BANKS AND CREDIT.

Evening Star, Issue 22146, 28 September 1935, Page 21

BANKS AND CREDIT.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In a genuine desire to assist Mr Ken W. Bennet in his search for knowledge I commended to' him a booklet by Mr W. K.'M'Connell, M.A., but Mr Bennet is unkind enough to describe this Sydney University lecturer. as ‘‘ obscure,” and does not say whether he has read the booklet or not. Since writing my ' previous letter I have scanned recent files of your paper, and T find Mr Bennet is a devout follower of Major Douglas, and I am sure Mr Bennet will regret to learn that, after a careful study of New Zealand’s problems, I have come to the conclusion that the Dominion’s difficulties are market difficulties and hot money difficulties. However, I endeavour to keep an open mind on all subjects and examine any scheme (monetary or otherwise) which is put forward with a view to bettering conditions in New Zealand. I have, followed this course with the Douglas Social Credit Scheme, and find myself in agreement with the majority of the New Zealand Monetary Committee, who, in commenting on the proposals of Major Douglas, said: The expressed and implied assumptions cannot bear logical analysis, nor, even allowing for the falsity of the assumptions,_ is there any attempt made to derive logical conclusions. And in commenting on Major Douglas’s scheme for. New Zealand said: While it is mere fantasy to regard it as a suggestion of a permanent nature, we are also of the opinion that it is hopeless even as a stop-gap. Mr Bennet may be critical of the New Zealand Monetary Committee but 1 would ask him to bear in mind that the Douglas scheme has also been examined and rejected by (1)' The Macmillan Committee in ■ England ; (2) a Canadian Parliamentary Committee; (3) the New South Wales Government Statistician. But I can imagine Mr Bennet saying “ Look at /Ibei’ta.” As regards Alberta I agree with the mayor of Vancouver, who described Mr Aherhart’s 25-dollar promise as “ the most cruel hoax ever perpetrated on a suffering people by a group of visionary and impractical political adventurers.” However, time will tell, and Alberta’s experiment is being watched closely by people both -inside and outside the Douglas Credit Movement, Meantime New Zealanders would be well advised to adopt a policy of “wait and see” before bring misled by tho glib promises of would-be credit reformers. Mr Bennet enquires regarding my pcfiicy. My firm belief is that recovery

cannot be achieved without the aid of a sound financial system, and as Mr Bennet does not appear to possess even a rudimentary knowledge of the present system, but clings to the absurd theories of Major Douglas, it seem preferable to give him time to make a study of the present banking system of New Zealand.—l am, etc., Sound Finance. September 26.