VOICE OF THE PRESS
NEW ZEALAND OPINIONS. The Reserve Bank. Apart altogether from those sections interests which are opposed to the Re serve Bank in any shape or form, ther is a very large class in the communit; which, before expressing its confidene in the wisdom of the measure, desire< fuller information upon the probabli benefits to accrue from it. The figure: quoted in the House by Mr. Coates tc show the estimated financial advantagf to the State form one of the most convincing arguments so far produced ir support of the Bill. We have never questioned the desirabilitj of a bank which should be able t< carry out the normal banking business of the Government, and at the same time be a sympathetic instrument foi the conduct of the Government’s monetary policy. But when the inevitable loss of note tax and income tax revenue appeared to be offset by no material advantage, the urgency of the need could not be accepted with equanimity.—"Waikato Times." Purchasing Power. It is surprising how this idea that reduced wages will cut down the purchasing power persists, especially when the corollary to theory is that by doubling or trebling wages we can double or treble the country's purchasing power. Everything points to the fact that a redistribution of the available purchasing power can be achieved, and the general position may be improved by the release of purchasing power which may be temporarily imprisoned; but the sum of it cannot be enlarged by internal action. If all the payments to relief workers were doubled to-morrow the first result would be an increase in the taxation to secure this money. This increase would effect a redistribution, but would not enlarge the real purchasing power available. Purchasing power is not created out of nothing, even Major Douglas has not yet proved that.—" Southland Times.” New Blood For Our Stock. There is more likelihood of the people of New Zealand suffering from an outbreak of leprosy, says Lord Bledisloe, than from any disease brought into the country by livestock
coming from Great Britain, and his Excellency does not speak without a due sense of high official responsibility. It should have been made sufficiently clear by now to the farmers of New j Zealand that they cannot afford, if j they are to compete successfully with other countries, to stand alone in deny- ! ing themselves the utilisation of the I only effective means of maintaining j the quality of their stock. What can it I profit the New Zealand farmer if his j cherished embargo means that his I deteriorating herds cannot have the I benefit of the new blood which they ! clearly need? What can it profit him j if a trade opportunity offers in chilled beef and, because of his conservatism, j
he finds he possesses the wrong type of animal with which to take advantage of it? To such questions there can be only one answer.—"Otago Daily Times." Unused Land. A large number of farmers own more
land than they can put to good use. The average area of a holding over the whole of New Zealand is 515 acres, and the averages of Canterbury. Otago and Southland are 643 acres. 1065 acres and 566 acres respectively. Allowing for the hilly and swampy nature of some localities, it is a well authenticated fact that farms are in a majority of ca?es larger than necessary and that in the interests of profitable cultivation they should be subdivided with a view to more intensive measures being passible. The suggestion that there is no land to speak of, and that what there is cannot be purchased at reasonable valuations is ridiculous in the circumstancecs. Why has the Government not undertaken a systematic revaluation of all properties, and fixed the values on which they can be taxed and at which they have to be sold? "Southland Daily News." Drink More Milk. If. said Lord Bledisloe, the consumption of milk as a beverage in Great Britain could be increased by a slight amount per head of population dally all the milk produced in the United Kingdom would be absorbed and the need for guarding the English cheesemaking industry would not arise. It may be that the Dairy Control Board is taking up this suggestion with the Home authorities and that It will show the way out of a difficulty. In the meantime New Zealand is advised by one authority to follow the GovernorGeneral's advice. Miss K. Landreth. an expert In home science and economics of Otago University, points out that the average consumption of milk per person in the Dominion is about
half a pint per day, a long way below the United States’ standard of a quart a day for the child. Miss Landreth considers that many of the dental troubles among the boys and girls of | the Dominion can be traced to the I scanty milk diet, and urges that the I milk ration for children be increased without delay.—"Taranaki Daily 1 News.” • The Banks’ Gold. The strong language that is being used about the transfer at par value of gold from the trading banks to the new Reserve Bank is not warranted. There are claimed to be several precedents for the Government’s action, and Mr. Coates asserts that world authorities on banking, in a position to consider the question impartially, say ■ emphatically that the Government is justified. If the facts are as they have been represented, the Government surely would have been wiser to retain the arbitration clause in last year's Bill. Mr. Downie Stewart, conciliatory by nature, prefers this ; method. By agreeing to arbitration | the banks admitted that there might be something to be said for a transfer basis other than the current value of gold. But the Government is justified in taking the gold, as far as is I necessary as a guarantee of the note issue of the Reserve Bank, at par rather than at the appreciated value. Such a bank is the best custodian for what really is a national asset, and. widely cfirecied, it should be able to make better use of it than a number of banks dividing this between them.—“ Auckland Btar.”
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 9
Word Count
1,031VOICE OF THE PRESS Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 9
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