be appreciated when it is considered that in the three years, 1905-8, the average imports and exports of the United Kingdom amounted to 887 million pounds per annum, while those of Germany were only 699 millions, and the United States 612 millions, notwithstanding the much greater population of Britain’s chief commercial rivals. These figures should reassure those people who are disposed to grow pessimistic over England’s supposed commercial decadence. Her vast imports, amounting to '519 millions, afford substantial evidence that she still takes heavy toll from other nations of the world, and that her foreign enterprises show no signs of slackening. No doubt hostile foreign tariffs have done a good deal to cheek British commercial expansion, and we believe it would be wise policy for her to stimulate the development of the outlying divisions of the Empire by offering tariff advantages to the colonies; but it is misleading to claim for Protective duties virtues which they had never manifested when tried under the most favourable circumstances. Jt jt Various Remedies. An example of unemployment which shews that this knotty problem is not confined to any country or the product of any fiscal system, is furnished by the present severe industrial depression in Japan. Factories have been closed, and large numbers of workmen discharged, in consequence of the severe financial reaction from the victorious Russian war. While the war lasted, trade was abnormally stimulated with borrowed money; but with its termination, without an indemnity, lias come the obligation to provide for interest, and to find employment for the large body of men released from military service. Living for the most part on the barest margin of subsistence, the population of Japan is easily affected by any commercial stringency, aud millions have suffered through loss of employment during the past three years; nevertheless there is no outcry, because the population of the towns is in such close touch with the people cultivating small holdings hi the country, that the artisan readily finds employment with hi* family on the land. It has been suggested that the true solution of the problem of unemployment lies in the creation of small farm holding-; and measures, having a* their object the

creation of checks upon the unwholesome drift of population into overgrown cities, are being adopted in all European countries. The experiment of Labour colonies, -as tried by the British Government at Hollesley Bay, unfortunately does not aflord much encouragement to further ventures of that kind, and the results fully justified Mr. John Burns’ denunciation of it. This estate, lie fore it* acquisition by the Crown, was managed by a steward with eighteen farm hands, and just about paid its expenses, but when applied to the purposes of State relief, and worked by 250 of the unemployed, it entailed a loss of £22,000 a year. The net cost per week per man was from 30/ to 32/, whereas the local wages were from 17/ to 18/. Mr. Churchill, in his letter, gives an assurance that if the Liberals are returned to power they will grapple with this exceedingly difficult question. One important feature in his own remedy is the provision of Labour Bureaus and a system of insurance against unemployment. which in Norway and Denmark has been generally adopted, and is subsidised by the State to the amount of one-half the subscriptions paid by members. Provision of this kind assumes that unemployment at certain times is inevitable, and under our present industrial system we must recognise that fact. But. we believe that the only chance of reducing its magnitude and intensity is by striving to create and encourage small rural industries in the United Kingdom, and transfer population from congested areas to the wide territories of that Greater Britain over th* seas. J* The Dismissal of Captain Knyvett. We do not hesitate to say that whoever was responsible for the order issued in the name of His Excellency the Governor dismissing Captain Knyvett from tTie Volunteer Force under Section 54 (2) of the Defence Act, 1908, has committed a gross blunder, which will prove infinitely more to the “prejudice of good order and military discipline" than any act of which Captain Kuyvett has been found guilty by the Court of Inquiry that was set up to adjudicate upon his case. We commented unfavourably at the time both upon the constitution of the Court and the scope of its investigations, and predicted that the result of its deliberations would neither satisfy the public nor l>e conducive to the well-being of our Volunteer Force, but we did not then conceive it possible that the outcome would be an act of such blind and unpardonable injustice as the sentence which has been passed upon one of the most zealous, efficient, and popular officers in New Zealand. The ease has been liefore the publie intermittently for so long a period that a recapitulation of the salient facte upon which it rests will probably assist our readers in understanding tlie position, and will at least remove the unfavourable impression which the arbitrary and outrageous •cutencc that has been u»

