THE ECONOMY COMMISSION’S REPORT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21598, 19 March 1932, Page 14

THE ECONOMY COMMISSION’S REPORT

TO THE EDITOR. Sih, —A perusal of the published portion of the Economy Commission's report abundantly confirms one’s impression that the members of that commission are, like the members of the Goyernment, quite unprepared to face a single real fact which has a bearing on the present situation, but are content to continue the process, which has obtained now tor so long, of attempting to raise to the status of fact statements which are wholly devoid of any intelligible meaning but admirably serve their purpose of confusing the public mind. Imagine a Royal Commission setting out on its task, as this one proudly asserts it did, from the utterly absurd premise that “we can again become prosperous only by refusing to allow ourselves to be prosperous” (literal translation of principle No. 3). One of the ignored real facts which has a bearing on the commission’s inquiry is simply this, that expenditure and revenue are complementary terms. A worker’s pay is his revenue, but forms part of his employer’s expenditure. . The worker’s expenditure of his pay in the provision of necessaries provides revenue for shopkeepers, etc. The shopkeeper’s expenditure provides revenue for wholesalers, manufacturers, etc., while portion of the expenditure of all provides revenue for the Government. When this simple fact is taken as a basis it will surely be evident to all that if the Government’s expenditure is decreased by £3.000,000 its revenue will like wise decrease by at least an equal amount and probably by a larger amount. The effect on that thing'called “ Budget equilibrium ” will be nil. unless the production of capital goods, financed on new credits, is resumed on a very big scale as is the case in England at present. Present indications arc that this production is to be still further curtailed. In any case, such production would merely postpone the day of reckoning

Summed up, the net result of the adoption of the commission’s report will be that the whole population, masters and men, will sink to a definitely lower level, and the last remaining possibility of recovery from the impasse without a mighty clash of some sort will be definitely removed. —1 am, etc., Ivan E. Sutherland. Dunedin, March 17.