The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1930. BE OF GOOD FAITH.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 September 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1930. BE OF GOOD FAITH.

What of the prosperity of England? This is a vital matter to New Zealand, the far-flung Dominion of the Empire, which is indebted to Great Britain for so much of its trade and commerce, as well as its financial obligations. Perhaps with the oft-repeat-ed story of prevalent, unemployment, we are disposed to tliipk that England is decaying and in course will be down and out! But,.' such.. is a very false picture. There l are reassuring circumstances which are not slow to reveal, and their outlook of the future is a hopeful one. One of the best known nnmes in the economic world is Mr Keynes, and in a recent address .he has been giving a very reassnmjjig picture of the prospects. Referring to> economies which might be., possible, he went on to remark: “I should say that all t]ie waste and so on that you hoar about' in this country amounts to about a shilling in the, pound, “The other nineteen shillings are going on much as usual, The trouble is about the shilling wo ought to be earning, and it does not come from our failure to decay, but from a sort of malaise of wealth.” We were saving money rather faster than we were finding ways to use it, We were finding ways of economising labour faster than we were finding outlets for labour, and that cause would continue for many venrs, but it represented the growing pains of progress, not the rheumatism

of old age, He did not attach too much importance to the third cause of the trouble—the fact that we had been raising , the standard of life just a shade too fast, “When people compare us with the countries in Europe,” he said, “they should remember that for the ordinary worker we are supporting a standard of life forty4ve per cent, higher than that in France. England is still far and away the rich est country in Europe, and by no means at the end of progress. It is

four times as rich as a hundred years ago. I would predict with absolute confidence that a hundred years hence we shall he at least eight times ns rich as wo are now, “We in this country,” continued Mr Keynes, “have for twenty-five years been carrying out one of the greatest social experiments in history, the equalisation of wealth and the abolition of the worst kinds of poverty. Because we live in the middle of them we have overlooked the changes, The woII-Rmlo classes in this country are poorer than they were, but for the great bulk of the oeople the change in the slanda.rd of life has been most remarkable. It has been carried th rough by Governments of every political party,. quietly and peacefully, jn • s l'ite of the orent War. Tf has hpf‘ll done not only by the increment pf wealth, buf by the willingness of the richer classes to submit to the subtraction of their wealth.” He looked forward to the time, when economic pnoble.nia Would be solved, and the country, freed from economic pressure would lie able to turn its attention to ether matters. The general public did no realise the magnitude of the financial crisis of the last year, and especially (if the last six months. If had seen one of tll° biggest financial depressions in history. The fall of prices had been on a greater scale than had been known before in the recorded economic history of the world. Recovery would he delayed, and unemployment would probably increase. Public ppin.

ion would, ho thought, become more alarmed than it was now, and the demand for remedies more acute. “But in the middle of these troubles,” he said, “we must remember their temporary chnrctor, that they will certainly be followed by an upward movement, and that England in particular is suffering some of the minor penalties of being a. great pioneer in social equalisation. This peculiar country of ours, so generous in its social philanthropy, will go on carrying out quite quietly tlm task of transition into a far greater economic equality than any other country has ever had.” This cheerful optimism is worth pondering over. It suggests the coming of the silver lining, and with such thoughts ; n mind there is no occasion for panic. “Business as usual, would be a worthy slogan a.t such a time. Spend wisely, but do not withhold for the sake of hoarding. This is a time when if all would contribute what they can to the common measure of business, the total contribution would assure a pleasing and encouraging measure of prosperity for the benefit of the community as a whole.