THE CASE FOR THE STATE BANK.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 66, 14 June 1912, Page 14

THE CASE FOR THE STATE BANK.

Sir,—l havo read an article by JMiles Verrall on the State bank question with considerable interest, but some mystification. I fail to see how tbo workers, as workers, aro to receive any benefit from b*nk profits, oven .should we have "a SUto bank, a whole State bank, and no bank but a State bank." I may bo wrong, but when I look at the question of ''finance," I obliterate all geographical boundaries and all individual operations. Finance operates all over tho civilised world and where finance docs not rule the world Is not civilised. Let us suppose that tlie people collectively do their own hanking by means of a State bank, but continue tho private ownership of land. Tlie State nucos or public credit will be used to employ labor, but will not be used "collectively." The credit will bo "farmed out" to individuals, who may or may not make a profit. Should no profit be made by the man who gets the credit for the purpose of "farming tho workers," the State bank will : havo lost its capital. Should tlie man who is "farming tho workers" on tlie collective credit of tho whole people make a profit, and with that profit pay interest to the State bank, and largo profits thus be made by that institution, the taxation from oilier sources could be reduced to easo the wealthy classes. Even if tho Customs duties wero reduced to balance with profits on banking and no reduction made to wealthy people, I fail to sco how tho workers could receive any benefit from State banking. Tlie workers now get a subsistence wage, and must, on tho average, always do so until they aro in a position to collectively produce, manufacture, and distribute all the labor products of tho world. I suppose Mr. Verrall can see that when profits are made by the present banking institutions there is "share value" created which could not exist if the State bank was collectively owned by the whole people. This share value is private wealth, and gives purchasing power to people who would otherwiso be forced to compote in the labor market and thereby tend to redueo wages and lower tho standard of living. The workers of tho world arc not suffering because they havo too much work on hand to feed and clothe the owners of share value, but they aro suffering for want of work, and at the present time it would give no relief to destroy the riches of the rich people. Tlie evolutionary processes going on in our social system aro slowly and surely destroying tho source of spare and spurious values and putting something in its place that in tlie end will benefit all useful people. When the State first stalled to make and run railways we could not see Socialism ahead. Wo did not then sco that tho "share value" which makes millionaires in America could never exist where the railways are collectively owned and used. When the land is collectively used to produce our raw material and tlie machines collectively used to manufacture the same, there will bo nothing to exchange for labor products but labor products, and banking as Aye have it now will be a thing of the past. The work will be done by the industrial army of workers, and every person, born into the world will willingly render services. Every person will havo learned that ho is either a worker or a thief—legal or otherwise —and will rather work than loaf about doing nothing, knowing well that to advance upward in the scale of evolution we must exercise our minds and bodies by striving to do good nnto others. —Yours, etc.. Auckland. A. SANFORD.