Dr. Evatt is the leader of the Socialist party of Australia. As all socialists, he advocates "Full Employment". But so do all the leaders of organized labor in Canada. And it is also the declared policy of our politicians of all labels, echoed even by religious leaders who cannot conceive of an income dissociated from employment. There are many "Dr. Evatt" in Canada, and the following comments, from "The New Times" (Melbourne, Australia), are not out of place here:
"Although Dr. Evatt poses as a great original thinker, his views on automation brand him as a reactionary and a totalitarian. Last week, Dr. Evatt told the electors of his coal fields electorate, where mechanization has increased production to record levels with a reduction in the number of miners employed, that "the coal field problem was a great tragedy. Automation was "the greatest problem of the age".
"Instead of hailing automation as a blessing which has relieved men of the necessity of doing dirty and dangerous work in coal mines, and elsewhere, Dr. Evatt insists that he will never rest until there is complete "Full Employment".
There is not even a suggestion that automation should yield a financial dividend to the individual and progressively free him from compulsory work in order that he may develop himself by engaging in activities of his own choosing. No, none of this from Dr. Evatt. He proposes that the introduction of automation be "controlled". And, of course, as fast as automation displaces men in any industry, the State will take "positive" steps to ensure that they are kept in "Full Employment'. "I would never rest content for a second if there was one man unemployed." said Dr. Evatt.
Men who are economically independent can employ themselves without any assistance from Governments. But this is just what Labor leaders are concerned about. They condemn "exploitation" by the wicked capitalists, while they indulge in the most vicious form of exploitation by robbing the individuals of the fruits of his ancestor's efforts.
Automation is one of the industrial arts. Every individual is entitled to the increasing freedom it can provide.