THE MONETARY COMMISSION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 117, 17 April 1934, Page 6

THE MONETARY COMMISSION.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—Of all the useless and wasteful contrivances foisted on to a . fering community by a Government (whicn apparently hasn t £ a l> “| a . of its own) is that termed the Parti mentary. Monetary Committee committee is at present * ou ” n ® one country taking evidence from anyon who has a financial fad to exploit, or a scheme for a cut to prosperity, ever hare-brained it may beposition, would be ludicrous if 1 , not for the enormous cost to the country. And what will be tb suit when the Committee Present their report? It will simply be pigeonholed and forgotten. One has only read some of the questions nesses by some members of the G ~ mittee in order to realise the utter futilitv of the proceedings to say tne least of it. For instance, a member of the Committee asked if it was possible to avert slumps by lending money to people without security, is on the lines of forcibly taking money from those wlio have it ana giving it to those who haven t m short, confiscation. This is the doctrine preached by that canny Kept, Major Douglas. By. the way his disciples have been remarkably quiet since his lecturing tour through New Zealand with a stiff charge for admission to hear his well advertised Douglas Credit scheme. Another delightful question put to another witness was : “Can it be said that the alleged lion-monetary causes of the present position are the effects of monetary causes?” This did not floor the witness, who rose to the occasion brilliantly, and replied in effect: “I think it might or might not be so.” And so the twaddle of questions and answers goes on. Why cannot the Government and others realise that there are no short cuts to sound prosperity, and that stable finance based on the experience of generations of banking custom cannot be tampered with bv experiments, with impunity ? There was no call for the commission and the only result will be a useless waste of public money, which could have been put to profitable use.—Yours, etc., M. A. ELIOTT, Palmerston North.