WAR AND COMMERCE.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 306, 17 May 1894, Page 2

WAR AND COMMERCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAK ! Sir, —lt is a standing role with me not to reply to anonymous correspondence, because I generally find those -who have not the courage to put their names to their letters lack in courtesy and tact, and evidently do not know, the difference between argument and vulgar personal abuse; but "Contributor," though hiding his name under a, norn de plume, does know how to conduct a newspaper correspondence. I have, therefore, much pleasure in sending you a second article traversing "Contributor's" arguments. In the first place allow me to say " Contributor " is laboring under a wrong impression when he surmises that I hold the view that money per »c can be lost. Money i.e. gold currency is not lost however it may be spent except by depreciation, by attrition, or the sinking of a ship in mid ocean containing specie, or by turning coins into articles of ornament The expression: —" The money loss in any great war far exceeds the money gain," was used by me in its popular sense, and is, I maintain, true. I can not lay my hands just at present upon statistics showing the cost to the British Government of the Soudan war. I will therefore for the sake of argument say it added £10,000,000* to the National debt. Some of this money was spent on arms, troop ships, etc., which money would circulate among the people at Home, but a large portion of the money was disbursed in Egypt, and was thus lost to the English, who had bsen benefited by the circulation of, say; a moiety, but who would have to pay the interest on the whole sum. The people—i.e. the mass of the people, would be poorer, but a few, the capitalists who bad withdrawn their money from, other sources, mercantile or land, and lent it to the Government at a higher rate than they had been getting, would be richer.

The gain to the English people by the Soudan war was nil, the loss was enormous. What would " Contributor " think of a settler in, say, the Apiti district, raising money on his land, buying a hundred first-class breech-loading guns, and ammunition for same, and then inviting a hundred of his friends to spend a month with him at his expense fox bed and board, going out daily to shpot pheasants, fan-tails, wekas, and locusts ? He would have circulated a few hundred pounds and blown much of his capital— and wealth — away in smoke. But for years to come he would have to slave hard to redeem his land from incum* brance. This man's shooting spree would perhaps mean a loss of a thousand pounds to him. The above illustration applies to the English people when they went to war with the Soudanese. " Contributor " desires to emphasise the statement that " war expenditure is supplied from locked up sources." This I deny. No one knows how to look after money better than a capitalist, he never lets it lie idle ; it is always breed' ing money, even if he only gets two per per cent for it. But if he can only start a war, or if he can hear of a war and rumours of wars, he beams with delight as he knows his millions will be wanted by one or both belligerents, and he can get a higher rate of interest.

" Contributor " says " Production has outrun the demand for years past." Production of what ? Wool ? Certainly not. The Americans (U.S.) do not grow enough wool to supply their own wants and are, I hope, going to let Qtir wool in free of duty. Frozen mutton 9 No ? Much of our mutton is sold in England by the butchers as prime English mat* ton, at lOd and lid a lb., and there are millions at Home, and on the Continent of Europe, who would only be too glad to use our mutton if the middlemen and distributing agencies could be contented with a lower profit. The producers and consumers are alike fleeced. I am willing to allow there may be cases of local over-production, for instance, in this district, and I think I may say in the North Island generally, grasiers have been breeding too many sheep of a kind that do not produce good freezing lambs and wethers, the consequence is inferior ewes and leggy pot-bellied lambs are a drug in the market,!, but there is plenty of demand for cobby lambs at the proper season, and just now for fat wethers. The remedy is patent, I need not enlarge on it. I was some* what surprised that " Contributor " should say my references to the Glasgow Bank, and other failures, are beside the question. These do not affect us at the present period, but the failures of the banks in Australia, and the calls that havo to be paid by shareholders of the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, do take the "money from out the numberless small channels of circulation." I am, etc., George Wilks. Feilding, May 16th, 1993. (* The cost of the Egyptian expedition in 1883 5 was £3,895,000, relief of Gordon .£300,000, Military and naval operations —vote of credit 49,451,000. Total, ;E13,646,(X)0. - Ed. F.S )