MONETARY REFORM!

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 146, 23 June 1933, Page 8

MONETARY REFORM!

PUBLIC INTEREST. , VIEWS OF MR. RUSHWORTH. MEETING IN TOWN HAltli. A break in the clouds of depression, revealing a ray of economic sunshine, due not to the slight rise in the prices of products, but to the reawakening of the public interest and the rousing of the public conscience towards a reform of the monetary system —this was the kernel of the message delivered to a meeting of nearly 3000 people at the Town Hall last ni~ht by Mr. H. M. Rushworth, M.P. for Bay of Islands. The meeting was presided over by Mr. A. J. Stallworthy, M.P. for Eden, and among those occupying seats on the platform were Mr. W. Wallace, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, and Mr. H. 0. Mellsop, president, and members of the Auckland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. The gathering was stated to be held under the auspices of a number of organisations. Mr. Rushworth, who was accorded an excellent reception, being' acclaimed on rising to speak and cheered at the conclusion, dealt analytically with aspects of the national and international economic and monetary situation, and made a strong point of the contention that the time had arrived for entry into the world of reality and departure from the "dream-like world" of finance, to eliminate the paradox of destitution and growing poverty in a world which abounded in the production of primary • and secondary commodities. Reference was made to the finding after a 10 years' investigation by the "technocrats" of : Columbia University—that the United States alone with its present equipment and its industries working at full capacity for only half-time could provide all the needs and requirements of humanity. Criticism of the use of vague catch-phrases led the speaker to observe that he was not interested in the suggestion that there was no short-cut to prosperity, because prosperity already existed. What was wanted was a march ; along the short-cut to safety in order to avoid catastrophe. Advocates of monetary reform were branded as advancing ridiculous, fantastic and absurd proposals, but what was more fantastic than the present system and situation, which could be summed up in the sentence: "We are desperately poor because wo. are too rich." Open Inquiry Wanted. Failure of the Government to respond to the universal demand for a full and open inquiry into the working of the existing monetary system and possible alternatives to it was roundly condemned by Mr. Rushworth, who went on to refer to the two schools of thought striving to close the gap between total purchasing power and total financial costs —one advocating the cutting down 1 of costs and the other the increasing of ■ purchasing power. Points from the scheme advocated by Major Douglas for the bridging of the gap were outlined and explained. The claim was advanced that under the present system in no industry was the amount of purchasing power distributed sufficient to meet the costs of goods produced by that industry, the additional amount of purchasing power having to be appropriated ' from some other industry. Central Bank Bill. In reference to the World Economic Conference, Mr. Rushworth said there ! was little doubt in his mind that it was • proposed to bring into existence an 1 international monetary system controlled by the Bank of International • Settlements. That, to his mind, was the ! ghastliest conspiracy ever hatched. In regard to the proposed establishment in L the Dominion of the Reserve Bank of • New Zealand, the legislation for which '• would remove the control of the ruone- • tary system from the hands of the ' people to those controlling sterling, be i intimated that the time would come • when he and others would do all in their 1 power to prevent the measure passing in its present form. The legislation sought ' to remove from the King and Parliai ment the machinery of government, and " should be indictable before the Bar of the House as an act of high treason. The recent rise in the oversea price ' level was ascribed by the speaker to a i definite act of inflation on the part of ■ the British Government, which was at I present engaged in a with the . United States for the further devalua- '• tion of the money systems —a device which, would have the same effect and " outcome as the injection of morphia on ! a dying patient. Conscience Aroused. "A general rise in prices reflecting inflation is a bad thing," declared Mr. Rushworth, who said the hope of which he had spoken lay in the reawakening of public interest in New Zealand, and the rousing of the public conscience in regard to the possibility of grasping and making the most of the amazing prosperity that lay at hand. At the same time he warned his hearers that the next few years would be dangerous as well as stimulating, and the people would have to respond to calls as great - as those set forth in 1914. Last month f he had made a promise to his Maker, . and if he could keep reasonably close to I it during the next three years he would renew it for life. Others had subscribed to the same pledge, and if citizens found t that they, too, could support it, they r should do so. It was that of "the - solemn league and covenant of those i people in New Zealand who, above all, 1 earnestly desired the good of their I country, the full use of its resources for - the advantages of all its citizens, and i the preservation of the inheritance > committed to the present generation for I those who shall come after." t The full terms of the promise were 3 read by Mr. Rushworth. Points from it i were: To allow neither political party t feelings nor bias to interfere with constant efforts to lift the Dominion from the depths to which it was descending; to support only such legislation as was for the general ■wellbeing, happiness, and benefit of all; to secure for all a fair share of the vast inherited and created wealth and credit of the country; to support no law which prevented the fullest exchange of I natural products or manufactured f goods; and to protect the Constitution, f and secure clean and good government. r i T In very early times brass charms and ' amulete were attached to the harness of I horses to ward off eviL Crescents were ; regarded as specially powerful. The . descent is sacred to Moors and Mohams medans. It is possible that the custom - in Great Britain dates from specimens of i Saracen harness taken back by the Crusaders.