WEALTH AND CAPITAL

Northern Advocate, 19 April 1933, Page 3

WEALTH AND CAPITAL

To the Editor

Sir. —lee, water and steam are the same thing under different conditions, yet each has different properties. Wealth, capital and credit are also the same thing under different conditions. Capital is liquid wealth. If wisely invested, it is a growing asset. Wealth is frozen, or stagnant, capital, and nearly always a shrinking asset, and to convert it into capital generally means some loss. A gold watch,: or a suit of clothes is wealth; to convert into cash or capital under ordinary conditions means a big loss. , New Zealand has much wealth in various forms, but at present there is a shortage of cash or capital. In our internal loan bonds wo have over 100 millions of frozen capital, for, in the form of bonds, it has to go through the stock market to get thawed. The Government has now 7 converted most of them to a lower rate of interest —the. first bit of good work they have done since taking office. It is long overdue, but it is something to their credit. • If they would convert them into £1 and £;'i negotiable bonds it would be equivalent to a loan of £100,000,000 of fresh capital, without extra expense, liability, interest, or injustice to anyone. It would be a first class currency, a. safe investment for those who could hold them, and ready cash at any time, without loss of time or money. The interest at 4 per cent., or 9-kl in each pound, would bo paid to bearer, after a certain date each year, and on the back of each bond, a date stamp -with “interest paid” would be impressed. This would give the whole community a share in what has been a close preserve for the big money men. If our Government are afraid that such a sudden release of frozen capital would cause a boom, that it would cause people to lose their heads and indulge in extravagances, they could easily devise a few safeguards. To the general public the bonds would be bettor than gold, for they would be interest bearing, under all conditions, and would be more in demand than the spurious paper promises that the Government, by making them legal tender, compelled the people to take in the interests of the private banks. All the gold in the banks has been bought with spurious money, and if the Government withdrew their protection of the bankers’ paper promises, and made them keep their obligations, as other people are made to do, it would soon be in the hands of the people, or better still, a -(State, or People’s Bank. With the protection the Government have given the hanks at the expense of the people, it is no wonder they own nearly everyihing and everybody. Making spurious money under Government protection is a very lucrative business, I have just been making np the income tax I have 1o pay. It seems to me lam all the time paying taxes of some kind, and it. only makes tilings worse. As il seems that the more faxes we pay 11m worse tilings got, the logical inference is In stop paying taxes, and give things a chance to got better. A unanimous refusal to pay any more taxes until we get certain overdue reforms would be a kind of passive resistance that would have more useful effects than a violent revolution. This is a democratic country. The people, not a self-seeking minority, have a right to rule, so starve them until they see the error of their ways nr resign and make room for better men. If allowed to go undisturbed until the next electio i. they will have made such a mess >f things that no one will have a chance

of' getting them ji.S4.Ji*. Their bites(ions arc good. .But no were those of Hio ]nquisil ion when they roasted moo alive to save their souls. Many wrongs arc* committed with good intentions; a little justice is badly nced.nl with them. The working classes constitute the majority in New Zealand; they have never had justice. Seddon came nearest to it, but. he was over-ruled by the majority, whose chief concern has alwavs been the interest of the financial dragons, who must be kept fat, if a nation has to starve to do it. It is said that stone walls do not a prison make, or iron • bonds a, slave, but a selfish mentality very soon does. The individual, or nation, who is indifferent concerning just ice for others is likely to suffer injustice in its turn, and get no sympathy. No one has a right to ovpoct more than justice, and no one should be content with less, for himself or his fellownicn, —I am,, etc., JUSTICE.,