UNEMPLOYMENT AND MONEY POWER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 18

UNEMPLOYMENT AND MONEY POWER.

LECTURE BY -MRS BLANCO WHITE.'^ ;...(FEaJJ:;Oußo\y?!'Correspondent.) , LONDON, March 27; • ' A lecture given last night before the- - members of the Fabian Society wee jnter■esting, not only on* account' of the "cub* • ieot —“Unemployment and the Money-' Power” —but because the lecturer was' : Mrs Blanco White, daughter of the Hon. , W. Pembfir Reeves. ■ • ’ ■Mrs -Blanco -White spoke, for-an hour,’ - without referring to notes, in a way that gave one the impression that she was a, master of the subject of economics. Her contention was that the effort to force t up the value of the pound sterling, was the main cause of unemployment. The Bank of England had the sacred’ duty to protect its gold reserves. Jt, therefore. had to restrict' credit. .‘The direct result of this restriction was unemployment; '• ‘ ■' r ‘ ■ , ■ : In speaking of , the gold reserve and explaining its position, in the -scheme, 0f,.. finance, the lecturer was amusing. Thm M 50,000,000 worth of shining gold,, sad ’ .said, waeiying in the dark vaults of the bank earning no interest. Nobody iwas allowed to see it. She suggested that at v; least the bank should allow the public to, see it through glass, cases,, with, machine . guns and all. During the war, said Mrs Blanco White, most of- this bullion was in Montreal and Melbourne, and nobody missed it. ' ' ' . Reverting to her mam theme, Mrs Blanco White maintained thai ‘ bankers w were mainly interested, in international finance, and not in unemployment. " ihe K remedies for uemployment were in the hands of those who dictated the monetary system of the country. The dimculty lay in getting enough people in Eng : . land-to understand the position and-in obtaining the.weight of nubl-c opinion to’ Three the authorities to ; apply the remedies. People did not take enough interest ini-the subject. . \ . , ;V,' ‘ Another interesting statement made b> Mrs Blanco- White was that the cost ot living it* Etiglatid was now 25 per c?utmore than the pre-war cost that wages were 75 per, cent, higher, fliau . pre-war i wages'. . You .could not iokb 'wages down in a civilised country, .she - said, without strikes, but the adjustment ' could be made through The currency.. - ; After the lecture a number of apparently devastating questions were put to Mra Blanco White, but she was never at a loss in answering them.