Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1921, Page 2

A few years after the termination of the American Civil War, a period Of great inflation, the “Chronicle” of New York, the leading American financial weekly, wrote as follows: “The injury to commerce growing out of this seven years of ceaseless hostilities is incalculable. An immense proportion of the civilsed world lias been kept under arms, and literally millions have been slaughtered or so disabled as to become a burden to the community. While production has been curtailed to a material extent through this severe thinning of the ranks of producers, and industry has been diverted to the construction of stupendous navies and the production of a thousand new appliances of warfare, national debts have been augmented and the burdens of taxation made more oppressive. The fact to ho most prominently noted in connection with these causes is that they hnvo very largely reduced the proportion of producers in both the old world and the new. The natural rosult of these conditions would be to exact an increased amount of labour from those labourers who remain, anti to compel some to be producers who bad been non-producers. Most unfortunately, however, the former of these results has not been realised. By one of those perverse freaks which often deprive society of much-needed |<Jief, the working classes have organised influential combinations for exacting unnecessarily high wages, and still worse for Hie curtailment of labour, so that fictitious restrictions have been imposed on production, and the cost of products has been unnecessarily increased.” And, a little later on, “The'' inactivity of trade experienced throughout the United States is but a counterpart of what exists in every commercial country. A deep-rooted depression has set in everywhere, enterprise being held in check and prosperity a rare exception.” That is nn exact picture of what has been happening in th 0 recent past and is taking place now. Nearly all the economic ills from which we are suffering—the chaotic condition of the exchanges, the increase in prices and harmful price-fixing, the suspicion with which nearly everyone views nearly everyone else, the perennial strikes, the extravagance which was and is rampant both private and governmental, and unemployment, are due to the inflation of credit, that it is of vital importance that the issue of the principal means by which credit is created, namely, bank notes, be kept in check by our insisting on at least a reasonable percentage of gold being retained as a backing.

Sekino Hint there is such urgent need f’qr gold it k somewhat remarkable thftt

the Government has for so long shown such supinenbss in regard to the goldmining industry in this country. The economic aspect alone should have impressed thd huthorities with the need for keeping up the gold yield, and attention to foster the gold mining industry should have been continually maintained. As a matter of Tact the industry was palpably neglected. | Efforts were made here and in other centres to infuse life into the Govern- ( ment policy, but the results were fruit- j less. The miners, the gold producers, | when costs of production rose, endea- j vourcd to get Government aid, but though th e Government assisted almost j every other line of production asking ( for financial aid, or security of prices, gold was tabooed and even to this day | Government refuses to help in a practi- j cal way to put new life, into gold pro- | duction by some guarantee as to price so as to avoid the commodity being recovered at a loss—and therefore a non- 1 payable proposition for the producer. Gold is so essential to the national wellbeing that its production should be fostered in every way possible. The Hon Anderson who has taken up the portfolio of Mines lately, is speaking more encouragingly to the prospector, and 1 something niay result, hut with tools, supplies and provisions so expensive, , the price of gold does not offer a very remunerative return. The old band of prospectors who delved for gold as for an old love are thinning out, and there is not now the snm© class of men capable to undertake outback prospecting. This renders it all the more desirable that the Government should set about organising parties well equipped and capably led so that whatever work is i undertaken it will he well done, and the prospects of a thorough overhaul of likely localities will he all the brighter. i ii