MONEY AND MEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23507, 18 November 1939, Page 15

MONEY AND MEN

Sir,—The men in the street do not care a hoot what the Government does with the banks. What we do care about is that, where a family is concerned, the pound note only buys lis 6d worth of goods. In other words £1 now win only purchase what could have been bought for lis 6d in, say, 1930. Where has the difference gone? Our primary wealth takes no more to produce than it did nine years ago, or. rather, not one extra blade or grass, another yard of fencing, nor longer time is required to produce one pound of butter-fat, meat or wool than was needed in 1930, and the export price of these products is actually higher than it was then. Yet, on a limited and stationary income, one has to reduce the living standard of the family most drastically. The other point is that there arc 24,000 men on non-productive public works, several thousand pensioners of various kinds, and increasing crowds of public servants. During the past three months at least 12,000 more men are now in khaki, or Air Force blue. Yet I noticed two or three weeks ago that more men were employed on Scheme 13 than ever before. \V ho is earning the money to run the country? Bewildered.