CORRESPONDENCE SOME THOUGHTS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 April 1931, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

SOME THOUGHTS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(To the Editor). Sir.—To assist in the knowledge that is so needed at the present day. on political matters that everybody has a say in at election time, yet in the majority of cases, know as little about. I have written this article that is well worth thinking • over by all.' It is surprising how few people understand the true position of a Government. Many regard the Government as having a bottomless source of income. lie see it, not only in individual instances, (vvhch collectively number hundreds of thousands ol our population) hut in local bodies all over the Dominion.

If one summed up the amount of money asked for from the Government by the local bodies, and deputations etc. during the last twelve months, the Government would have used up over 100 per cent more money than they have done had they granted same. That is an absolute fact. N>ow suppose the Government had granted every request as the people thought they should do, what woiiid he the true position to-day, The answer will he better understood directly. The question to be considered first is, where does the Government get its money from? And the most vital question of all is, how should that money be used?

It* will surprise many to realize, that the Government has not any source of income at all within itsell. Its source of income is only derived as the result of the brains and elTort ox-ojrted by every individual worker who works, whether employee or employer. Therefore as it is you and T. throughout the Dominion, and not a bottomless hanking account from; which they get their money from to spend, the way they spend it depends entirely, the demand that is made upon us for the money by the Government. It is at this point, everybody should think th e matter through for eeonsdlves, because upon it depends individual and national prosperity. We now plainly see that the more we ask the Government to spend, we ha veto give them that money before they can get it to spend, because their source of income is from us, (you and 1) and no one else. The short sighted individual will say tariffs are a- source of income outside of ourselves. But as country against country has tariff against -tariff, of which vve have to pay to other Governments in proportion Of which others pay to ollr GOvefiiflleht, it fciJii he counted as iidt so, Us oiie counterbalances the Otheib therefore there is still : tib escape fCohi the trtle facia

flintf' whht the Government spends, n. wons individuals, have to find, As « cur incomes are limited so are our A Government’s. Therefore the wealth of ours is the wealth and credit of the GovcA'iimeiiib. if the. Government r goes in 'for borrowing, it is on the ‘■t strength of the wealth of us they get t their credit, not on themselves. If £ the Government goes in for. careless usage of the monies derived from us, £ and reckless borrowing, they are goring to stagger us with forced calls by wav of taxes etc. to pay interest on 'iji’the money borrowed and to withstand £the reckless spending. If they oor- |! xow and spend recklessly, it is you and pi throughout the Dominion that has |; to find this money, not the Government, remember for they have no oth*Ver source of income apart from us. It ft is only by the tracing out of these facts, (causes and effects in other $ words) that explains the exact position of Australia to-day. ; r ;i The Australian Government has lavt ishly spent and recklessly borrowed. >"■ The staggering tax upon the people |i is proof that it is they who have to •I bear the brunt of it, yet very few h seem to see this real cause. The banks | are being blamed, the so-called capiV; 1 talists are being blamed, but the facts are, we, as the real money finders are . to blame entirely, through being iso f ignorant on these vital factors, and ; by our ignorance, pressing the Government, to do things, and pay for things, that no well managed private concern would dream of doing. The

people whose Government has placed this dreadful burden upon them, are robbed of the money that should be making employment with that should be producing for the prosperity of the country, instead of being passed in to keep tho burden from crushing them. Seeing then, that it is we, the workers of the country, and not a bottomless banking account, the Government re-

ceives its source of income and that they would go bankrupt to-morrow, if r/c failed in the supply that is ed of us to-day, we, all of us, should know exactly how that money is spent. To get at that we must first know' the scope and capacity in which the Goverment should operate. This is a question that should be decided by us, Vbe taxpayers. The Government should have no power to decide on these matters for themselves, as their ••opacity should be entirely to administration and control.

A Government should not be the business institution that it is to-day. in fact it should not act in th 0 capacity of a business at all. We, tho source of tlioir money supply, do not. intend them to run a business in opposition to us, a business that is running at a huge loss year and year out, and as the result of that loss, having to be taxed heavily of the money we need to make our own business pay, \yhich the success of is the source of

their income. If the railways and the various other business concerns -that ur 0 run by our Government to-day, were all turned over to private enterprise, they would be made to run at ir profit or not run at all. That is what should be done. If private enterprise fails, it has to suffer the consequences. If the Government fails m h business concern everybody lias to pay to bear -the loss. Any experienced man who knows that if private enterprise cannot make a bus.ness pay, a Government institution is not going \o. Why should a Government-, because it is a Government whose source of income i sprovided by us as the result of our hard toil, run a business at nil, let alone at a loss, which is a handicap over the .success of every individual enterprise, and worker, as u, is they who are having to make up for the deficiency.

