CENTRAL BANK BILL

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19066, 3 October 1933, Page 6

CENTRAL BANK BILL

STRONG PUBLIC PROTEST. ADDRESS BY COLONEL CLOSEY. DEMOCRACY THREATENED. Unequivocal opposition to the Central Reserve Bank Bill was expressed by some 300 people who packed the Winter Show Hall last evening to hear an address on the measure by Colonel ?. J. E. -Closey, M.C., of Auckland. The speaker spoke brilliantly, introducing much humour and wit, and was accorded an ovation. In addition to condemning the Bill he dealt with currency reform generally, and the Douglas Credit scheme in particular. The Mayor (Mr J. R. Fow) presided. Throughout the world, said the speaker, the monetary system was coming into disrepute, because the public was at last getting demesmerised. Those intent on preserving the credit monopoly were endeavouring to dispel the suspicions which had been aroused. The amazing thing about the Central Bank Bill was that nobody wanted it, yet subsidised cablegrams from abroad were reaching New Zealand urging the people to favour it. Why? There was no doubt that the Bill was being forced on the people by pressure from abroad. The first clause of the Bill stipulated that the New Zealand £1 would remain stable. Colonel Closey suggested that the stability did not mean stability m price, but synchronisation with the English pound. The whole purpose of the Bill was make the New Zealand £1 synchronise with sterling. Sir Otto Niemeyer knew what sort of stability was intended when he recommended the bank.

A Changing Measure. He warned the public against being misled by statements that there was nothing sinister about the Bill, and that it was not intended to link the £1 with sterling. The Bill would have the effect of providing a sliding scale of measurements, a varying unit of measure. Tradesmen were prosecuted for altering the standard of weight or measurement yet New Zealand was about to allow an outside body to control and alter the most important standard —money. “We want money to represent welfare, subsistence and happiness, and to remain steady,” continued the speaker, “so that debtor and creditor, mortgagor aSul mortgagee, can realise the contracts they are entering into. If the present system of breaking contracts, of lowering wages, prices and costs, continues, there will be nothing left of civilisation. Roosevelt saw that, and saved his country from revolution just in time. Colonel Closey emphasised that the proposed Bill meant that the Dominion would be tied to the money system of a creditor and manufacturing nation, and New Zealand, was a debtor and pastoral nation. Those aims could never be reconciled. New Zealand would be handing all its assets to the mortgagees and accepting any pittance they cared to give her. The power which governed sterling would govern New Zealand, and that power had been passed from the Bank of England to the Bank of International Settlements at Basle, which planned to control the whole monetary system of the world. Under that system, as Sir Basil Blackett had indicated, it would he impossible for the people lo control their own currency independently.

Arbitrary Powers. Colonel Closey criticised various clauses in the Bill, which he claimed indicated that the bank would have arbitrary and dictatorial powers over Parliafnent. Supporters of the scheme had suggested that the hank must be placed “away from the fact and fear of political interference.” It' was “ Parliamentary control” when the public’s support was sought; it was “political interference” when the public wanted a say how the money was spent. There were similar contradictions among the views of the bank’s supporters. The economic problem had ceased to become a matter for leaders. It was a matter for everyone. If we found a block of gold at Coromandel the country would immediately become prosperous. Was such a discovery to he depended upon when men, materials and machines were now available for use in New Zealand? “ It will he impossible to distribute the goods until we control our own, honest, workable money system,” added the speaker. “We don’t want to depend on a yellow metal for our happiness.” The great contention of the Douglas school was that while there were goods, clothing and shelter awaiting distribution in New Zealand nobody should be in want. We had men, machines and materials, and a moral right to own our own credit. All that was needed was commonsense and determination on tlie part of the people. An Emphatic Protest. The principles of the Douglas Social Credit System on lines previously outlined were then dealt with by the speaker. Asked how the people could best prevent the Central Bank Bill from being passed, Colonel Closey advised personal pressure on each member of Parliament. Colonel Closey answered several questions and with the chairman was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. The following resolution was carried with one dissentient:— “ That this meeting of Hamilton citizens desires to register an emphatic protest against the Government and Parliament of New Zealand proceeding any further with the proposals for a Central Reserve Bank until a Parliamentary Commission with full powers has made an exhaustive inquiry into the existing monetary and financial system.”