FRESH MOVE FOR MONEY REFORM

Southland Times, Issue 23342, 28 October 1937, Page 4

FRESH MOVE FOR MONEY REFORM

Attempt To Form New Body CIRCULAR CONDEMNS PARTY POLITICS PAYMENT OF COMPENSATED PRICES ADVOCATED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, October 27. After a period of comparative quiescence the advocates of money reform are again becoming active in New Zealand politics. The Budget debate which was completed last week gave indications of a sense of restiveness among enthusiastic currency reformers in the House of Representatives, and now, emanating apparently from Auckland, comes an attempt to establish a League for Freedom and Economic Security, which aims at upsetting the anticipated two-party contest at the next general election. Circulars have been sent out by the proposed League for Freedom and Economic Security signed by A. R. D. Fairburn as acting secretary of the provisional committee and bearing as an address the Post Office box number of the Auckland provincial branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. The text of the circular condemns the present political system and postulates that a member of Parliament should owe allegiance not to a political party, hut to his own constituents. The league, in fact, is described as an “anti-party” organization. “The question of money reform agitated New Zealand before the last election,” the circular states. “Money reformers supported the present Government with wiH enthusiasm, believing in the apparently earnest protestations of the men who now hold Cabinet rank and hoping against hope until the presentation of this last Budget that something would be done with regard to money reform. Even the present programme that is defined by so many as Socialism is merely an extension of the regimentation of the farming industry which the establishment of the Executive Commission of Agriculture initiated and which the original legislation made clear was to be extended to other industries.” CONTROL OF CURRENCY The circular sets out the objective of the league as “the establishment of a Christian order in which self-govern-ment, social justice and the inalienable right of every individual to his or her independence and economic security is assured.” The suggested principles embrace the personal responsibility of a member of Parliament to his constituents, rather than to a political par+y, the restoration of currency control to the constitutional authority of the King and Parliament, with the full use of public credit as ascertained by an independent board of statisticians, providing for a reduction of taxation, the cessation of national and local body borrowing and the gradual extinction of the national and local body debt, the payment of compensated prices in exporting industries and the adoption of preferential voting. A questionnaire on the general political situation is attached to the circular, the objective apparently being to ascertain the measure of support which might be received in the various electorates by independent candidates advocating complete monetary reform. It seems that the ardent monetary reformers have been roused to action partly by a passage in a booklet written by tile Under-Secretary for Housing (Mr J. A. Lee) on “Money power for the people.” One of the most striking quotations from this pamphlet is as follows: “Although the Douglas Credit movement withered away almost as rapidly as it had blossomed, nevertheless it can be said finally that the Douglas credit movement’s activities were a corridor through which tens of thousands of voters entered the Labour Party. The Douglas credit agitation must have a big share of credit for the Labour success, although the Labour Party is thoroughly socialist in its policy.” Several members of the Labour Party inside the House of Representatives have stated publicly that they would like to see greater use of the public credit in the financing of the Dominion’s activities. The latest movement may be designed to capitalize their restiveness, but with the general election still 12 months away its prospects of success in this direction cannot be accurately determined.