Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1894. "THE MONETARY SCEPTRE."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4814, 1 September 1894, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1894. "THE MONETARY SCEPTRE."

Mk A. W. Hogo undoubtedly carries weight in the party which rules New Zealand, and it is with a feeling of some regret that we find that his views.on finance are of a "Will-'o-the-Wisp" order. It is only a question of time for a governing party, animated by such opinions, to utterly ruin the Colony. We take out of Hansard the following extract delivered by tho member for Masterton ; The Israelites, we arc told, of old worshipped a goldou calf: but now the golden calf crushes the worshippers, The tyranny of capital, in my opinion, is a menace to human life and progress; and despite all this "calamity" howling, the State must see to it that the circulating medium, whether that medium bo gold or silver or paper, is well maintained, and maintained in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of commerce, and tho requirements of an increasing population, The kind of material empnyed seems to me of very little consequence, solongnswchavo a full legal tender for all our debts, public and private, The quantity ought ccrtainly-to be sufficient to cnablo us to make our exchanges on a cash basis, and that quantity should be regulated by the demands of our commerce. If tho population aud wealth of the country \ increase, then I say that the quality of capital placed in circulation should be increased accordingly, and that it is the duty of tho State to see to this, The timo has gono past when an important matter of this kind can bo intrusted to private corporations orindividuals. Tho monetary sceptre I hope in future will?

be weiided courageously by the Government of the country.. The only money a man or State can possess, is that which lie or it earns. Any person who hopes.to acquire wealth by other means than by earning it, must come to grief; and any country which relies on money -which', it does not earn, cannot prosper! But what is Mr Hogg's idea of obtaining money. It is not that the man or the State should eara it, but that the State should i bear a monetary sceptre, and supply ; money as it may be needed either in i wold, silver, or paper. The business i jf the world is still conducted on the i principle that the Stateorman which j 3ams • money is entitled:,to' credit, but that the State or man who seeks ' :q''."obtain ;it on any other basis,-is imvwtby;; to !;liq Weroat j

understood in London that the opinions expressed by Mr Hogg, and quoted by us, were the dominant opinions in New Zealand, the credit of the Colony would be at once lost. Tho member for Masterton seems to have an idea that a State can make money, but it is as powerless to do this as any one of its unemployed. New Zealand depends upon outside capital and until it. accumulates adequate capital from its own earnings it must occupy this position. Mr Hog? talks as if the monetary sceptre wero a political bauble and has yet to learn that it is a substantial matter-of-fact power, which comes down heavily on the head of any presumptuous treasurer who fancies that ho can control it. '