NEED FOR CONFIDENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21988, 24 June 1933, Page 12

NEED FOR CONFIDENCE

LOOSENING OF PURSE-STRINGS , I LESSONS OF THE DEPRESSION A READJUSTMENT OF VALUES $ “And yet we trust that somehow good will be the final end ,of ill.” The philosophy expressed in this couplet of Tennyson was adopted by the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand, Mr B. W. Gibbs, when, in the closing portion of his address to shareholders at the annual meeting in Wellington yesterday, he struck a hopeful note with respect to the outlook for the future. “ In. these days,” Mr Gibbs said, “we hear a great deal about ‘ patriotic thrift, but not enough condemnation of ‘unpatriotic thrift,’ and I thoroughly endorse the wise remarks of our Prime Minister which were reported as follows; — The depression had been accentuated by people withholding expenditure which was within their means, and he appealed to citizens as a duty to spend whenever their means permitted. There is nothing like times- such as these to bring home the duties of citizenship, 1 and anyone in a position to be able to make expenditure has a duty to perform at the present time. If that is carried out right throughout the country, it will bring about a revival that will help to relieve the of unemployment. “ The loosening of the purse strings With many,” Mr Gibbs proceeded, “ would only exhibit an empty purse, but with others it Is only a craven fear of the future which is inclining them to hoard when they should be continuing a wise disbursement of their surplus income. “ Your board’s principle in dealing with both shareholders and the staff nas always been to act as far as was in its power on the lines of the above sound advice. , ‘“Watchman, what of the night?’ This question has been asked often of me of late, and what reply can one give? In this report I have dealt with world problems more fully than perhaps has been necessary ever before, but, as I have Indicated elsewhere, our Dominion affairs and difficulties are so inextricably interwoven with other nations’ troubles and so largely hinge on their emancipation therefrom, that we cannot hope to see daylight here till the darkness is dispelled on the other side. “I am no pessimist, and feel satisfied that the decisions of the London Conference will, as they are transformed into action, bring about the desired results. , “ Out of all this welter of embarrassment I am convinced that good will come,” concluded Mr Gibbs, “ and if it only leads nations and individuals back to sanity and a recognition that we are not concerned only with the material In life, the experience then will have been worth while. As President Roosevelt said in his inaugural address: — The dark days will be worth all they cost if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto, but to minister to ourselves and our fellow-men. '