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Hokitika Guardian, 29 March 1933, Page 4

In the course of a . lecture to students at the Institute' of Chartered Account nuts. London. Mr P. T). (Leake said that real capital represented, the unexpired result* of the ■work of men’s brains and hands, end consisted wholly of iPI those desirable material things which had been thus acquired and made useful. Peal oanital was tangible tinners such vs lands in possession, bouse-. fncVwas, m :i k-:, growing ero’~«. live and dead stock, railways, shipping, mine', ph't, machine-v, raw mate' Hr, r "ooufeatured goods. and metallic money. It was probable that about 65 per cent, of the national y—' : '-.al 0011o 11 -Vie 1 of industrial o"d agricultural property employed in profit-peeking, including Government and munipical trading concerns: about 05 pc- cent was domeHe property, including lands, ' l, vellir<- ho"'Cs o"d furniture in nr irate use; 9 per cent, consisted of spate and municipal lands, public build'"gs, roads, bridges, etc. : and the remaining 1 ner cent, was gold and silver coin a’-’d bullion. It seem-

ed that the real nature of capital was in imminent danger of being submerged ancl hidden by the vast overgrowth of debts, claims and rights which, though assets to one, were liabilities to another, and were represented by nothing tangible but depended for their mines upon the habits, obligations, honesty, and even wisdom of others. If the true nature of capital had been better understood the socalled capital, levy would never have been heard of. Any attempt to turn a large part of the country’s capital into money, must ignominiously fail. Capital could no more be turned into money than cows could he turned into milk. Botli were indispensable for productive purposes, but if unduly harried, or subjected to violence, both would inevitably cease to function and so become useless and therefore valueless; and both, indeed, might immediately exuire, leaving nothino- but the carcase