DOMINION FINANCE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 29, 30 November 1943, Page 4

DOMINION FINANCE

Sir. —The views ol' Mr Lefeaux quoted in a recent publication of the. Herald otler thought to both professional and lay minds. Its not many months since I wrote two or three articles on finance through tire medium of credits and strongly advocated legislation enabling the Government to commandeer the value of. New Zealand's capital to finance all war activities. This would have enabled us to pay in cash for our requirements at to-day's prices and receive.- to-day's prices for what wo have to sell. Our motto then would have been pay and be paid. I then strongly (and rightly so) praised President Roosevelt's Lend and Lease. Scheme but it. required as far as New Zealand is concerned, careful handling. At the present moment it is hitting hard at industries and supplies., creating hardship where such should not exist. A glance at Mr Nash's figures quoting the supplies taken by America to feed her men and supply war aetivir ties (payment for which has been treated under the Reverse Lend and Lease) our producers are supplying these on 1939 prices and paying for the reverse on to-day's, prices. So much for America. Pay and be paid would utilise to-day's prices for our product to producers. A lot of these supplies are paid lor out of the Dominion's credit whether from War Loans Account or Reverse. Each are financed from the people's credit. The Government, has extracted fin-: anee by every conccivablc source-of security without due. consideration for its ultimate effect. This reverse lend and lease payment is a camou-. flaged loan forced on to the people; through the medium of supplies. We are walking about to-day with money (coin) and cannot purchase what wc want because wc have under a camouflaged loan lent it to repay the Reverse Lend and Lease?. If a commandeer had been introduced my coin would hav«? been available to purchase, what. L want although its resting value was commandeered. Further wc coukl benefit by being able to ptirchase at 1939 prices. If the Government had commandeered or held power to commandeer the Dominion's capital in its then resting place America or some other lending country would have lent the Government money against the commandeer security. We. would then be using American 'money to pay for American goods wiiLst our money provided for the peoples necessities the coins in money could exchange places Avith sugar, tobacco and many articles badly Avanted. We liaA'e the money and cannot purchase because what we want is required to pay the ReA'erse under Lend, and Lease. Mr Nash will conclude his finance under Reverse Lend and Lease AvitU a huge fighting plant paid for as a result of starvation, just as the Dominion farmers Avere on the verge of bankruptcy after the 1914.-18 war. All this whilst London' boasted and that the trade balancc-betwc.cn New Zealand and Great Britain was £26,000,000 in favour of New Zealand. Unconsciously avc Aviil sell oursehes body and soul to America. Its not many years ago the Parliament of Ncav Zealand Avas call-

Ed upon to fight the American Meat Trust. To-day with establishment of assets all over the Dominion, aerodromes, hospitals, clubs and mar-: riages, all no doubt carry representation to our civic administration and later to Parliament. Then we will be told how our suit fits! Ame.-. Rica stepped into the breach quick when a helping hand was required, the spirit behind the move was to save humanity. Gain or aggrandizement was; never in thought. Prooi of this was in the terms offered to its users rich or poor it was all the same. Depleting our own requirements never was' part of the Roosc-. velt mind but Mr Nash will make boast we paid our indebtedness to America with my tobacco and your sugar. There is a stingaree specie about the lend and lease the. tail carries a sting and ] am afraid, Mr Nash has. been hit! Summed up 'help in the hour of need' was Lend and Lease's full meaning. Return the* articles equivalent in money, raw material or other commodities 'there was no idea of plunging its users in a financial muddle or penalise? its peoples for so doing. He that (Continued in previous column)