CAPITAL AND CONFIDENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21744, 8 March 1934, Page 13

CAPITAL AND CONFIDENCE

Sir, —I agree with Mr. 11. F. McCallum that the over-subscription of the Reserve Bank shares is not a sign of confidence in this country. Rather, it is a sign of capital seeking cover. The life-food of any country is its ability to produce, first for its own needs, then to be able to export its surplus in competition with the world. Can we do this ? I think not. Take any of our products. Where do we stand? Most things of this nature we could import at a cheaper rate —bar tariffs, i.e., wheat, coal, timber, fruit, fruit cases, etc. We boast about our wonderful timber. Yet this product is poured into this country. How many of our principal buildings are fitted up with the product of our own forests? Walk into the business premises of the main streets of this city and observe the bulk of our best structures are embellished or fitted out with woods which are not the product of our own country. Why? It can only be that they "are either better or cheaper, or, perhaps, both. Is it that our scale of wages is too high? I think not, for Australia and the United States of America, which I think ranks level in this respect, can supply us with the goods. So, as Mr. McCallum states, this rush of investors to secure shares in the Reserve Bank is just a gesture of lack of confidence in our own ability to compete under world's conditions. Arthur H. Ckanwell.