INTEREST BURDEN

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4820, 7 August 1939, Page 5

INTEREST BURDEN

THE GREAT PROBLEM. MR. ATMORE’S THEORY. LONDON TERMS OPPOSED. “If the Government’s financial policy can be said to have failed, it is because it adhered to orthodox methods, the same as would have been followed by the Opposition,” said Mr. H. Atmore (Independent—Nelson), in the debate in the House of Representatives. He contended that New Zealand should not accept the terms dictated by the financiers in London, as they would impose a burden which could not be carried without the standard of living of the people suffering. The same policy as was adopted in 1931 was being pursued again by the London financiers, Mr. Atmore said. They wanted to bring about another coalition, because if the standard of living of the people was to be curtailed it could not be achieved through those responsible for raising it. The great problem to-day was the aggregate burden of interest. Figures were quoted by Mr. Atmore showing that the aggregate interest burden in New Zealand was £45,000,000 annually, which was equal to one-third of the national annual production. It was obvious that that could not be increased without cutting into some other section of the national income and diminishing it. If New Zealand was to be compelled to pay more in interest out of a diminishing national income, then cuts would have to be made somewhere.

“I hope this Government will stand firm and see that nothing happens to affect the standard of living of the people,” said Mr. Atmore, in urging that the first charge on production should be to provide a proper standard of comfort for the people.