ABILITY TO THINK

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 126, 31 May 1939, Page 8

ABILITY TO THINK

SPENDING MORE THAN WE EARN

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—l am glad to find one pen—that of "Enlightenment"—to support me when I made a plea for simple articles to dispel some of the clouds that are over the minds of so many adults in New Zealand. I have nothing to reply to, "H.W.," except to say that ability to read and write does not connote ability to think. The Marxist generally knows his master's work. I have met many Marxists, but none who understood him; frequenily they could quote whole pages of Das Kapital, but were quite incapable of independent thought. Aveling's analysis certainly simplifies the subject, but does not make it any more fundamentally sound. What I want is that people shall think for themselves, not in terms of their own immediate circumstances, nor as to whether they are better oil now under a Labour Government than they were in depression times, but as to whether any policy, Labour or National, is likely to lead to permanent prosperity. They would have been better off now than in depression times under any Government, because, as I pointed out in my letter published on May 20, our prosperity depends ultimately upon the returns the farmer gets for his produce. All who work, whether with brain or muscle, add to the wealth of the community, and help in its prosperity, but from the farming industries as a base spring all the other activities of the people. The standard of living in this country will for a long time be determined by the returns the farmers get for their wool, meat, butter, and cheese in the world's markets.

My simple proposition this week is i that through spending more than we j have earned or can ; borrow, we are heading for a major local disaster, j Prices of consumable goods have been steadily rising for a long time, and will continue to rise, in spite of the Internal Marketing Department or any other Department. If by some magic means the rise is checked, then we shall have queues of shoppers -lining up for their supplies of this or that, with not enough in stock to satisfy the demand. Price is merely the adjustment of supply and demand. I have said that we are spending more than we have earned or can borrow. We spend on necessities, luxuries, or pleasures. Our national income can this year be estimated at £160,000,000 —less than Mr. Nash's expectation, but greater than that of the English actuary who reported on Social Security. Of this the Government will take, perhaps, £50,000,000, leaving £110,000,000 as the gross income of farmers, manufacturers, merchants, tradesmen, and wage-earners. As there are, approximately, 750,000 of these, the average income per head of the productive popuI lation will thus amount to considerably under 35s per head. Probably 75 per cent.' or more of Government expenditure is non-productive—that is, of consumable goods. Now, if wages are arbitrarily raised, without regard to the amount produced by that labour ("the sky is the limit") such a rise can be only a monetary one—not one in consumable goods; importers naturally try to meet and anticipate demand caused by increased purchasing power. London exchange funds come down' with a run, and prices rise. "H.W." asks if I think we have a Labour Government in New Zealand through ignorance on the part of the electors. My answer is "No"; I believe a sane Labour Government would not be an evil in this country, since we must progress or perish. But I do believe that the Labour Government we have is the child of ignorance. How else can we explain the fact that at j the last election it secured such a j majority, in spite of the fact that it was obvious to anyone who thought about the matter that we were rapidly heading for a crisis. This Government is as good as the people deserve, but [ must be prepared to face the music when "the people" turn in their wrath !on those who promising to lead them !to Canaan lost them in the desert. —I am, etc.,

NEW ZEALANDER, Paraparaumu, May 29.