1940: The National Savings Movement

May 28, 2019

By AHNZ

In November 1940 the so-branded ‘The National Savings Movement’ got its start in New Zealand. The New Zealand State was following the example of Britain (National Savings) and the USA (Defence Bonds/War Bonds.)

Evidently Labour 1.0 was hard up for cash so they poured heaps of it into expensive promotional campaigns to extract more contributions from the people. The scheme had already been running for some time but now it had swanky new PR like the ‘Bonds for Bombers‘ (1942) poster pictured here.

Think of it as earlier version of Bonus Bonds (est.1970.) A Government investment scheme to get hold of our money so they can spend it now. The pitch is is that you might win a prize and are helping the war.

Walter Nash’s budget was already inflicting a 5% Social Security tax and another 5% National Security tax; Everyone was paying a 10% sales tax now. In Nash’s budget he expanded and increased death duties, the better to tax the dead!

“My advise to those who die, declare the pennies on your eyes!”- Taxman, Beatles (1966)

Later that year, Nash also created an “Excess Profits Tax” of 60% on on post-tax income if that quantity was deemed “excessive.” Don’t worry, they’ll let you know later just what “excessive profit” was after you complete your first tax return. It’s so important to fight off those Japanese and Germans so they don’t enslave us and take our freedom and property away!

In the follow-up to this 1940 budget our Minister of Finance quoted the Catholic Saint, founder of the Jesuit Order, St. Ignatius: “Give and not count the cost…fight and not heed the wounds…toil and not seek rest…labour and not ask for reward.” Nash also threatened to make these war bonds a compulsory loan if people didn’t start “investing” voluntarily.

This Big Stick and ‘Applied Christianity’ approach to Kleptocracy got a make-over toward the end of the year by someone with a smoother touch than Nash. By the end of the year it became ‘The National Savings Movement’ with its own local bureaucracy and target meter in a town square near you.

—

image ref. Bombs for Bombers; Alexander Turnbull Library

image ref. National savings weekly quota; Christchurch Star; Discovery Wall

ref. Give All!, Gisborne Herald (1940)

ref. Goldsmith (2008)

Hat Tip: Christchurch, The Way Our Ancestors Knew It

UPDATE: Added the following link to some more publicity for the scam from 1942..

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