MONETARY REFORM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 19 February 1931, Page 4

MONETARY REFORM

(To the Editor) Siv,— 31v A. X. Field is to be congratulated upon his endeavour to interest the. public in Irving Fisher's scheme for monetary reform. The late Sir John Findlay for several years did his best to induce the people of this Dominion to give their attention to this matter but with little or no success. May Mr Field’s propaganda bear better fruit, for of the many economic reforms of which the world at large is badly in need, not one is of nearly such urgent importance as the stabilising of the value of the monetary units of the various countries.

Students of economics have long been aware that the fluctuations in the value of our coins as measured in goods have been the cause of untold misery in the world. (Most of the financial crises and panics in history, most of the social unrest and the revolnntionary movements of the past two centuries can clearly be traced to this cause. Hut it is only during the last twenty or thirty years that a succession of eminent economists, Jevons, Newcomb and above all Irving Fisher have step by step elaborated a method by which such disastrous fluctuations may be prevented in future. Fisher’s epoch making book, “Stablising the Dollar” was first published only eleven years ago. So 'promising and well thought out is the remedy be proposes that only ignorance and foolish conservatism can prevent its speedy adoption. and if Mr Field can do something to dissipate this ignorance, be will deserve tiie support of all enlightened people. At the same time the task of preparing suitable legislation will probably tie not quite so easy as Mr Field suggests. It is true that Fisher piovides us in bis book with the rough draft of a Bill designed to bring about the necessary changes. But the problems bo discusses in his Appendices on Technical Details will need very carpful consideration by our business and financial experts before legislation suitable for our local conditions can be drawn up. Moreover it must be recognised that even if we had had a stabilised unit in New Zealand at the present time while the rest of the world had not, our stabilised currency would not have saved us from being involved in the world wide depression. For we have to pay the interest on our public debts to English lenders in English money while (he payments we receive for our exports are also measured in .English currency. Therefore if the juices of our exports measured in English money suffer a calamitous fall as . they have done recently, we shall necessarily have a difficulty in meeting our obligations overseas, no matter bn how satisfactory a basis ouiown domestic currency may bo. New Zealand is (oo small a community to have an appreciable effect on world wide trade movements. The tail cannot expect to wag the log. But as Fisher points out, even a small country may well set a good example to the larger ones and not only secure immediately a minor degree of benefit for itself, but also help to bring about a reform that will have immensely valuable results for all the nations of the earth. I am etc., F. G. GIBBS. Nelson, 10th February.