DEBTS OF HONOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 50, 27 August 1931, Page 8

DEBTS OF HONOUR

When the authors of the Macmillan Report. are not "agreed on the. effect of adoption of the gold standard in 1925, the assumption by the President of the' Sheep-owners' Federation that our troubles are traceable to that. step is scarcely warranted. .The Macmillan Committee, inHeed|':held that.the.economic difficulties were, primarily due not to monetary factors but to unusually large and rapid changes on the part of non-monetary, phenomena, summarised by "The Times" as follows: (1) The unusual instability of the demand for capital. (2) War aebts. (3) The rapidity of'technical changes in manufacture and production. (4) The shifting character of demand. | .. (5). Rigidity of -wage rates.----(6) The growth of tariffs. (7) The embarrassment of Budgets. . (8) Violent changes in speculative activity in New York-and elsewhere. When it cannot be clearly proved that we as a debtor nation have been, pauperised by.the gold standard decision there, is no warrant for an attempt to transfer our burdens. Mr. Acland said:— I trust that the Parliamentary; Committee now sitting will not; lose siglit of the necessity for some..relief from our creditors outside' New Zealand, in addition to giving attention to necessary adjustments within the' Dominion. Already we have taken from Great Britain the relief she generously offered in a year's suspension of war debt payments. ■ South Africa declined that generous offer, and it would have been gratifying if this Dominion had accepted Mr. Downie Stewart's suggestion of a similar refusal. Subsequent events have clearly shown that Britain^ ability to afford this sacrifice is less than our need ioT it. At least we should not petition for further relief. Rather, we should be guided by the" high principle which Sir Robert Gibson, chairman of the Commonwealth Bank, could declare for a more, sorely embarrassed Australia. In some quarters it has been asked (he said) why should tho overseas holders of our bonds not be requested or even forced to make a" sacrifice as well as onrselves. It has been computed that there are 300;000 holders of our bonds overseas..' They trusted us as an honoured people, and I will" not believe that the people of this country will hesitate to insist that wo mcot these obligations honourably.