POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PLANNING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 49, 16 February 1945, Page 4

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PLANNING

Sir^ —We are today in the hands of the Political and Economic Planners. Mr Israel Moses Sieff f Chairman of the P.E.P. wrote an in 1933 entitled "Freedom and Planning." The planning is here but the "Freedom" is just about gone. He says retail shops- cannot be allowed to stop the flow from producer to consumer. I would suggest that it. is not the retail shops which have stopped the flow j but the present financial system. Farmers and small industries' will be forced by these planned eve.nts ) to for-reaching changes in their outlook and methods. Planned economy was affirmed by the Labour Socialists in its 1935 election manifesto. Mr Nash was the guest of the P.E.P. group in Britain in 1937. International planning was introduced by the Bank of International Settlements both being the produ> tion of Montigue Norman's scheme for world wide Ris next move was to establish an Agricultural Montigue amongst many other so to-, day we have inflation and tomorrow deflation, and with it internal and external trade stagnation. Whilst capable of production the people wanting those things that can be produced are denied the right to buy } by an artificial shortage of money promoted by a politically planned economy. Every policy has. its objec-. ti.ve and it is quite clear that th© above is not to confer upon, the people, freedom and security. We have got a strong reflection of Avhat ts before us ? and if we are( to be lulled to sleep by outside propaganda (we have, had quite a few overseas visitors lately to tell us what to do) we may wake up to find that the link of economic servitude has been

forged over night. Mr Menzies is reported to have said: "Theoetically I'm a but an. amazingly practical Socialist, The Government is a theoretical Socialist; but, people will talie things from us that they would not take' from the Labour Party." You here get two views which in theory are violently op-, posed; in practice the extreme course of today i«y a common-place of tomorrow. This applies to New Zealand. This double headed gramophone record wants replacing with a new one! Yours etc., W. BRADSHAWv