PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 120, Issue 20889, 22 August 1939, Page 7

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents, whose letters are welcome, but for whose views we have oo responsibility. Correspondents are requested to write in ink. It Is essential that anonymous writers enclose their proper names as a guarantee of good faith. L’nJess this rule is compiled with, their letters will not appear.

DEATH STATE; WHAT IS IT? (To the Editor) Sir, —It Is not at all surprising that your correspondent, Mr E. N. Martin, should have used that well known and convenient “No good purpose would he served, etc.” to cover his retreat from the fray. Regarding my having no knowledge of church history of the second century, he is again in error. In conclusion, may I remind him that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and more so in his case, for the reason that it has (got him all mixed up with an abundance of metaphysical philosophies and vain deceits which I have explained before, get him an others nowhere.—l am, etc., C. iE. KNIGHT. Wanganui, August 19. BUDGET REFLECTIONS (To the Editor) Sir, —The debate on the Budget drags itself along a weary way. If our memories go hack long enough to 1935, many of us had hopes of a brighter dawn, economically and financially. The Labour Party was hailed as tiie saviour of the Dominion. It is now 1939, and we find the same old game at work. With loud trumpeting we listen to a reiteration of income and expenditure; to impositions of taxes and more loans. Such a financial statement would not pass an auditor in general business, yet our business community swallows this futile Budget statement hook, line and sinker. Forthwith, up goes the price of goods. Loans are required, Treasury bills are mentioned, Mr Nash sails home, and bickerings continue with Labour representatives groaning, with their tongues in their cheeks, about debt money, etc. The whole debate savours of insincerity. We are fed up with the whole system and we have not a man in the House, or out of it, strong enough to demand an end to this insanity of finance and economics. Both Herr Hitler and Mussolini had this courage years aigo but the money power makes them our enemies. Oh for a genius te lead us.—l am, etc., COMEDIAN. MARRIED WOMEN WORKERB (To the Editor) Sir, —I have noticed our local M.P. and others of the Labour Government talking about our country being underpopulated. 1 for one have noticed the number of married women who are working. 1 know ol' one case where the husband is on the permanent staff of the Public Works Department, living in one of the houses supplied by the Government, yet his wife and family are living in the town and all are working. Something like £lO or £l2 a week is coming into one home. No wonder these people vote Labour hut fail to think of the others who need work and houses. No wonder our birth rate is falling. Can anybody wonder, with everybody working, even Mum and Dad? It is time the Government passed an Act that married women who have husbands earning good money and two homes, one supplied by the Government and one for week-ends, should be stopped. 1 have voted Labour, but the more I see of these goings on—well, I think this lad and his family will be voting next time lor the “old yang.’’—l am, etc., LOST LABOUR VOTE. Frankton, August 20. WHERE TO BE JUDGED? (To the Editor) Sir, —Mr Davies in a recent letter advised that those with plans for monetary or economic reforms should place the particulars of their plans before the local Chamber of Commerce, which would examine them and pass judgment. But it is questionable whether the Chamber of Commerce would be the most suitable for this particular work. Could It be interested enough to give an honest hearing and unbiassed verdict on any such matters as the correcting of our evilly designed money system? The members of the Chamber of Commerce are drawn only or mainly from the business men of a town. They cannot therefore he considered as being representative of the masses of the town and country population. And then also there is the fact that the business man, owing to his having the advantage of being able to pass it on, bears little or nothing of the hardships that result from the shortcomings of an ill-designed money system. So that it is the people themselves, the farmers and the wage-earners, who should take an active interest in all such matters as may suggest to them an alternative to the man-made evils under which they labour at present. The people will wait a long time before the business men or the Chamber of Commerce will bring about the desired changes for them—changes that other little countries have already been enjoying for some years. The writer, of course, is an advocate of the non-halancing of the budgel system, and the policy of Christian social justice which must be used in conjunction, as in Portugal. An outline of the money system advocated has now been put in writing and made as short as possible, compatible with showing the system complete in ail the necessary fundamentals. And being short, it could be lead out twice at a meeting, and in that way ;l could be the me re easily and quickly understood by the people, :ro if any persons or gathering were m>.3r*.sle<i the writer would te prepared to read on 4 , and discuss the matt-i** with them .\„ 1 while it must be admitted tin* t be most effective move that the nr q»b could make v aU.J : * t r J<. 'Tiling j! ibeir own *ar*y —a peoples party—yet another quite worthwhile advantage the people might gam o y making themselves fully acquainted with Hie most acceptable methods in reform, is that in the possible event of Mr Lee leading a parly in power, tiie people might, by the presenting of a strong petition, he enained to induce him to adopt correct ana acceptable methods throughout his intended reforms. —1 am, etc., J. P. KRIPPNER. Te Here, August i 9.

