Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1931. THE SPECIAL SESSION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 51, Issue 128, 12 March 1931, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1931. THE SPECIAL SESSION.

So far from affording any information as to the Government's policy in regard to the measures to be taken toward the recovery of the economic prosperity of the Dominion, the Speech from the Throne at the opening of Parliament yesterday actually conveys less than was previously made known through public statements by the Prime Minister. The Speech therefore is to be regarded only as a formality associated with the ceremonial , opening of the session. It is not over-stating the case to say that the business that will occupy the attention of members during the next few weeks will be as important as any that has ever been before a New Zealand Parliament. This includes not only the balancing of the Budget, but the institution of measures that will assist in restoring confidence in business and trade and so hasten the day when the period of stress will pass to give place to an era of renewed prosperity. The source of our prosperity of course is primarily the prices ruling for our produce in the Home markets, but even though there are indications of an improvement in this respect much depends upon the manner in which the internal affairs of the country are conducted. As was stated in the Governor’s Speech, rigid economy in both public and private undertakings is essential, but economy means not the cessation of expenditure but the elimination of waste. It would be futile to expect absolute unanimity as to be the means to be employed to bring about economic recovery, but the times demand that all criticism should be strictly constructive and not destructive. The national welfare and not sectional considerations should be the keynote of the deliberations. As regards the proposed reduction of public service salaries and of wages under Arbitration Court awards, the Labour Party should bear' in mind that it is ’ better that one hundred per cent, of the workers should earn, say, even 3even,ty-five per cent, of their original pay than that seventy-five per cent, receive their former hundred per cent, pay and have to maintain their fellows in enforced idleness. Every man employed in work, productive either directly or indirectly* is an asset to the State, while every idle man, or one engaged on work provided merely to form an excuse for handing him a few shillings a week, is a drag not only on the State as such but on every individual worker. As for the general measures, it is necessary that they should be framed with a view not only to their material results but also to their psychological effect on trade and industry. As the Governor s Speech states, the difficulties now confronting the Dominion can be effectively overcome only by considerable sacrifices on the part of all sections, and the measure of the determination with which all sections co-operate will Be the measure of the time that will be required to see the country again as prosperous as of yore, fo regard the sacrifices as the dispairing effort of a swimmer caught in an unresistible flood is to court disaster; to regard them as but commonsense remedying of ills that can be removed is to hasten the operation of economic processes that are accelerated in proportion as they work.