Patea & Waverley Press MONDAY, JULY 23, 1934 WEALTH AND POVERTY

Patea Mail, Volume LIII, 23 July 1934, Page 2

Patea & Waverley Press MONDAY, JULY 23, 1934 WEALTH AND POVERTY

ONE of the greatest problems that has confronted the civilised world for centuries past is that connected with the bridging of the gulf between poverty and wealth. To-day the problem is rendered more acute by the depression that has been rife in nearly every country since the Great War. Various cures have been suggested, but so far none that has been, effective appears to have been discovered. At first sight it would appear absurd that in a young country like New Zealand, with so many of its resources undeveloped, there should be such a thing as unemployment, but the unhappy fact remains that the people in the past have demanded luxuries that were granted them by those in authority, and now the people find that these have to be paid for out of monies that would otherwise have been available for developmental works. People arc now beginning to realise that it Avoidd have been better to have hastened slowly and done 'Avithout palatial railway stations, for example, until such time as the country Avas more thickly populated and could have afforded them. The present state of affairs can be attributed to a very great extent to the selfishness of man, each one scrambling for loaves and fishes for himself, regardless of the Avelfarc of the rest of the community.. People clamoured for raihvays here and public buildings there, and the unfortunate representatives of the people in Parliament knew that they had cither to accede to the requests or give place at the next election to those avlio Avould. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that’ the national debt has increased by leaps and hounds and the annual interest bill has assumed such huge proportions that it has been found necessary to lake, not only one shilling out of every twenty that the man in employment earns, hut one shilling out of the paltry sum of 5s earned by the lad receiving 5s per Aveok and his keep, and also one shilling out of every twenty earned by every female in work. These deductions are deemed to be levies for the relief of unemployment, but the fact remains that if the interest bill were not so large and the Government of the day Averc less extravagant, there Avould be ample funds for developmental Avork, which Avould 'absorb the unemployed' AA'ithout taxing the poor to obtain the AAheroAvithal. It has been claimed more than once that “the corner has been turned,” and that the gap between poverty and Avcalth lias been bridged, but the. fact remains that unemployment is rife and distress acute in every toAA-n. The position in Avhich the country finds itself today is such as to warrant every avenue of economy being explored to lighten the burden of the people. Instead of doing this*. hoAvevcr, Ministerial salaries, Avhich should have been halved, are still at a high figure, and men receiving four figure pensions are given extra salaries, just as if the country Avere prospering and had money to burn. To our Avay of thinking, the corner in this country will never be turned until there is a party in poAver who Avill administer the affairs of (he Dominion in an economical manner and not spend a shilling of the people’s money on anything that is not absolutely necessary. A hen it comes to taking from a boy earning 5s per Aveek twenty per cent, of his meagre Avago, it is surely time to curtail Ministerial salaries and travelling allowances —to say nothing of other expenses, such as Bellamy’s and ihe like. Unfortunately those avJto arc administering the co-intry\s affairs seem to think that they can continue to obtain all the funds they need by inei easingtaxation, in place of exercising economy. There can only be one ending to such a policy, and it is one that is not pleasant to eon template. The gap betAvecn poverty and Avealth can only be Avidened under the. circumstances, instead of being bridged, . 1