MORAL STANDARDS

Southland Times, Issue 21650, 11 March 1932, Page 6

MORAL STANDARDS

Repudiation lias been appearing in public discussions so frequently of late, that people are beginning to forget some of the more serious of the reactions to it. At all times the State is expected to be honourable, to set the standard of moral conduct in the observance of its bargains. Government securities are called “gilt-edged” because the State, the contracting party as far removed from suspicion as Caesar’s wife, is regarded as being above any dishonour. The rate of interest paid on these securities is low because there is an absence of risk, and the State, in many ways, asks the public to accept this standard. People who act as trustees for the estates of others are justified by law in the purchase of these securities. When, therefore, the State begins to talk of repudiation, even to a minute degree, it lowers the standard of public business morality and starts a train of influences which quickly lead to an acceptance of repudiation as a

matter of policy. The effect of this is to be found in the readiness of individuals to give scant importance to their bonds. A man who deliberately neglects to pay his rent because he thinks no one will force him to pay his just dues is a repudiator, and when he diverts to self-indulg-ence money which should be used to meet 'his obligations, he is taking a dishonourable path, influenced to a large extent by the breakdown of the moral standards occasioned by the Statels fall from grace. Probably the results of these refusals to pay rent or interest, or accounts for goods and services received, are not fully realized. In many cases landlords or mortgagees have the outward shape of companies, though actually they are poor people dependant on the earnings of small savings for their sustenance, and, therefore, no better able to bear loss than the repudiators. Where there is absolute inability to meet these commitments there is no dishonour; but already is apparent that the standard of morality is declining, and people who can pay do not do so because they wish to spend money in self-indulgence. That weakening of the moral standards, which is a disturbing symptom, can be traced to the influence of the State’s example in giving serious consideration to repudiation in various aspects. If the State can contemplate with equanimity a dishonourable line of action, the individuals who constitute the State will quickly copy the evil example, and the whole structure of public morality will crumble. Unfortunately there is enough evidence today to support the view that this deterioration has already set in.