TIMES OF UNREST

Hokitika Guardian, 2 March 1920, Page 1

TIMES OF UNREST

PAPER CURRENCY BLAMED FOR MONEY SHRINKAGE. (N.Z. Times.) . “We live n strenuous times, and there is a great deal of unrest,” Mr Massey remarked when addressing the Press Association. • The unrest was in our own country, but he was glad to say it was disappearing. We had to expect unrest, for that had followed every great war while reconstruction was going on. Our principal trouble here was the high cost of living. We could get over it, but first wo must find its cause. He was confident that the good sense of the British people would overcome these difficulties. Perhaps it might be said that the high standard of living had something to do with it. Production had been lessened, and then there was the high cost of production. But this was going to be a far more serious thing in Britain and other countries, and we had to import a lot of tilings from those places. He thought kjlie most important cause of all was what was taking place in connection with the currency. We .'could not finance a war without paper money and it had been issued in enormous quatities, particularly in Britain. What had happened was that the value of money had gone down father than that the value of commodities had gone up. Not till the currency had been got back could we get back to normal. He did not think we would ever really get right hack to normal,but we would get back to prosperity. For that matter we were prosperous now.

Another think was that we must exert ourselves. Hard work and proytuction were iessentijal whether we toiled in a printing-house or on a station. If we did this we would come right and it would not take very long.

In England they were coinmencing to withdraw tho paper currency and when the surplus was withdrawn, things including the American currency trouble, would conic right.