MR NASH AND BANKING

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21991, 15 January 1937, Page 8

MR NASH AND BANKING

TO THE EDITOB Of THE PRESS. Sir, —In reply to "Analyst" I desire to say that a lifetime's study of social problems leads me to the conclusion that everything depends upon one cardinal principle, and that is that it should be written into the constitution of all countries that every individual shall be assured of a standard of living, from the cradle to the grave, commensurate with the standard of production. In other words, you must remove the fear of poverty from men's minds before you can prevent them from trying to amass wealth. The greed of gold is essentially a human failing, due to and fostered by our social system since feudal times. Gold standards, or any other system of endeavouring to control currencies, are merely side issues, and futile. As long as the medium of exchange is divorced from its proper function and used for speculation by our banking institutions, stock exchanges, etc., we

will have booms and slumps. Similarly, while profit is allowed, injustice will prevail. If any man obtains more for an article than the value of the service he has rendered, then some other person has received less than he has earned. Multiply this and you have arrived at the source of our troubles. This is the battle that is being fought so bitterly in Spain at the moment, and, as the proletariat wake up, it will spread throughout the world. There are many worthy men, deep thinkers, sincerely devoted to what they deem worthy causes, but, with all due respect to them, I think they are wasting their efforts in trying to patch a rotten garment.—Yours, etc., HIRAM HUNTER. January 14, 1937.