MONEY TO BURN.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1931, Page 6

MONEY TO BURN.

Neither to the efforts to cope with unemployment nor to the measures taken by the Government to enable New Zealand to overcome the economic depression has the political Labour Party contributed an action or an idea possessing constructive merit. The party holds itself out as the friend of the wageearner, but if it were not for the endeavours of those who are regarded by Labour as the enemies of that section of the community which has the greatest need of sympathy and protection, both the men who arc out of work and those who have positions would be a great deal worse off than they are to-day. Labour is always ready to tickle their ears with visionary schemes, but it dod.s precious little —with the exception of blaming the authorities, which is an unproductive pastime—to case the cares of the man who is wondering where his next meal will come from. Surely it might be expected at a time like the present that Labour would, be glad to apply itself to more practical doctrines than those which have been occupying its attention. One of these was expounded at Hawera on Friday night by the president of the Labour Party, Mr. H. G. R. Mason, M.P., who has adopted a proposal that the issue of currency notes should be handed over to a “central authority,” which would provide the people with as many, notes as they wished to spend. This is the means advocated 'by Mr. Mason to prevent the Dominion experiencing periods of depression. If prices dropped in the world’s markets so that New Zealand’s income diminished Mr. Mason would have sufficient new notes issued by his central authority to make up tlie amount of lost income. The result would be, according to his reasoning, that, the standard of prosperity in the Dominion would remain unchanged. The scheme is certainly consistent with the ideas on finance propounded from time to time by the Labour leaders, who seem to think that they can always have money to burn while a printing press and supplies of paper and ink aro available. Actually what would happen if New Zealand adopted this method in a time of depression would be that the Dominion would feel the depression worse than any other country. New Zealand notes would be worth so much less than their face value that the whole world would fight shy of a country building a castle of credit bn ’air.. It is less the amount of currency in the country that regulates prosperity than the basis of its currency, and without a sound basis the credit of the country, which is the real instrument with which it does business, must vanish. Mr. Mason, who is a member of a traditionally learned profession, should be capable of understanding the inherent weakness of the scheme he has espoused. But apparently he does not even understand what the gold standard is. He wants more notes because he thinks the production of gold is not likely to increase. That, of course, is just the reason' why gold is the standard; if wo could all pick up as much gold as we wished its value would be gone. There is another aspect of the note issue scheme that should be mentioned, though it is one that may not appeal to Labour. Easy money has been in part the cause of the present-day troubles. The easier it is to obtain money the more extravagantly we are apt to use it. Had we exercised more care in the good times and spent less freely, nationally and individually, we should have suffered less than we are doing to-day. Morally as well as economically we' shall be all the better in the long run for having to get down to a new basis. That —more’s the pity —is a sentiment with which it would be too optimistic to expect- the Labour Party to agree. 1