posed may create in the minds of persons who are unfamiliar with the whole of the circumstances. Several officers of the Petone Navals, one of New Zealand’s crack ■ Artillery corps, ■were present at the last Easter manoeuvres in Auckland, and they proposed that Captain Knyvett’s company should eonie down at a suitable opportunity to see the Wellington men at work. This proposal was taken up with enthusiasm by officers and men, and arrangements were made for a party to join the Petone Navals in a camp which the authorities had appointed to t>e held at Fort Kelburne last November. Six weeks before the time fixed. Captain Knyvett wrote to Captain Ellis, of the Petone Navals, and received a reply stating that the Aucklanders would be gladly welcomed. A party of 60 of the No. 1 Company was formed, and an effort to secure free train passes having failed, the men subscribed 10/ each and two officers contributed £9B to cover the cost of the excursion. It was necessary, under military regulations, to get permission forsuch a force to leave the Auckland district in uniform, and we' understand that Captain Knyvett believed that he had obtained such permission from the senior officer in command here. Colonel Wolfe being at the time absent from the district. 'A letter preferring the request addressed to Colonel Robin had remained unanswered up to the time when the company left Auckland, but telegrams continued to pass between Captain Knyvett and Captain Ellis up to the last moment, and the former officer had no reason to suppose that there was. any hitch in the arrangements. J» A Travesty of Justice. Now, to the average citizen who knows the difficulty of getting young men to undertake volunteer duty seriously, it must have appeared, as it appeared to Captain Knyvett, that sueh meritorious conduct on the part of any . corps would receive warm encouragement from the defence authorities and the officer in chief command. ,:The party from Auckland fully expected to be met on arrival and< welcomed by the Petone What, therefore, was their astonishment and disgust when they found that no preparation was made for their reception, and that, af.ter being courteously accommodated in camp for the night.by the Petone Navals,'who went to their own homes, tlie Company had no alternative but to return home next day! Two of.the Wellington officers, who met the tt«iiji on its arrival,, stated that .the failure to arrange for accommodation was due to an intimation from Colonel Robin that the Aucklanders were unable to come because the Department had refused railway passes. But the natural feelings of resentment caused by this miserable fiasco, for which the Aucklanders were in no wise responsible, were intensified by certain statements published in the Wellington press reflecting upon Captain Knyvett and his men. These statements the Captain believed he was justified, from inquiries he made, in attributing to' Colonel Robin, but that officer, we believe, denies that he was responsible for anything that appeared in the Press. Acting under a reasonable feeling of indignation at the treatment which the Company had received, Captain Knyvett wrote a strong letter to the Minister of Defence demanding an inquiry, and it is for this letter he was summoned before the Court of Inquiry, which resolutely refused to deal with any matter outside the most technical definitions of military regulations, and upon whose finding, we presume, the order of dismissal has been founded. One remarkable feature in connection with this inquiry is the fact that Captain Knyvett lias been persistently refused information as to who ordered his arrest, the name of the officer convening the Court, and who was responsible for formulating the charges. JI Jl Intense Dissatisfaction. Looked at from any standpoint, the sentence is a travesty of justice. Assuming that Captain Knyvett was guilty of a technical irregularity in not getting formal permission from Colonel Robin, Chief of Staff, to take his men to Wellington, and that some of the statements in a letter written under very great provocation, were unduly •trong, a reprimand would surely have ■erred all the necessities of the case.

Dismissal, without even being afforded the option of resigning, savours of vindictive persecution, the origin and purpose of which we can neither understand nor conjecture. We feel confident that Captain Knyvett’s brother officers and the public will not allow the matter to rest where it is. In justice to their comrades in arms, whose fortunes are intimately bound up with their own, they are bound to take action. The members of the No. 1 Company, G.A.V., which is the strongest Artillery corps in New Zealand, and which owes its present efficiency mainly to the devotion of Captain Knyvett, have already shewn their loyalty to their captain by refusing to attend further parades until the wrong that has been inflicted upon their captain is righted. We hope that this action will be followed by a unanimous and vigorous protest from the officers and men of the other Auckland corps, and that the demand for an inquiry into the causes of the intense dissatisfaction which pervades the Volunteer Force will be pressed with such insistence that the Minister of Defence can no longer ignore it. This is a much more important matter for the country than the question whether Captain Knyvett did or did not commit some technical breach of military regulations; and it is unfortunate that, instead of appointing a Court with limited powers tb inquire into a side issue, the Minister of Defence did not act upon the advice tendered him from many quarters at the time, and set up a Commission with full authority to investigate the causes which led to the scandalous treatment of the members of the Auckland Garrison Artillery in connection with their visit to Wellington, and other, matters that are causing serious friction and discontent throughout the service. . If this had been done, the conclusion arrived at would, we are convinced, have been very different from that which has utterly demoralised the Auckland force on the eve of Lord Kitchener’s arrival ' Jt J» The Country’s Good Name. The campaign of calumny’and depreciation has been carried on against - the United Kingdom so persistently during the last ten vears and by men . who should be defenders of their country’s good name, that a fear that the Empire' is decadent and on’ the downgrade has become widespread; Yet no fact ,is more true or, more easily demonstrable than this—that Britain to-day stands first and unchallengable among the manufacturing and trading nations of the earth. Its large national debt is held entirely by its own. subjects, and it draws vast tribute from capital lent to other nations and invested in foreign enterprises, while its ships are the world’s great carriers. Its commerce has extended to every land, and its flag floats over thirteen million square miles, or one-fifth of the whole area of land on the globe; and British rule is exercised over more than a fifth of the total inhabitants of the earth. Whatever - Tariff Reform may do in the future for the British Empire, we should be blind to elementary facts if we denied that the nation has flourished in a most amazing way under Free Trade. Nor is there any evidence of stagnation. The imports and exports into the United Kingdom grew steadily year by year from £764,558.000 in 1898 to £1,163,785,000 in 1906, while the foreign trade of Germany, with a population exceeding that of the United Kingdom by eighteen millions, was £220,000,000 less, and the United States, with a population greater by 41.000.000, had a foreign trade nearly £300,000,000 less than that of the British Ikies. This supremacy has been maintained in defiance of hostile tariffs, which have been deliberately devised to keep out British manufacturers, and place shackles upon our commerce. While we believe that it is good policy for Britain to counter these unfriendly imposts with Customs adjustments that will afford a basis of negotiation and exchange with foreign countries and will foster colonial trade, we can easily understand the hesitancy with which many of the manufacturers and merchants of Great Britain, like Mr. Arthur Chamberlain (Chairman of the Kynoch Company, and brother of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain) regard any departure from a fiscal policy that has left manufacturing industries and shipping entirely free and unshackled, and which has achieved such splendid results.