PINK & RARE.

Wairarapa Age, 3 October 1935, Page 5

PINK & RARE.

THE GUARANTEED PRICES PAMPHLET. MR. COATES ON LABOUR PROPOSALS. CREATION & MANUFACTURE OF MONEY. (By Telegraph—“ The Age” Special.) WELLINGTON, October 2. A pink pamphleT figured amusingly in the Finance Minister’s discussion of guaranteed prices when he replied in the Financial Debate. The pamphlet was written by the member for Waimarino (Mr. F. Langstone) when he was president of the Labour Party, but it has run out of print. Mr. Coates, encountering difficulty in finding out exactly what the Labour Party means by guaranteed prices, found Mr. Langstone’s pamphlet handy, though he had to depend on a copy borrowed from the Minister of Labour. After summarising varied and differing explanations ’by Labour members and candidates, Mr. Coates went on to remark that the originator of the scheme, j Mr. Langstone, described it in the fam-1 ous pink pamphlet, now no longer in print.

Mr. H. T. Armstrong: “I will give you a doien.” Mr. Coates: “I would be satisfied if I could get one. It cannot be bought in this town, the demand is so great.” He proceeded to quote from the pamphlet to show that if there was a guaranteed price of Is 3d per lb. for butter, and the actual price was 6d, to guarantee the farmer would mean issuing notes or credit for £625 to ship butter which fetched £250 in London. This looked like a loss of £375, according to the pink pamphlet, but Mr. Langstone asked his readers to remember that we could Only buy back from London to the extent to which we sold, so only £250 worth should be exported to New Zealand. However, the pamphlet explained that these goods would be listed at £625 in New Zealand to meet our own price level. “We thus balance our accounts.” (Laughter). Mr. Coates said the pamphlet asked where the money was to 1 come from and the author’s answer was: “Why, we will create it, manufacture it. It will of course be necessary for the State to take control of banking, credit and currency.”

Mr. Armstrong, repeating his offer to provide a copy of the rare pamphlet, added: “I saw it in a Ministerial secretary’s hands, all marked in red ink” (Laughter).