POWERFUL FICTION.

Oxford Observer, Volume V, Issue V, 23 June 1894, Page 3

POWERFUL FICTION.

J. W. is amusingly wrong in his preliminary canter. For instance I did sign my own name to the article I wrote and I did not entitle it "an answer to J. W." fco the Editor must be responsible for misleading the astute, and infallible J. W. But I do not cire whether my name appears or not. Ido not know who J.* W. - may be and I merely engage for a skirmish if he pleases..: He -will find himself wrong however in thinking that he has routed me horse, foot, artillery and reserves. I have. a few .more bolts, left and possibly a Maxim or two on hand. lam glad J. W. did not detect one or two errors of which I believe I was guilty, as regard figures I gave the amount of gold in the Bank of England as monthly only from ten to fift*en millions. My authority was good and the date quite recent but the state of banking is undergoing great and rapid changes. It is found all over the world that something is very seriously wrong and the Bank of England has now, according to a late Lyttelton Times article, no less than about thirty millions of gold in reserve. This however is just about tlie amount of her note issue, so that the gold reserve •of reserves of the bank of banks is a powerful fiction. But these figures prove that a New Zealand State Bank with a million of gold, might issue a million of notes and also, carry on the whole business of the colony with the aid of tbe public and private credit and securities of the colony. I believe tbat the cant term appreciation of gold was invented by the bimetalliots to cover the depreciation of silver. Of course the hard fact re- j mains that the depreciation in the Values of so many things make it very bad fbr those who have agreed to - pay in gold. But in relation to mutton gold hfts. depreciated JT* And it tfhich has enabled .the colony to 'go -ahead for tbe last few years. The remedy -for the farmer who has to pay

'" * •• '■■ r -'\ ''..- 1^ ...-■■ ■:■ A : two bushels df wheat where originally the interest meant one .bushel is to get the interest reduced from 6%, to 3%. The reason why thei railways are not satisfactory is that too much has been spent on financing them and that' the great land Monopolists wfcrei not , obliged to contribute to their cost by a betterment tax. ■•.'. J. W's. last paragraph is .not . ! very clear. I wonder what he can make of the following from the Lyttelton Times of the 15th inst. "It suits the London creditor of India to keep out of view the only true remedy for India's woes a paper currency. The. late Lord North brook asserted that if India had a paper currency of her own she could very sbbn^pay: off her- eriSfmouf nafion--al debt, complete her railway system, aad inaugurate a period of lasting prosperity" I learn also from the Times that instead of the value of silver being in the proportion of 2/6 to 4/- there is' only one shillings worth of silver in 2/6. Now that the Times no longer belongs to the London capitalists agents Harper and Co it is wonderful how the paper progresses in its, State, Bank and ideas. J. M. Verrall.