CAUSE OF WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 173, 23 July 1936, Page 15

CAUSE OF WAR.

MONETARY SYSTEM FAULTS

LACK OF PURCHASING POWER

"There is a great obligation on us to study the matter and realise that defects in tlie world's monetary systems are the cause not only of depression but also of war," stated Mr. Brian Dunniiigliam in an address to a luncheon meeting of the. Auckland Creditmen's Club yesterday. The president, Mr. T. U. Wells, welcomed the speaker, who has recently returned from an extended tour of Europe. Mr. Dunningliam emphasised his opinion that New Zealand had a unique opportunity of setting an example to the rest of the world. It was not in over-production that . the roots of the monetary defects lay, but in under-con-sumption, brought about by a lack of purchasing' power. In his opinion, if the Government would create money just to the extent to which the country had goods for sale, an era of prosperity would follow, with a "higher general standard of living. Mr. Dunningliam, who stated that lus views were supported by the opinions of leading authorities, said that war would be the inevitable outcome of the present system. Countries were finding themselves faced with three alternatives: Monetary reform, peace with depression, or war with prosperity.

Poverty and Plenty. Despite the wonderful productive capacity of the world at present, there was absolute poverty and distress sids by side with "abundance, said the speaker. He told of things he had learned in England, o'f thousands of children going to school without breakfast, thousands of families living in oneroomed apartments, of shocking conditions that brought about grave nervous breakdowns. Yet the world had the ability to produce a greater abundance than ever conceived. "What is the reason for this poverty alongside of plenty ?" lie asked. "The reason lies in a faulty monetary system. The people of Lancashire arc .not able to get the fruit that is rotting down in Kent because there is not sufficient purchasing power in the country for the consumption of all it can produce. Monetary reform is needed; why should we have all this needless suffering? Why should business men go bankrupt when they are doing a real good for the community? From a purely reasonable point of view it is absolutely ridiculous."

11l itself money was valueless, said Mr. Dunninghaiji; commodities were the real wealth of the country. Leading authorities agreed that a country should have just as much purchasing power as it had goods for sale. 'Manufacturers found they had a surplus, aud tried to sell their goods overseas. The mad scramble for export markets could only lead to one thing—war. It was the mathematically inevitable outcome of the present system. The League of Nations had shown itself powerless, because it had not realised that the root of war was in a faulty monetary system.