Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1932 THE WORLD AND THE DEPRESSION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 70, 22 February 1932, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1932 THE WORLD AND THE DEPRESSION.

The year 1931 gave many important events to history. Mainly they were economic, the effect of the present depression, whose most remarkable feature, Professor MacMillan Brown commented in a recent address to the New Zealand Senate, is its universality. The influence of these events, therefore, extended throughout the world. Never before, in this century at least, have people heard so much of economics, and of the workiug ef forces which have caused a collapse in the values of products from the land, the basis of all trade, with resultant stagnation of trade in secondary industries and unemployment. Some of the events of last year caused foreboding for the immediate future. It may be recalled that, when the gold standard was given up by Great Britain late last year, many people were apprehensive. To some the decision was an inevitable result of the financial position; others welcomed it as a sign that Britain was determined to protect herself by stopping the flight from the pound; but there were some who were rather fearful of the result. But it happens, says a commentator in recalling the events of the day when the announcement was made, that moments of suspense are temporary; either the expected blow falls or its does not, and in either case human nature has a way of adjusting itself to the event. In 1000 A.D: people in Christian countries were led by students of prophecy to expect the millennium. They awaited the end of the world with trepidation, but in 1001 were leading a normal life. Towards the. end of the seventeenth century Sir William Petty, noting the evils of that time, mentioned that Englishmen were depressed by the scarcity of gold, lack of trade aud employment, severity of taxation and rise of prices. But he held that the state of the country was not so deplorable that it would not recover. Macaulay fifty years later was also exercised by England’s financial and economic state, but he was not without optimism, and both were justified by future events. While it would be wrong to be indifferent to certain palpable evils of modern times, or not to takd action to deal with them, the writer previously referred to holds that in the United States and England there is “considerable danger of becoming too preoccupied with economic questions.” There are other things, he says, which will loom large when the crisis is. over. The past is unchanged by it and the future is not likely to be dominated by it.

No one can deny the depth and wide range of. the causes of the present depression. They have inspired the belief that it is the worst in history. Others, however, do not accept this view. Professor 11. Michell, of. McMaster University, Canada, is one, and he holds the opinion that because to-day we think in millions,

whereas our forefathers thought in thousands, the present depression is believed to be the worst. The lessons of history he presents for review: The South Sea Bubble which in 1720 “brought England to the very verge ox ruin”; the great crisis in England in 1825 that “closed scores of banks and ruined thousands” ; the great crisis in 1837 in the United States, the collapse of the railway boom of 1857, and the world-wide depressions of 1873 and 1893, which were “proportionately more severe and disastrous than what we have suffered from of late.” Out of each crisis, he adds, the . world emerged stronger and richer than before. Another optimistic writer is Professor Stephen Leacock, the noted Canadian economist and humorous author, who says that national prosperity in the long run does not depend on stock exchanges and margins and market prices. National wealth, he points out, is based on the land, the resources, and the character and the temper of the people, and Canadians have a vast heritage, enormous assets, boundless natural wealth, most of it still' intact and untouched. New Zealand, and Australia too, it may be added, possess great national resources, and a people in whom is imbued the industry to develop the gifts of a generous nature. It is well to recall the past so that the events of these days may be seen in a clearer perspective.