In our last issue (February) we carried an article composed of the salient points expressed by Mr. C. W. Carter, federal member from Burin-Burgeo, in the Commons, which statements we found to be remarkably in the spirit of Social Credit teaching. Mr. Carter was kind enough to write and express appreciation for the coverage we gave his Commons address. Below are some of his comments:
"Many of my colleagues who have also received your paper were much impressed and have become quite interested in the money problem.
I am personally convinced that a great deal of the taxpayers' money could be saved by monetizing our public debt over a period of say ten to fifteen years depending upon the growth of our own economy and the development of our overseas trade. Like yourself I believe that compound interest is usury and is not only morally wrong but economically unsound. One thousand dollars if compounded at seven percent interest will become two thousand dollars in ten years, four thousand dollars in twenty years, eight thousand dollars in thirty years and sixteen thousand dollars in forty years, and thirty two thousand dollars in fifty years and one hundred and twenty eight thousand dollars in seventy years. It is obvious that no economy can support a debt which increases at this rate. Also, when we think of people (şay civil servants in the medium income brackets of five thousand dollars) purchasing a new home and saddling themselves with from ten thousand dollars to fifteen thousand dollars at seven percent, it is a financial impossibility for them ever to acquire an equity in their property.
Mr. Carter then went on to express doubts whether credit could be issued entirely free of interest charges. He supposes that if the government took over control of the Bank of Canada completely, there would still be operating, expenses — light, fuel, salaries, etc. He did not feel that all taxpayers should bear equally the cost of a service which might benefit a relative minority. He felt that credit should be "made available at cost price, say one percent or one-quarter of one percent.
Mr. Louis Even, director-general of the movement of The Union of Electors, commenting on Mr. Carter's reservations, states that inasmuch as such expenses are incurred they certainly must be paid for in one way or another. However such fees cannot be estimated according to the amount of credit issued but only according to the expenses incurred. Furthermore the means of payment to meet the cost of money should also be created and find their way into the pockets of the public who will have to pay such costs in the prices. The proper way would be the dividend issued to all, or via the compensated price discount.
The important thing, says Mr. Even, is that, on the one hand, the producer should at all times be able to find the credits necessary to finance the production of goods, private as well as public, which may be desired by the people; and on the other hand, that the consumer should at all times have in hand a sufficiency of purchasing power to liquidate the over-all cost of the product which has been offered to him in response to his needs. And all of this must be achieved in accord with an automatic regulator which would prevent prices from soaring out of their proper orbit.
The monetary technique of Social Credit foresees and provides for all these conditions — both for production and for consumption with relation to the price. Furthermore it introduces the only true and effective means of providing for a just distribution of production through the universal dividend, which would ensure that every individual would have what was necessary to meet normal needs.