KNIGHTS OF LABOUR. ADDRESS ON MONEY. STATE BANK QUESTION DISCUSSED.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 410, 12 October 1889, Page 3

KNIGHTS OF LABOUR. ADDRESS ON MONEY. STATE BANK QUESTION DISCUSSED.

' ' Auckland, Octobor 3. At the meoting of the Knights of Labour last) evening a mass of correspondence was received, which was referred to tho Committee to be dealt with. Amongst the correspondence were letters stating that a branch of the Knights had been formed, at Warkworth and another was being organised also north oi Auckland. Tho president then' called fopon Mr Harvie to deliver his address on " Money." ' Mr Harvie came forward- and gavo an addiess lasting for about an hour and a half, of an extremely interesting and instructive character, and which was listened to with earhes-fc attention by the audience. Ho started out by stating that he thought thab if the Knights intended to be a power they must be aggressive, and it was their 'duty to speak out boldly. The power of money was of, the' greatest interest to the working 1 classes ; it was in reality a remarkably simple question ; perhaps its very simplicity was what caused its ' baneful power to be ovorlooked. He traced the origin of gold from the mines, -and showed from reliable statistics that' the value of the gold thus raided was not up to the present period sufficient' to -pay remunerative wages to the miners. The .yield of Victoria for ten year 1 ;, 1577 to 1886, was equivalent to about £93 for each man employed. He showed that the coinage of the gold by the Australian mints was attended with considerable loss, and in 1885-6ttiese'expenses wero 3£ percent, more' thaii their .receipts. To recoup this the- Government of "Victoria contributed £20,000 peri^ttnum towards the expenses, and New South Wales £15,000 out of the public funds.,, but he tailed to see why the public , should be called upon to supply this deficiency. -Only gold is coined in Australia,,, and the silver and bronze coins used hei-'e are struck off in England. The London Mint receives back the worn silver coinage" ilrom- the 'colonies, allowing full value for M<t, and in this there is a very .serious 'loss. -According to wellknown (Qjtjpert authorities^ a sovereign' loses a forCy^third of a grain annually whilst in circulation, equivalent to one-twelfth of a penny. T^ere are in the United Kingdom '110,000.000 gold coins in circulation, one halt of which are light. Exclusive of the cost of ■ re - coinage', it would cost £650,000' t0- make good the deficient 'weight in these coins. Up till recently 'no provision! was made for replacing the3e light coins, but recently Mr Goschen introduced a Bill empowering tho Mint to" withdraw from circulation 'all light gold coin*! issued previous to the pre- • sent reign, allowing full nominal value for them. -There has beenmore coined money turned out of the British Mint since the accession of Queen -Victoria than had previously been issued since the Norman (Jonquest. The figures- given were— lB37 to 1886, ' £275^000,000 ; 1066 to 1837,' £206,000,0q0 j"'"a^d it was * evident that the increase, in the arriount of*money' issued would nob help the workers unless Che conditions under which it was icSued were altered, for the | more money that was issued the more interest there was to pay, and it was the workers who had to pay it. Ib was those who worked who had to pay everything, since it'must be- obvious to everyone that those who do nob work not only cannob pay anything, but 'must live on those who do work. Ifc was evident from these figures that the Government did the most onerous and unprofitable work in providing 'money for the use of the community by covering: and renewing ib at tho public expense. He entered into along, explanation with numerous clear illustrations, that under existing conditions, no matter how honest and conscientious a man might be, and no matter how able and energetic he was in carrying on his, business, some,' owing to theso very conditions which he had mentioned, were bound to fail and become bankrupt, through no fault whatever of their own. For it is absolutely and practically impossible for all m'en to keep their engagements, and the success of one really involves the failui'e of another. The public always owes more | than there is in existence. With respect to the power of the accumulation of interost he pointed out that one pound invested 500 years ago at 5 per, cent. , would now have reached the fabulous amount of £33,554,432. This was 1 how interest worked, and it.w as not just. A man's labour for thesamo period, supposing him in constant work at £100 ayear,would'onlyearnhimCso,ooo,orone67lsfc part of the interest which had accrued to the single sovereign. The position of the New Zealand public in connection with the local banks was pub in this way. The total assets of all the New Zealand hanks on the 30th June; 1887, were £18,549,560, of which £15,547,390 consisted of debts due to the banks. The deposits stood at £11,036,500, of which sum £577,000 irere Government deposits, deducting which there remains to the credit of the public £10,458,905. If we add t;o this £920,910, the value of the notes in circulation, we have £11,379,505. This, together with the gold and silver coin in circulation amongst ue, which is estimated at £1,500,000, half of which would be deposited in the banks, gave us a total of £12,154,505 to meet liabilities of £15,547,390, or a startling deficiency of £3;392,885. This deficiency, he asserted, though perceptibly non-existent, was still beaming interest, and a similar operation is going on in connection with it, as was shown in the illustration of the interest on the single sovereign. Up to ISB6 New Zealand had produced from the soil gold to the value of • .040,000,000. Where is that gold ? Financiers and statesmen were continually telling us that people were ignorant fools who said 1 that cash or bullion left the country in any

large quantities. Then where were those millions now ? What was wanted was complete fiscal reform, which would give men facilities to associate together and cooperate for their mutual advantage without interfering in the slightest degree with individual liberty. It will be impossible to effect this without a State Bank of lssuei which Shall work at cost without making profit out of the' necessities of those who need money. This is met with a cry of interference with vested interests. This cry comes from the Shylockracy, and every little Shylock who has accumulated a little bag of plunder, which he j fondly imagines will enable him and his heirs to live in perpetuity on the labour of others stands aghast at the proposal, and at once raises the cry of interference with private enterprise. The answer to which is we have tried private enterprise long enough and found it wanting; its results are stagnation, depression, starvation and -.widespread misery and destitution, lies, assignments and bankruptcies, and we say that whatever is the greatest good for the greatest number is the right and true and just policy. The interests of labour are paramount, andthese interestscannotbeconserved without a State Bank ot I&sue working at cost. To those who raised the question that a Government could not be trusted to administer the affairs of a Bank, and that they would misuse their power, he would say, who put them there ? Who elects members to Pai'liament ? If it was as they said, then the electors were every bit as bad. as they are, but the objection was moonshine. He entered fully and clearly into the details connected with the administration of a State Bank, and hearty applause greeted him when he concluded. Owing to the lateness of the hour the discussion upon the question was postponed until the next general meeting, which it was agreed should take place on the second Wednesday ot November at the Protestant Hall, Newton.