MONETARY SYSTEM

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20512, 31 May 1938, Page 11

MONETARY SYSTEM

REASON FOR POVERTY USING NATIONAL CREDIT ADDRESS BY MR H. ATMORE, M.P. (By Telegraph.—,press Association) WELLINGTON. Tuesday Dealing with the monetary system to hia broadcast address from Nelson last evening. Mr H. Atmore, M.P., •aid the problem of production had been solved and the only problem was to monetise the real wealth of the community. He quoted several instances of the efforts made in America and elsewhere to keep up prices by destroying produce. All this restriction had been done in the name of “sound finance.” “Our money system is man-made and It can be altered so that financial facts faithfully reflect physical facts.” he said. "In an age of cheap pro-

duction and ample supply millions are •uffering from want. Production baa been solved, but distribution fails through absence of adequate purchasing power. Our retail shops and stores are packed with goods, hut there is a shortage of those goods In the homes of many of our citizens. What is the obstacle to a full distribution? Shortage of purchasing power.” Situation In Alborta National Credit had not been tried in Alberta beoause the Legislative body which was a Provincial one had been over-ruled by the Dominion Government at Ottawa, but the struggle still continued and at a recent election for an Albertan representative in the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa, the National Credit candidate won the seat by a large majority, notwithstanding fierce opposition. National credit has not failed* The sum total of all the people's credit In any country must be greater than the credit of any section of the people, and this fact was recognised by the Directors of the Bank of New Zealand in 1894, when they asked for the national credit to be placed behind the bank, and in Britain In August, 1914, when all the banks closed their doors through inability to meet demands, the national credit was used to save them. Many New Zealanders were beginning to object to State borrowing for public works, which meant that it entered into debt, and paid Interest for its own credit. “Go the Full Distance** "The Government must go the full distance for full utilisation of the national credit for the national benefit, otherwise, rising costs will cancel out all the advantages," said Mr Atmore. "It is to the credit of the Government that they are thinking in terms of human beings." He went on to refer to the possibilities in the direction of higher living standards indicated in a report of United States engineers on a national survey of potential products. **lt would be well for our own Government to institute a similar searching survey into the production, actual and potential, in New Zealand, with the view* of making the necessary alterations In our monetary system, so that each year purchasing power will equate with value of production,” he said.