THE VALUE OF MONEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26848, 12 August 1948, Page 6

THE VALUE OF MONEY

Sir, —Various correspondents have upheld our precious Labour Government, and others have strongly and vigorously criticised it, arid with 'good reason. It has always appeared to me that'there is one angle on Labour administration which has never as yet received the publicity it should get from thoughtful readers of your paper. Labour supporters make all the political capital they possibly can out of the fact that very high wages are paid to all wage earners in New Zealand to-day, and at the same time one and all are very silent about the extremely high and ever-rising cost of living with which we are one and all of us faced at the present time. , ~ Our New Zealand £ is depreciating in value continually; there is no pause, no slackening in the inflation trend; if anything, there is an increasing tendency to inflation, an inflation which is as yet under control. The point which I wish to bring out is that as the purchasing power' of the New Zealand £ sinks your wage or salary earner is getting paid smaller and ever smaller money in real money. Employees to-day. both those who are employed by private enterprise and also 120,000 or more who are staffing one or other of our many State departments, are drawing smaller and poorer wages in real money—purchasing power—than they have ever done in all their lives before while in steady employment. . The man woman who is handling generous remuneration with a very > low purchasing power is not Teaffy getting well paid, but only in nominal money, such as is legal tender in New Zealand to-day. For this they have only the Labour Government to thank. This is a good indication of what measure' of success State planning will have in the future. —I am, etc., j Wage Earner.