PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21042, 19 February 1940, Page 9

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents, whose letters are welcome. b-i l r whose views we have uu responsibility. Correspondents are request® I to write in Ink. It is essential tint anonymous writers cncl /sc their proper names as a guarantee of g> od faith. LcJets this rule l» compiled with, their letters will r vt appear.

NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS (To the Editor) Sir,—ls it right and correct to refer to the volunteer troops from this Dominion who have just arrived at their destination as (part of) the Second Expeditionary Force? Why should not those first volunteers who landed in Africa and helped the Mother Country 40 years or so ago come into the picture? Why should they not be regarded as the First Expeditionary Force, those of the Great War contingents as the 2nd E.F. and those soldiers in the present war leaving these shores as the 3rd E.F.? It looks like a slight, though it may be just forgetfulness, to those New Zealanders who fought in the Boer War, many of whom, I am sure, ; would be ready to echo my protest.— , I am, etc., S.A. WAR VETERAN. Te Mata, February 16. INFLATIONARY FINANCE (To the Editor) Sir, —I have just read a couple of bulletins dealing with the inflationary financial policy of the Government, the results of which are summarised in the bulletin in the following sentences: “From December, 1938, to October, 1939, more than ten millions of additional credit has been created. The expenditure of this money, which does not represent earned income for the community as a whole, and is not balanced by any production of marketable goods, represents an excess of expenditure over earned income, and is alone more than sufficient to account for the continual heavy demand for •overseas funds, for the failure of those funds to record any appreciable recovery, and for part at least of the increase in costs and prices in the Dominion.” In other words, we have been producing more money than j goods, and are now suffering the | effects. The following extract from the last Budget presented to the House by the Prime Minister shows that, in ! his opinion, goods, not money, are the i only real wealth: “The standard of living depends upon the volume of ■ production as well as its distribu- ■ tion; for we cannot consume or ex--1 change for other goods what has not been produced.” In another place ! he said that at present our supply of j money exceeded our supply of conj sumers’ goods. The inevitable result : of the last condition is an advance in prices proportionate to the excess nf monev bevond what is required

to deal with the amount of consumers’ goods available. The rise in the cost of living and the shortage of overseas exchange are demonstrably due to the “spendomama” of the Government. The recent heavy increase in the note issue has probably been the result of the Reserve Bank having to back up the Post Office Savings Bank, which was said some time ago to be without sufficient liquid assets to meet heavy withdrawals without assistance. Last year the Government added nearly £17,000,000 to the national debt in a time of peace, which must be a record far in advance of any established by the wicked and incompetent Governments of the past. Its present overdraft at the Reserve Bank is in the vicinity of £24,000,000, which in these days, when we talk nothing less than millions, is a mere fleabite. The bulletin contains figures proving its contentions, but as readers as a rule hate figures, I refrain from quoting them. I can produce them if challenged. The net result is that we are entering what may prove to be a long and expensive war with depleted resources, and with very little hope that the Government will adopt the only policy that can get us out of the bog, namely, economy and greatly increased production. Considering that at a time when the value of our production was declining it issued £10,000,000 of unsupported credit, there seems little chance of the leopard changing its spots.—l am, etc., A. WARBURTON. Ngaruawahla, February 15.

FINANCIAL POWERS (To the Editor) Sir,—ln reply to your correspondent “Just Curious” asking for my opinion why the Government is not making use of its powers over the Reserve Bank, I would say that as yet the public has not unitedly demanded that the powers be used. It has to be remembered that the present financial system commands practically every avenue of publicity and there is steady pressure on the Government in favour of the “status quo” all the time. The only power that can overcome those evil counsels is a united demand that the physical wealth of the Dominion shall be made available to all equitably.— I am, etc., R. G. YOUNG. Gordonton, February 16.