It appears that we have gradually drifted into a custom, and wor» « groove so deep that it is difficult to sec outside oftthaeoorv evffereng ek see outside, of that groove, MU the customs of to-day have got so absurd and ridiculous that they will have to be broken up and new ones made, be-

tore the matter that concerns us so much will operate in the best interest of all concerned. Business ventures | will all have to be cut out of Government ownership and management. Their duty is one of administration and control of everything iii the interests of everybody, which is vastly different from owning the business and running it. The railways of New Zealand should not ho a political matter at all, so far as making a business of it is concerned. What the Government are doing in this respect is madness. They themselves have no -money to spend like this, and we, as their source of income cannot afford to paw it, as the tax already demanded of us is most detrimental to the prosperity of the country. Wo don f seem to realize the seriousness d the®< mistakes. Because the railways are running at a huge loss, instead of striking at the right place to i put matters right, this heavy drain Is ! allowed to go on unchecked, and the j freights are increased to try to ease | matters, which is a. very short-sighted 1 tiling to do, and a most detrimental j one. For instance, it incenses the I already high price of our products, it j it makes our goods harder to compete ! against a foreign product that ; is. produced under better management, ! it adds to our cost of living, and rej duces our prospects of selling very , eonisderably. If all those di.sadvantagj es together with others that are too j numerous to mention, could acurnti ely be measured up in value, we wou'd i be absolutely ashamed of ourselves to | think that we aie a prrty to ct

allowing such foolish tings to go on like that,

-Yet in Spite of the 'facts?, iVe find everybody prfessifig for the railways to be pushed oh iii their own districts, irrespective bf the true consequences tlint appear to be yet hidden as the result of ignofafk'e. The writer passed over the length that is being limit along t-lui East Coast of the South Island at Christmas, and the Gisborne length a year ago and I might say that by realizing The truth of the facts herein stated, and knowing that these lines are going to cost millions to build, and when built, a Henry Ford could not prevent a huge loss of their running, it almost makes one revolt,

to think of such mad expenditure, knowing that it is we, the workers of this country, whether employee or employer who is to pay for it and then later, be taxed to maintain the loss, or have our industries crippled by the high freights .charged in tb 0 transport cf our products. Seven years ago I went through the Stace sawmill at Mnmakli. Til's mill was employing over one hundred men, and tne output was only S.oOO per clay. Three tlabys were standing cue behind the other with their coats on passing the slabs from one to the other. Visit any State sawmill to-dav nncl'you will find similar results. When each individual understands those things, he •will feel the responsibility of having to make good these losses. He may not have to pay direct, but by understanding these things lie .sees that he is paying for it indirectly in practice ally everything he spends his money on.

There is another matter that has phicaW .;•> dreadful burden upon us, not upon the Government please re-, member, yet the Governments of the world and not the people wholly responsible for it, and that is the huge war debt. War is a matter the peoples, of the world should retain their decision for, to decide, and not the Govern_ ment because it is they wb 0 have to fight it and they who have to pay for it. If the people cf the world had retained their powers to decide war prior to 1914, and used that privilege, it is a known fact, war would never have taken place. People may fight among themselves, but the peoples of one nation can never have a grievance against the peoples of an-

0.other, and consequently there is no cause for it within themselves. it is the selfishness ol our leaders, whose selfishness is set file to l;,v their vain dignities that create wars, nothing else. Has one instance e'er been recorded where a nation even though it won, lias benefited by war. There is not one, Is there one instance where the peoples oj a nation.' have been responsible for a war against tire peoples of another? Thorn is not one. it may be wondered then liow can the leaders get the people to tight each other. Fear is the weapon used. Fear will create suspic on and distrust instantly and will turn a whole nation panicky overnight. The fear that one nation is going in attack another, will set that nation preparing for ditenoo while all ih ( . time there is not any truth in it at. all. The se'fish ambition of a low, engineering the influences ol tear was tip, cause of the last war.

The curse of file lasi, war robbed the world of nine million lives, injured 20 million, and cost C-)(5,0b'(i,(lOi).OOO Of New Zealand if- took 11>.<HK>, injured 40,000, and cost ns L ;; 0.(UK),()()(). Tiie curse of the future possible wars is costing (treat Britain 01i0,000.000, and New Zealand LM.000.000, a year for armaments and di'ience purposes. Yet in spite of the staggering war debt, people eveiyv.liere are urging the Government- to spend double the amount of money, not realizing at a’l that they themselves have to find It. lhe Government must stop borrowing and prevent all unprofitable expenditure, otherwise disaster will involve ail of us.

As the money system is the only system, of exchange 'worth having, that offers to every individual the greatest freedom and liberty to do as lie plans to do iii life, wo should all try to look after it-, am! get the best out. of it. As war is the greatest of all calamities that can strike the world and as the result of the Hollies of the past, a world wide movement must be set on foot that will give tiie peoples of all nations trust in one another. If the peoples of one nation let the peonies of another know uefinilidy that they will want to know the reasons from themselves, not the-rr leaders, before they will lake., arms against them, there will never be any real reasons given to warrant war, and consequently war will not take place.

Things that concern the people themselves most, are the tilings they themselves should retain the sole rignts over to decide. On all matters of consequence to us. our representatives should act according to instructions from us, given by thg majority of those he represents. It is all these defects in our Governmentsystem that is creating sq much party politics, and political jangles, of which all has a most detrimental effect, morally and materally. I am etc., J. HIGGINS. Kokatnhi, March 130th.