QUACK REMEDIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18822, 10 March 1931, Page 4

QUACK REMEDIES.

To the Editor of the “ Timaru Herald." Sir,—We have lately noticed an Intensified propaganda on the lines that high wages make for trade prosperity. This was at one time argued very strongly in America, but the supporters of that theory have now come to the conclusion that there is a flaw in it somewhere. There may be some argument for it in an entirely self-con-tained country (though the U.S.A. has not found it so), but a country like New Zealand which is dependent upon the sale of its produce on the world’s markets, cannot possibly maintain its trade prosperity by this means, because by so doing its produce costs too much to allow it to compete with the world's low prices. Proof that there is something wrong with the theory is that, 1 up to now, local wages have been maintained, for twelve months since the depression hit us, yet so far from prosperity being in sight as a consequence, we have seen unemployment steadily increasing. To meet this position various schemes have been put forth by correspondents to newspapers for some manipulation of currency or credits to do the trick. No doubt if any form of inflation whether of currency or credit, was put into practice, it would maintain nominal wages, but the currency whether notes or cheques, would not buy so much, and men on wages or salary would gain nothing. No one wants to see workers’ wages reduced only for the sake of reduction, but if it proves necessary to reduce wages in order to pay any wages at all, then it is commonsense to do so, though care must be taken to reduce no more than is necessary to enable the work to be done. No scheme of making £2 look like £3 will accomplish anything. The thing to aim at is to make the £ buy the very most that is possible, and that be done by cheapening the cost of production. It appears to us that even if we could invent a scheme to make £2 look like £3 in New Zealand, it would not help us to produce at a cost to compete with the producers of other countries, and unless we can do that we cannot improve our position locally.—We are, etc., N.Z. WELFARE LEAGUE. Wellington, March (S.