CARE OF KERBSIDE LAWNS (To the Editor) Sir,—An example of wasteful expenditure and lack of foresight is shown by the engineer’s department of the Hamilton Borough Council, whose staff has spent weeks in trimming the edges of the grass plots against the concrete kerbs in various parts of the borough. In so doing the workmen have dug exceedingly dangerous V-shaped trenches, into which it i 6 only too easy to place one's foot when stepping from a car or the roadway, with disastrous results to ankles and shoes, especially when as at present these “trenches'' are filled with water. The writer has known of several recent cases of hadly twisted ankles and ruined footwear. In this town it has been usual for residents to cut and neatly trim their street lawns. Why this unwarranted expense with such a dangerous result?—l am, etc., VICTIM. Hamilton, August 20. “COST OF LIVING SUBSIDY” (To the Editor) Sir,—l can quite agree with Mr R. G. Young that it is difficult to make people who are not conversant with currency theories understand the money business, it may be even more difficult to explain the subject with clarity. in his last letter, Mr Young states that the vendors of commodities wouid be registered, and allowed a definite profit over the “on-shelf price” or cost of the goods. They wouid then give an arranged discount upon sales taking place, the discount to be refunded to them by a credit entry at their bank, and the bank in turn lo receive a credit entry at the national Treasury, or say (Reserve Bank. So no currency, he says, need he issued and thus inflation wouid be avoided. 1 wouid like to potot out that trade has a physical as well as a financial basis. Unless banks could trade on and with the refunds .large amounts would be involved/ they would refuse the business. Under the suggested plan, and even now, “figures in a book” become a form of currency and sometimes, like Barney Bamato’s millions, get punctured and not negotiable for physical commodities. The Douglas definition of oredlt fits in here —“•credit is the ability to produce and deliver goods and services when, where, and as required.” So whether transfer be by book entry or by legal currency, goods and services are involved, and these are provided by the community. The individual point of view does ask enter here; it is the community subsidising its own cost of living, taking the money out of one pocket and putting it in the other. The elusive pea is not under that thimble. As I previously pointed out, the dis-count-subsidy act places no oontrol on manufacturing and producing cost*, plus their overhead expenses, and so would require constant adjustment to effectually counter these increases. A cat licking its coat may make it look better, but the cat is none the fatter after the operation. Mr Young evades my question regarding the ultimate distribution of Interest by propounding one for my consideration. I am asked, “Why is the world in such a mess that wholesale sabotage is resorted to?” It is rather a large order, and 1 am not the late Apostle Peter, but if 1 may be allowed a guess, I would say that the profit motive, or production for price instead of for U6e, has a lot to do with it. The result is a demoralising sectioolsm, mixed with a fear of being left with the “goods on the shelf’ through changing fashions and methods. The manipulation of currency will not alter this state of affairs; it will delay the ethical evolution that is requir'd to regulate men and the purchasing power of money. Let me repeat that while we estimate progress in terms of money, prices will rise and the figures misrepresent actual conditions. The “mess” is ethical as well as economic and will remain so while physical fitness means the ability to knock the fitness out' of the other fellow. —1 am, etc., E. DAVIES. Cambridge, August 20.