FOURPENCE A BAY FOR ALL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11248, 11 April 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

FOURPENCE A BAY FOR ALL.

HOW THE NATIONS WEALTH WOjJ.LD. "SHARE OUT." Mr Bernard Mallet's lecture at, the Royal Statistical Society will initiate a discussion showing, no doubt, divergent; views on the amount we should iill receive if the -nation's wealth were realised and equally divided. > Mr W. J. Harris, who bases his figures on -estate duty returns, thinks we should all receive £187 13s 7^l. Mr A. H. Bailey, another prominent member of the society, estimates the sum at over £3CO That, judiciously invested, would yield from £6 to £7 a year. Thus every man; woman arid child would s have 2s 8d a week, or about 4d a day. Under this calculation a husband and wife, with a family of three, would have to live on Is 8d a day. Immense^! ifficul ties, of course, would confront such a realisation of national assets. We should, for instance, have to sell our fleet, and the sum we might expect to get will be one of the points discussed. One estimate of its value is £112,000,000. Other. {Powers might, thinks Mr Harris, buy our 'modest modern vessels for £20,000,*000, but the others would yield only about £10,000,---000. Then what would we get if we sold all our roads? There are 22,000 miles of main- and 97,000 of minor .roads. Air Chiozza Money, M^P., estimates their value at £5000 a mile. To assist the society m its deductions, an expert recently worked out the. value of all the pictures, rare books, and special works of art which the country tontains as £10,000,000.