FACING WAR REALITIES

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1932, Page 10

FACING WAR REALITIES

DOES NOT END WITH LAST SHOT. 5 RECREATING 'WEALTH. ? J. ....... “We have'‘ heard’ much from poiiti-

• cians and economists ..and others who - cannot claim either; distinction, giving E us at' some length the causes of the r so-called depression; and at times • equally lengthy remedies for infallible 5 cures./‘.These have been .so many and varied that the average, person has • become altogether. confused, and we 1 are all apt to lose clearness of vision. There are many effects of the one big • cause,? but there is really only one 1 basic cause for ’ the depression, and : that ‘is, the war,” said 'Mr. C. W. Sal-’ • mon, vice-president of the United Kingi dem Manufacturers’ and New Zealand • Representatives’ Association, in second- ! ing the'adoption of the report at Mon- ■ day’s annual /meeting of > that body. ? “War means destruction,” continued Mi - . Salmon, “not ’ only of life but of things created by man, .and. in an endeavour to recreate-we endeavoured to recreate wealth. This, in fact, we did hot do, as you cannot recreate from- what does not exist. The effect of this did not stop when the war ended; after that inevitably came an economic war. ' The war does not end when the last shot ,is fired. “Let us- now face realities,” , said Mr. Salmon. “We have '. been. living on wealth ■ which did ■ not, actually exist — in short, we have been playing a big game of ■ ‘Let’s - prqtend.’. All of us who were soldiers know • that war meant destruction, and for destruction we obviously • have -to pay. ■ * Many soldiers paid with their ’ lives, ' and they did it willingly' and in what can only be described, as British spirit. Surely we have not • lost this British spirit? Let those 'who were not ■at the war accept with the same British- spirit the economic losses which were and are inevitable. Many, gained by and after the war: let them 1 now take their losses with British spirit j and. accept -. them with British spirit. INFLATION WRONG ROAD. “Let the game of life and livelihood be a fair one. We each should settle our own difficulties without State aid or without artificial aid?. A section of the community “wanted recently to create a high exchange rate, and now they and others still want some form of '‘inflation.’ This cry for inflation is a real danger. •. With unemployment prevalent and farm prices bad, some politicians ' and sections of ’the community are sayipg ‘Create money, and thus bridge the ’5O per cent, difference between costkof production and price received’;" give* the' people more ‘purchasing power’ and more credit so that ‘they can-buy things and start new industries.’ ' \ - “But purchasing power and credit are not wealth.'lf these are multiplied faster than wealth, ■ then prices of productipn must rise; there would be further inflation, and so on. Where would, it. stop? . Everyone would have more and more ‘money’ in their pocket and yet become poorer and poorer. This was the road that Germany took. Inflation is now to them a nightmare. New Zoalend’s road must not.be along the road of . inflation.

faith: is required. “Whatever' may be our future, why meet it with, the long faces and depressed- melancholia that one meets so much to-day?. Let us remember how our soldiers faced up to the facts. Many- were hurt, many were killed,' but they never ’ let go ,of that British essential, faith. Many of us—including those who fought at the war—have been and will be: hurt in facing the ■ facts. But if we face them with true British spirit there need not be so much fear, nor so much depression of mind as exists in New Zealand to-day. “What is required- to-day is- not . Iqrig • faces‘and

action:, what we want is a .quiet faith in our Empire and in cur country.' . Wemust quietly and soberly face up to our losses. We do not want any tinkering with exchanges, with-, currencies, with our industries, .with? our businesses. Let the game oD-life.be a fair and even one for everyone, and do not let one part of the community benefit at the expense of the other. The-main road to prosperity and happiness is paved with hard work. There is no other road. What we ■ require to-day is fewer cranks and more selfstarters.” J .