THE INEVITABILITY OF GOLD.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20756, 17 January 1933, Page 12

THE INEVITABILITY OF GOLD.

IT© TH* JSDITOP or THE PRESS. ftir„—So Mr G. W. Atmore fades tway from this -discussion which he gptered m . rampantly. I am really tarry *&**• .*• signalises his departure iritfe » much noise and fury. Alter ill it ahould be possible for two men Hj&ail? anxious to help in the present gmxble to diacuw snch a.question as jaw withoot wrath; but I have noticed u * characteristic of their cult that Stagbut-Credit dialectics run to wesjp all njea fools and all economists »His» wj» ar« without their own tiny emimie Bethel.' . _ I read, your editorial article witn stvat. iaterest. It puts the question is m dear light, and states the probtM with- i*» many factors, concisely ad iueidljr. But I think you will agree feat your conclusions do not in any ray laraiidatc my contention that it mold be wisdom for New Zealand tolay to devote far more time and means » tfce discovery of the gold in the CHUkirj, and cease concentrating flo more and more production

of primary commodities, for which there is no demand and no paying price. Do we not read that in the United States under a legislative measure the proposal is being discussed that farmers should produce iw per cent, less wheat. Of all things in the world to-day gold is most in demand, and as that will be the case for longer to come than we can estimate, let us get after the inevitable gold. Surely common sense approves of that suggestion. My friend Mr Barrett is back again, but really he adds nothing to this discussion" beyond a recapitulation of hackneved Douglas Credit shibboleths. According to the Douglas cult, there are only two classes in the civilised world—the wise peome and the fools. The wise people are the Douglasites who do not comprise 1 per cent, of the population. The fools . are the ay per cent., who refuse to fall down and worship the Douglas formula, Surely if is a mad world. For any Douglas Credit devotee who has not completely sold his reason to a blind and somewhat pathetic faith I would recommend as an antidote to Douglas an article which recently appeared in the "Statist" bv Mr F. H. Hamilton, "Common Sense About Gold,", and also a booklet written by an able young New Zealand economist, Mr Lloyd Ross. of Otago University— rickets -Without Goods." I guarantee that in those two brochures my Douglas Credit friends will get enough to chew their cuds upon for a long time, and in the process thev mav find salvation from an hallucination which is distorting their vision and perverting their judgment so sadly.—Yours, etc., NINO DI SOMMA. January 16, 1933. TO THE EDITOK OF THK iEESS. Sir, —It is a matter for regret to those who would like to be spared the hardships caused by the present dislocated financial position, that the advocates of a change in currency do not make their proposals more formular. This feeling was aroused in me on reading Mr Barrett's letter in The Press of Saturdav, on Douglas Credit. A jibe at "N.D.S. V learning, a reference to the origin of the gold standard, and an iteration of the selfishness of humans gets us nowhere, and one is left at a loss to know why Mr Barrett ventured forth as a standard bearer of a reformed currency. Our currency system, like all other forms of social laws, has, since its inception, been subject to change and alteration and no one with any foresight will imagine that it is going "to be allowed to lead everything to a dead end. Taking the selfishness which Mr Barrett sees so glaringly into consideration, the banks might have plaved the bandits' part much more rudely than, the. "reformer" attributes to' them. If Mr Barrett can release himself from theory and unfeeling generalities, prehaps he would inform vour readers how he would set up a tribunal to manage and control currencv unfettered by personal advancement, vain glory, and dominance —otherwise the selfishness which your correspondent deplores. Apparently he cannot conceive of our professors of economy giving an honest expression of opinion. There is always someone claiming the ability to set up a new earth, and perhaps later on, a new heaven also, and a time of depression and distress is the accepted time. However, a gradual general revival of the old order would efface them as the dew before the sun.—Yours, etc., QUIDNUNC. January 16, 1933. TQ THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir, In your issue of January 6th, "N.D.S." admits his ignorance of the new economies when he" states that Douglas Credit shibboleths have no meaning to him. He seems to me to be one of the many pig-headed people who simply will not read Douglas. Neither he nor anyone else ha.s answered by letter of January A, .in which I is'sued a challenge regarding the. Douglas proposals and I suggest, that it is- because the stipulation was -made, that the-one who replied must have read Douglas's books. Anybody who has actually done so would not make , such stupid statements regarding gold as "N.D.S." has. Perhaps the following by an economist, A. E. Orage (who stands in very high regard in England) regarding Major Douglas,, will' be of interest to your readers.' This' is his view. "He (Major Douglas) had been assistant-director of Government aircraft 'during the- war. He is a first rate engineer. He had encountered financial problems practically as .well as theoretically and he yroved to be the | most perfect gentleman I have ever met. His knowledge of economics was extraordinary and from our very first, conversation, everything he said concerning finance in relation to industry —and indeed to industrial civilisation as a whole—gave me the impression of a master mind, perfectly informed upon its special subject. After year* of the closest association, with him, my. first impression has only been intensified. In scores of interviews we had together with hankers, professors of economies, politicians, and business men, I never saw him so much as at a moment's loss of'complete mastery of his subject. Among no matter "rfhat experts, he made them look and talklike children.".—Yours, etc., B. T. BENNET. January 16, 1933.