PROSPERITY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11671, 11 April 1916, Page 4

PROSPERITY.

CAN THE NATION AFFORD IT? Mr J. A. C Marriott telle in tbo '•'Nineteenth Century'' what- lie has scon as ho has £0:10 rill over England ju ;;n apostle of " Natioll.ll Saving.'' "The tirst impression kit upon my miiiid i;j the abounding prosperity whicn is clearly exhibited on ovory side. This, however, has become- a eo mm on pi ace. What susuk mc even more than the large or prosperity was its oxtraorcoi.ariiy wide diffusion. it has permeated 'classes where a priori one would Tiardly expect co iiiui it. The diifusi'd prosperity is di:e. in some measure, vo the generous scale ol the separation allowances made ny the Gov eminent. "The abounding prosperity of to-day mav rest upon a precarious basis, but it j's dMtieult to convince those who are enjoying it that it is'at once fictitious anU'evauesceut, and that the day of reckoning cannot be indefinitely postponed. The truth is, of course, that although the prosperity is fictitious, if v,v Took to the- permanent interests of the nation as a whole, yet a* very large uv.nd.ier of individuals are. for the" time beina, in receipt of incomes unpi'.:e?de.ntly "high and pre-eminently rAibsi'cuitiuJ. , '■ Luxurv may not be gooci for trade, hut it is" under,iabiy good for somo trades, and it is consequently no easy task to induce p:cplc or lircitcd education to take the long views _ essential to an exposure or the economic heresy. '" Xo longer may the. individual ask: Can 1 legitimately nfrord this pleasure or this purchase? But rather: Can the nation afford that I should' afford it? The angle is so completely unfamiliar to the vast majority of people that unusual pains should ha taken to explain the transformation which war has wrought i" t' llo condition-, and bearing.; of the problem of thrift.•''