NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20595, 20 June 1930, Page 10

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE COMMUNIST CONSPIRACY. "D firing the general strike of 1926 I found it interesting to substantiate my theories that Communism was entirely responsible for rioting and disorder," says Sir Wyndham Childs, formerly assis-tant-commissioner at Scotland Yard, in a volume of reminiscences. "It was a fact that the only places where disorder occurred, and collision with the police, were those where there was a strong Communist district party. The Communist organisation, as designed by Russia and directed therefrom, was extraordinarily ingenious and clearly inter-linked with other organisations perfectly innocuous in character. Many well-meaning people in this country have actually been subscribers to organisations, 6ome of a charitable nature per se, without the slightest suspicion that they were indirectly supporting Communism. It would have been an eyeopener to them had they known the chain of communications by which their good money was diverted to the destruction of all social order and well-being."

PROBLEMS OF THE NEXT DECADE. "As wo look backward over the chequered years and forward into the uncharted future we may claim some grounds for satisfaction and some for confidence. The net result of theso dire years of victory and defeat, of progress and setback, of achievement and disappointment, has on balance been progress all round," says the Economist, in reviewing tho 20 years of King George's reign. "We have at least done something toward a better distribution of wealth, toward tho establishment of higher standards of living, toward reaching a greater degree of material well-being for tho greater number. The task of the coming years is so to organise the system of production, credit and exchange that the means for the sustentation of higher standards are forthcoming. That and the gradual perfection of the newly and roughly-forged instruments of international confidence and co-operation—these are the two supreme problems of the next decade. Wo are confident of their progressive solution —and this for three (if no more) reasons: I —Science and invention have placed, and are placing, in our hands new weapons of incalculable power; the cataclysms of the recent past have taught lessons which history sometimes takes centuries to teach; the peoples of civilised countries have had their eyes sufficiently opened to see tho difference between the straight path of united effort that leads ultimately into tho fertile valleys and the broad road of belligerency that leads directly into the inhospitable mountains of distress." NO QUACK REMEDIES. ' " There are a few optimists who tell us prices have reached bottom. I do not know, but they must touch bottom some time, and when they do I think there will bo all over the world a very rapid recovery in trade/' said Mr. Snowden, Chancellor of tho Exchequer, in addressing the British Banker's Association at their annual dinner. Remarking that there was always a tendency when pessimism was almost universal, for people to resort to quack remedies, with consequeuces that were an aggravation of tho pre- j vious condition. Turning to tho question of what the Government would do, Mr. Snowdcn said there were some things which private enterprise could not do, would not do, and which were absolutely necessary —means of transport, roads, and the like. The Government was helping public utility societies and public corporations on schemes which must fulfil ono condition, that tho money spent must help to mako industry more efficient and lessen the cost of production. Somo people had urged that the Government should take control of the rationalisation of industry and provide all the capital by a huge Government loan. Tho Government had never succumbed to a scheme of that sort, and there was very little likelihood that it would. It was certainly not going to throw away public money in hare-brained, wild-cat schemes. It must be as reasonably as sured as possible that the schemes sanctioned were sound and would conform to the conditions laid down as to tho efficiency of industry and the low cost of production.

THE TREND OF MONEY RATES,

Attention was recently directed by tho Statist to tho marked disparity between the rates for money in the short loan market and the long term rate of interest, the difference being so great that " new issues fail to appeal to the public unless they are offered on terms which would have been considered normal when short money rates were more than twice what they are to-day." There is little support to be found for the contention that cheap money in the short loan market is in any way artificial. " Every factor in the economic situation justifies it." the Statist considered. "Prices are still falling, trade and industry are inactive, while in no part of the world is speculation pushing money rates up and attracting tho surplus funds of the international money market as they were attracted to New York last year. The abundance of money has not been artificially manufactured. The downward movement in short term money rates has been an international movement. Influences hampering tho fall in the long term rato of interest can be discerned without much difficulty. There can bo no doubt that the rato of saving is less than it should bo owing partly to changes in social habits, partly to vindictive taxation. It is from savings that permanent capital investments must come. Tho functions of savings can never bo supplanted by tho creation of banking credit. In addition, the investment markets throughout the world have for some weeks been under the shadow of the impending issue of reparation bonds and the end of this operation should be greeted with a universal sigh of relief. Other influences calculated to check any appreciation in gilt edged values are tho weight of undigested issues carried by underwriters, tho increase in direct taxation and tho general pessimism regarding the commercial and industrial outlook. Since ease in tho short term market is likely to be prolonged well into the closing months of the current year, it is reasonable to assume that normal forces which constantly make for a rapprochoment between long and short term rates will resume their sway during tho current year."