FINANCE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 31, 7 December 1943, Page 4

FINANCE

Sir.—The words used in my articles on iinance "The Commandeer oL' Capital" the stress of. 'which is on the Authority to commandeer, capi-. tal, does not mean it would be necessary to touch the peoples money; It means your money and very often other persons money is mortgaged by the Government just as you raise a mortgage on your land, the land stops where it is and so would your money. Your money by this means lias two values (1) to yourself as a pur-* chasing power (2) to: the Government as a security for credit., The. Liberty Loans, Bomber Bonds, National Savings Bonds require your cash to purchase, your money then has on.y one value. You have lost its purchasing power and the Government is negotiating cash from, your pocket and not from credits. A system of 'commandeer' has been worked by the Government ever since it came; into power. Ut. established 'Credits against produce to meet payments for the guaranteed price or in other words—it com-; mandecred the value, of production. In all cases where guarantees operate the value of the security has been commandeered.

The process is simple they DON'T take, the produce and just as I have stated they would not require to take your money. Credits are established against the. military term 'power to commandeer.' Further clown tlie ladder your lQcal bodies have borrowed through the medium of loans, thousands of pounds on a J'orm of commandeer through a system of rating against the value of lands. lin bygone days dairy companies had credits established by London produce firms. These firms held a more or less commanders against these companies production and as soon as Bills of Lading were put in the bank the credit was established. Finance by a system of credits when adopted sprang as it were a surprise upon us. We understood borrowing, mortgaging, arranging; bank overdrafts; to> talk about commandeering capital meant collaring all the money the people nad. Nonsense. How many thousands of pounds are, resting in tlie banks, resting in mortgages, resting in gift-edged securities and many valuable securities whose value: could help finance the war eifortl through the medium of commandeer. The l Government is using the Na-. tional Savings Security money and Liberty Loan money to finance its war effort, whereas that money could have, rested in your pocket and given the same assistance to the war activities.

Whilst it is the small capital that is." paying in cash for our immediate requirements big capital laughs in the background 'knowing lie cannot be touched only through the medium of "commandeer.' Slimmed up —Manpower has been subject to conscription and various systems introduced to deal With shirkers 1 , the willing laying the foundation to our effort. The same applies to capi-t tal only we haven't introduced conscription, The willing, purchased bonds, gave up their savings, then the Liberty Loans, but none have touched capital and just as some* of our manpower shirks, resting capital shirks. Yours etc.,, P. MORA, Taneatua.