NO USE FOR MONEY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 75, 20 January 1947, Page 7

NO USE FOR MONEY

“USELESS, UGLY AND A

NUISANCE”

Money is a flop—useless, ugly and a nuisance. The verdict comes from Tristan da Cunha, Britain’s islet speck in the South Atlantic, 2000 miles west of Capetown. The 210 islanders have given it a three-year -trial and aren’t bothering to find out whether it has any roots or evil or anything, says Douglas Kay, writing in the Daily Mail, London. They have got rid of the stuff.

They saw money for the first time in 1942 when a British naval party landed to erect a war-time radiometeorological station and took ashore £3OOO in English and South African currency to hire island labour.

Patiently, politely, the islanders listened as an officer explained all ■ about the coloured paper and pretty rounded pieces of metal, went on to uncover some of the mysteries of banking, and praised the delights of working hard to hoard piles of the new stuff. They were not impressed, but for

;hree years they humoured the visi

tors, accepted the stuff as payment instead of potatoes, and even carried it around in the pockets they need for knives and string and things that really matter. Last year all but a handful of the Men-Who-Use-Money sailed away. Very soon all the money was in the

sland’s brand new Post Office Sav-

ings Bank (except for a few pieces saved as war souvenirs) because that was what the Man-Who-Introduced-Money had told them to do. Now news comes from Tristan that having given the monetary system as practised by the outer world a fair trial the islanders are positive that it doesn’t make sense.

You can’t eat it; it doesn’t have roots, evil or good, so it won’t grow; away with it.

And, anyway, some of the other Men-Who-Use-Money had mentioned perils called income tax and other taxes (not to mention rates), which were known to follow money around.

Tristan has gone back to her potato currency. Someone does a job for you: right, you reward him with some potatoes, something to eat. A pre-war cruise-liner offered the island ladies some face powder and lipstick.

They accepted it wonderingly, and went on wondering until someone explained that it was used by ladies in the. outside world as bait because men were scarce.

How the Tristan ladies laughed, because in this little “paradise” nature sees to it that there are always

more men than women,