THRIFT LOSING ITS VIRTUE

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20992, 20 December 1939, Page 6

THRIFT LOSING ITS VIRTUE

Correspondents have not been slow in seizing upon the Prime Minister’s method of illustrating the prosperity of the people of New Zealand by reference to expenditure on the totalisator and on luxuries, and asking why he did not refer to savings bank figures as a more reliable indication of the condition of the public purse. Mr Savage is, however, correct when he says the public has money to spend, and it is in fact spending more freely than ever on the totalisator and in other directions. But that is not necessarily a healthy sign. In all probability it is an indication of recklessness rather than of prosperity.

It is true that savings bank returns provide a safer guide to the public’s prosperity and thrift. When saving was still regarded as a virtue, frequent reference was made to the savings banks as an indication of the prosperity of the ordinary people. At the present time any such reference is not satisfying, for in the past year withdrawals from the banks have exceeded deposits by over £4,000,000, and the gap is widening. This does not necessarily mean that’ the public handles less money, but it does mean that the will to save has been weakened by the loss of the former incentive, coupled witli the greatly increased cost of living and taxation. Most of the depositors in the savings banks are wage-earners, and even with higher wages, how many such people have a reasonable surplus over the higher cost of living to deposit in the bank ?

The trend is national as well as individual. Instead of encouragement to save there is encouragement to spend. Thus the totalisator has displaced the savings bank as the “barometer” by which the people’s prosperity is read. Whatever the political attitude to public spending may be, there is no doubt that a significant change is taking place in a national characteristic. Savings which for years have been increasing steadily have taken a turn in the other direction at a time when wages have been at their highest level* There is a spirit of recklessness and irresponsibility abroad that calls for attention. Wise people will still remember that the State can never provide everything; these people would prefer to judge the financial health of the public by savings bank returns rather than by totalisator figures. Thrift and production usually go hand in hand.