EMPIRE AND INVESTORS

Feilding Star, Volume 8, Issue 2586, 2 December 1931, Page 6

EMPIRE AND INVESTORS

Sacrifices and Return i PEACE, PROSPERITY, PROGRESS HINTS TO INVESTORS (15y “Croesus/’ in tin* N.Z. Financial Times). The stage is all set for a return of a long era of 1111 precede 11 tel peace, prosperity and progress by the dint of hard work, common sacriiice and national co-operation for a few years. By a two-to-one majority, the people of England have decided against the “No God, no King. no Country” fanaticism of tin* Red Flag adherents. Stock and share markets have taken fresh heart. Painful readjustments and sacrifices are needed for two or three years ; but once costs and prices, budgets and currencies are brought into balance, the financial storm will have blown itself out. The long view is most encouraging, and augurs a return of 184)3-14 >l4 conditions as soon as normality can be brought about to the new order. The existing order Inis'been given an open mandate by a Mussolini-like majority in the House of Commons. Not even the gold standard (the only possible basis at present of balancing international payments) is sacrosunt. Tariffs, Empire preference, reduced salaries, increased taxation. or reduction of national ex penditure are all on the cards. Confidence can la* restored, normal spending the freer circulation of money, increasing turnover and employment, are the natural corollary of tin* British elections. Prices of raw materials have touched bottom, the value of money has depreciated over 25 per cent, to restore in some degree the relation between debtor ami creditor, and the relation between wages ami profitable prices. if costs, principally taxation and wages, can be brought into harmony with prices within a year or two, English-speaking people will be easily the best off in the world. Britain him only to replace free trade with fair trade. If there was not another person or acre in the world but tin* British Empire, everything eoul 1 Ik* produced that life requires. Under those circumstances, in a mad world of tariffs and gold hoarding, and armaments and war debts, let Britain develop the re-' sources of Britain and tin* British Empire, and the world will be shocked into sanity and co-operation. Britain should go to the lengths of Germany before any collapse, ami not after it. Tin* British Post Of-’ lice* only kept: faith with its depositors by the skin of its teeth; the transfer problem of war debts and one-way German reparations to I’.K.A. and France made a farce of the gold standard - and * nearly collapsed the British currency system. Socialism in Government has taken its toll of the national savings. “Desperate diseases require desperate remedies,” British finance and commerce must realise that orthodox measures cannot overcome impossible situations such as German reparations. The imbecility of applying to Franco and I’.S.A. for £50,00.000 ere lit was quickly apparent. 111 times like these orthodox measures

and financial conventionalism are useless, and only invite revolution and complete collapse. The remedy for inllamed national- | ism is to meet it with inflamed nationalism ; the remedy for tariff harriers is to retaliate with tariff barriers; the remedy for gold hoarding is to meet, it with gold hoarding. As Germany cannot make reparations in gold and can only pay by manufacturig goods for export which nobody wants anl tries to shut out by increasing tin* tariff, why should Britain bolster up the German currency system when it is an obviously impossible situationV Let France and US. A. worry. They have the money to lend, and if they will not lend it, why should Britain throw good money after bad to make fat pigs fatterV Investors may well be of good cheer. Three months ago Britain was Town and out under a Socialist administration. No power 011 earth could have saved Britain from finan - cial collapse of the first magnitude, bringing down many countries, including Australia and New Zealand. From a question of years, it became a question of months, and. finally, weeks, days an 1 hours. Britain became technically insolvent, unable to pay even those people with current credits. Money was borrowed from France and U.S.A. Such measures proved useless. The- gold standard, such as it was. had to be suspended. British Empire investors an 1 wageearners alike faced monetary ruin. But the British Labour leaders, peculiar in that they are always somexvhat national in outlook. notwithstanding their professed internationalism. to the intense disgust of Russian and German Socialists, were not willing to throw over the capitalist system at the cost of starvation of the British people. Rather than elect to do that, at the last moment, after a lifetime of service to the Labour movement, they elected to be dubbed ‘-turncoats” and earn the curses of their most loyal supporters hut the heartfelt gratitude of loyalists and many thinkers of their own party who preferred to count the* cost. The position has been miraculously saved. Britain lias been given a last magnificent chance. She lias only to prefer herself to foreigners, develop herself and the British colonies. If she persists in drinking French wine instead of Australian, and smoking Virginian tobacco instead of Empire tobacco from New Zealand, Rhodesia, Egypt and elsewhere; if she persists in looking at Hollywood talkie pictures instead of her own; if slu* will eat Danish butter and give them money s)ie can ill afford which they spend on German manufacturers : if she goes for Russian butter; if she buys Russian instead of t'unadian "beat : if she* takes foreign sugar and leaves the finest sugargrowing territories in her Empire idle—then no one can help Britain if she will not help herself. Britain lias..not-the mouey. but the British Empire lias more than its fair share of the* world’s surface, and can apply the stranglehold. KEEP I P WITH THE FINANCIAL TIMES In financial times like* these you heed the* N.Z. Financial Times—Now Zealand’s financial monthly. Learn the real truth about the slump. The Thames Borough Council has borrowed 200 per cent, of its assets. A company (named) is in immediate

danger of losing £170.000 of sharehol lers’ money. Many other matters of public* interest to New Zealand shareholders are in the* November issue of tlie N.Z. Financial Times, which is not sold anywhere. It can be* obtained, post free, for the modest subscription of only Due Guinea per annum. Order through your stationer Nor write direct, enclosing subscription and giving full postal address to the N.Z. Financial Times, Wellington.