RESERVE BANK BILL

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 October 1939, Page 2

RESERVE BANK BILL

cOMMERCIAL .PROTEST. [PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, October 14. The following letter was sent earlier in the weeli by the Associated Clumbers of Commerce to the Minister oi Finance: “Production by the Govorunieiil. ol the Reserve Bank Amendn/eut Bill, the nature of the provisions of the measure, the inadequate second reading explanation of the intentions ol the Government concerning the powers sought, and the haste with which the Bill was put through all stages, have all caused growing concern among the commercial community of New Zealand, 'rhe reaction of the Associated Chambers of Commerce to the political control of the banking and monetary policy was not. and is not. by any means favourable, hut we made no protest against the Bill on its appearance, pending your giving an explanation at, a point in the second reading, as to the policy the Government proposed to pursue in the exercise of the powers sought under the Bill, in order that we could view the Bill in the light of that, explanation. Not only was there no interval allowed, after the second reading explanation, tor the measure to be weighed by the public, the Bill being put through all stages during the night, biii. that explanation, we respectfully submit, left many major questions completely obscure. We would have thought the objective of concluding the Parliamentary session by last, week-end of the smallest importance, compared with the need for careful public consideration of the extensive and dangerous changes to the Reserve banking system, brought about by the v Bill." INA DEQUATE EXPLANATI ON S “That matter apart, however, since the measure has now been dealt with, what, still remains of current concern is the fact that the fears engendered by the Bill, because of its inflationary possibilities, have not been dispersed, but rather have increased owing to the inadequacy of the explanations of Government policy given to date on behalf of the Bill and its powers. Will the Government, at this stage, allay the deep apprehension, which has arisen throughout the country, by giving more explicit explanations on such important questions as:

“(1) Precisely how the funds for war purposes over and above those forthcoming from revenue, are to be provided?

(2) Tp what extent it is considered by the Government, that Reserve Bank credit can he used without inflating currency?

(3) What is the nature of the requests that were made by the Government'to the Reserve Bank, but. not met by the Bank and which constitute one of the reasons for the promotion of the Bill? (4) In short, how are the extensive powers which have been taken to be applied, if not over the whole war period, the duration of which the Government cannot know, at least for that immediate short-term period, which the ■Government must have fully estimated already in relation to the augmentation of war finance, through the powers of the Reserve Bank Amendment Bill? “As this is a matter of public concern, we propose handing a copy of this letter to the Press for publication. and we hope the questions raised herein will be dealt with for the information of the public.”