"SLUMP" AND "DEPRESSION"

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 147, 24 June 1933, Page 8

"SLUMP" AND "DEPRESSION"

' •—_. dp the Editor.) Sir,—The remarks made by Mr. Coates referring to the constant.'use of the expressions "slump" and "depression" should be noted well by the people and Press of New Zealand. There is far too much talk of depression, generally by those who have suffered little from the prevailing conditions. The Press of the Dominion has not been at all helpful in this matter, and in my opiiiion has_ been responsible to a very large extent' for the present state of, mind of the people. Too many reports of speeches and remarks made by more or less unimportant people have been published, and with all due respect, I suggest that reports in the Press dealing with economic conditions should be confined as far as possible to considered opinions of bankers and men occupying important positions in the commercial world. Far too many damaging statements are published without any justification. Mr. Coates mentioned, one in his remarks recorded in your journal on Thursday. In no part of the world have, I come across so much' pessimistic rubbish, as I have heard and read in New Zealand during the last six months, and, mind you, you are better off here than in any Country I know. The proper spirit is lacking, and it would seem that there is a tendency to destroy instead of to build up. One section of the community appears to be bent yn wrecking the manufacturing industries instead of giving them all possible support. How different from the attitude in Canada, Australia, and even in England now where retailers use their efforts to sell the local product, and the people are sensible enough to buy it, knowing full wgll ■ that by doing so they are helping to give employment to their own men and women. Go into a shop here, whether to purchase a tin of fruit or a pair of socks, and ten chances to one the salesman will recommend an imported article, although equally good New Zealand articles are available at competitive prices. A true national spirit is sadly lacking in this Dominion. The unemployment problem will never be solved until the people learn to support the so-called secondary industries, which alone ', are capable of absorbing-great numbers of the unemployed. The Press can do a great deal more than it**.has' done in that direction, and I hope that you will not mind my saying so. Of course, I recognise that it is necessary to import goods) from overseas, and that we should support the Old Country as much as possible. But there' again we are not doing our duty, as .-.great deal of business that should go to our be6t customer'is going elseiVhere. Why do .we force Britain' to work under.the big exchange handicap in competition with other countries for our trade? Surely that position, can be rectified without waiting for the outcome of the Tariff Commission. ' I think that the Government is following a, sound policy in placing as ■ many men as possible on the land, but it will take a tremendous lot of land development to absorb five or ten thousand men. The encouragement of existing industries and the possible establishment of new ones will quickly absorb many times that number, and that is where the solution of New Zealand's unemployment problem lies.— I am, etc., TAX PAYER. ["Taxpayer's"'suggestion that the Press, by reporting the speeches of "more, or less unimportant people" has contributed largely -to tho "depression" atmosphere will not bear examination. Careful study of Press reports will show that the newspapers have exercised a wise discretion in the degree of prominence given to the view, expressed. A censorship for the elimination of depression references would have involved the suppression of reports ot proceedings of important bodies from 1 arliament downwards and non-publication of such pronouncements, for example, as those in which the Government s high exchange decision wa. defended.—Ed.J