Socialist Finance

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 114, 7 February 1935, Page 11

Socialist Finance

Sir, —The objectives of the English and New Zealand Soeialist-Labour parties are the same —namely, to substitute State ownership for our present systems of private enterprise. Both aim at the nationalisation of banking and other key activities—also political control of finance and investments. The only difference, up to date, is that whereas the English Socialists boldly declare how they will establish their objective, our New Zealand party keeps that objective in the background and makes vague promises. It will reform our monetary system entirely and nationalise banking, but not a word of explanation as to how it will be done. It will guarantee payable prices for our produce without increasing taxation. This can be done, we are told, by “remonetising (whatever that means) our butter from the present price to a payable price.” The party will cure unemployment by “remonetising services to a higher level in the same way that is proposed for raising butter prices.” It all sounds very nice, but no one will give the practical details of how this “remonetising” is to be done. Does our Socialist-Labour party propose to dispossess the shareholders and depositors in the bank to be “taken over,” or in the industries to be nationalised, without compensation? British Socialists visualise no compensation and have frankly said so. Ours are silent on this point. The question affects more small savings than is generally realised, for there are many thousands of small shareholders in our banks and industries, and the average value of individual deposits, to be politically controlled, is very low. Sir Stafford Cripps, the spokesman for English Socialists, frankly admits that his party’s advent to power will cause a first-class financial crisis, therefore it must secure financial control quickly before the people have time to safeguard their savings. As both parties have the same objective may we. assume that the same results would obtain here? —We are. etc.. N.Z. WELFARE LEAGUE. Wellington, February 1.