THE GLOOMSTERS N.Z. Truth

NZ Truth, Issue 1305, 18 December 1930, Page 6

THE GLOOMSTERS

N.Z. Truth

THE NATIONAL BAPER,

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1930,

WITH Christmas but a week ahead, it might be expected that New Zealand's daily press would begin to experience .the carnival spirit, and for a few days at least would cast aside its policy of screaming depression and gloom. But the dailies have refused to permit even Christmas to interfere with their orgy of pessimism, and m almost every column of practically every paper there is gloomy talk of further unemployment, of lower prices for primary products, of wage reductions, and of a period fraught with financial disaster, national and individual. Where an optimistic note is struck, the striker is nearly always a business man addressing his colleagues or a politician appearing before his electors. Rarely, indeed, does a daily paper itself wax optimistic. This persistent and continued calamity-howling is only aggravating the present difficult position. Everybody, knows that business has gone more or' less to blazes, that the price-level has taken a tumble, and that the financial outlook is anything but bright. 5 But to continue to hammer home these facts, exaggerating them at every turn, is to insult the intelligence of the public. All sections of the community already realize that it is a time for hard work, and they do not need the daily papers to tell them of the fact. Unquestionably this calamityhowling has created an impression that matters are desperate and a long way worse than they really are. As a result everybody has "buttoned up" more than is necessary, .thus making the position more difficult than it actually is. "Truth" does not advocate the adoption of a reckless and spendthrift policy, but what it does maintain is that though the outlook may appear black, there's a silver lininsr still, and things will begin to brighten before very long. The future is far from hopeless, and there's no need for black pessimism. New Zealand has pulled through more difficult periods m the past, and she'll pull through again. But to make the recovery as speedy as possible,, it, is necessary that the whole community should pull together, with a smile and a will. Hard, graft, coupled with an optimistic but not recklessly optimistic outlook, will do more to bring back better times than anything else.