MR. NASH'S BROADCAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 101, 2 May 1939, Page 8

MR. NASH'S BROADCAST.

The Minister of Finance certainlr made a good case for his stringent import* control under the existing condition of our sterlinfunds in London. But he omitted to tell us the chief factor which caused those conditions, namely, the extravagant expenditure of his own Government. The main feature of this policy wae credit increase, or inflation, in Vew Zealand, largely due to the enormous expenditure on non-productive public works. Thie lavish expenditure released large eums in wages, etc., in the Dominion and caused a greater demand for imported goods. The result wae that instead of the demand for imports being governed by the income distributed from exports, it was largely increased by the reckless use of credit within the Dominion. To put it in another way, when our local receipts from export* were" reduced by a fall in overseas prices. Mr. Xash's "new money"' in Xew Zealand through the Reserve Bank kept up an excessive demand for imports to an amount unwarranted by our receipts from export*. Thus the economic balance wae upset. It is a pity that a man in Mr. Xash'e responsible position should have used the "sob >infF" <ibunt condition* during the slump, which was world wide—the methods by which the last <;,.\ eminent met those slunip condition* may be open to question; but the position t'i-d;iy is not that of a world depression bat rather the reverse. The two positions are not comparable and should not have been contrasted. The cold truth is that Xew Zealand has, in a time of prosperity, lived beyond its income and has l>een forced to institute drastic economy to correct the mistake—and the mistake was entirely that of the fJoveni»><?nt. " AJAX.