THE FIRST STEPS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 48, 7 December 1935, Page 3

THE FIRST STEPS

„ WORK OF NEW MINISTRY. RESTORING WAGE STANDARDS. STATEMENT B;Y: 'THE PREMIER. ' fe (Per Press Association). . WMLLINGTON, December 6. Restoration of the wage standards for the Public Service, the unemployed, and those engaged in ordinary industry, would be on© of the first steps taken by the Labour Government, said the Prime Minister (the Hon. M. J. Savage) to-day. “We will put first things first; and the first thing will be to improve the lot of the unemployed. Next, and as soon as practicable, the Government aims at facilitating the process of restoring in industry, not overlooking the Public Service. You cannot bring back prosperity without increasing the purchasing power of the people. The state of the country today is largely d.ue to the reductions that have been made from 1932 onwards. ' Our object is to start to restore the foundation, t “Wo are not asking people to pay wages they are not able to pay. Our object is not to follow the downward course of other countries, but to build up living standards within New Zealand. If we are going to wait for prosperity to come from abroad, it may never come. We will have to get in touch with those controlling the fin- • ancial system, including the Reserve Bank, to make available the countiy s real resources. We shall have to provide the resources! But we are not going to follow the old ideas of continually borrowing abroad', adding to our public debt. “Our object is gradually to get 50,000 unemployed into Public worts and industry, and the Minister foi Public Works and the Minister foi Industries and Commerce will have that object immediately m front of them. They will not be playing a lone hand. Reply to Criticilsm. Replying to newspaper criticism atout tL? absence of 'f £ sentatives of the fanning in y , the Cabinet, Mr Savage said theJMm ister for Lands and the Mmistei io Agriculture represented country constituencies, and Mr Langstone, mental equipment, was one of the best farming representatives. There were representatives of farming constituencies who had expressed their wifi ingness to form groups to assist the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Lands. i.„“Instead of looking for relief woiv.s » we are going to put men into then places in primary and secondary industries,'” Mr Savage said. We argu-v that the money system of this coun.ry must be associated with our efforts. We do not want someone in London telling us what we are going to o with our secondary and primary dustries; but so long as we rely on them for our money they will be able to tell us what to do. If we make it possible for New Zealanders to buy more, we are making better purchasers for the farmers and business men, and making it more possible for New Zealanders to buy their goods. in other words, whereas the horse has been at the tail end of the cart, we are now putting the horse where it should be—in the front.” UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM. AMENDMENT TO LABOUR LAWS. THE ARBITRATION COURT. WELLINGTON, December 6. One of the hardest-worked men in the Cabinet team will be the Hon. H. T. Armstrong (Minister for Employment, Labour, and Immigration) and when the session is held early next year he will have charge of some ol the most important of the Government’s legislation. _ Interviewed immediately alter ne was sworn-in, Mr Armstrong said he realised that he had a stiff task ahead of him; but he felt confident that he would be equal to it. “Until Christmas,” he said; “I will be fully occupied with unemployment matters, and in the New Year I will devote some time to very necessary amendments to the labour laws. Amendments will be introduced to the Factories Act, the Apprentices Act, the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and the' Shops and Offices Act. Legislation regarding apprentices is urgently necessary, as the number of registered apprentices has fallen from more than 10,000 a few years ago to just over 3000 at the present time. The workers’ and the employers’ right of appeal under the Arbitration Act would have to be restored ; but just how the Arbitration Court wofild be constituted in the future could not be determined at present. He proposed to examine the constitution of the Court to see m which directions it coukl be improved. He , also proposed to submit to the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity proposals for legislation providing for a statutory minimum wage for men and women. The Arbitration Court would have to determine what wages over and above the irreducible minimum were to be paid, in particular industries, -r . - As to unemployment, Mr Armstrong said he was not in a position at the moment to say what was the state of the fund; but he did know that in th,© last few months the rate of expenditure had far exceeded tile rate of income, and if the present position was continued there would be a very substantial cash deficit by the end of March. It was clear that the recent reduction in unemployment tax was quite unwarranted. “I do not want anyone to be alarmed by that statement,” said Mr Armstrong. “It seems to me that tlie Unemployment Board has been contributing more to the cost of public

works than its proper share, and that a new arrangement must be made for the provision of revenue for public undertakings. In the new Ministry the departments of Employment, Public 'Works, and Industries and Commerce will work in closest collaboration in providing employment, and Mr Semple, Mr Sullivan and I will practically comprise a sub-committee of the Cabinet to deal with unemployment.” PUBLIC WORKS. ENGINEERS AND MEN COOPERATE. THE MINISTER’S INTENTIONS. WELLINGTON,, December 6. An indication that public works will be speeded up under the Labour Government was given by the Minister for Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple). He said the motto of the Public Works Department would be “a minimum of friction, a maximum of efficiency, and first tilings first.” Mr Semple said he had not yet had time to decide on a definite course of action; but he proposed on Monday to have a consultation with the engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department (Mr C. J. McKenzie) together with other heads of the department, to discuss the general position. After the New Year he intended to visit some of the major works, including the East Coast railway, so that he might be in a position to make recommendations to the Cabinet.

It • was his intention to employ as. many men as possible on public works at a decent standard of wages. Before he proceeded, however, he wanted to convince himself on the question of what jobs should be pushed on. He did not intend to tackle jobs of minor importance, but he was determined to centrate on those jobs that would create real assets for the nation, and improve the Dominion’s services generally. In .reply to a question, the Minister said he would be working in closest co-operation with the Minister for Employment, as the Public Works Department was the biggest employing department in the country, and should be able to absorb many of those who are at present unemployed. It would be some time before the Government could make any definite decisions as to public buildings. There was quite a lot to do, and! the Government would not linger on the job. However, it would be necessary to discuss the question carefully with responsible heads of departments.

Mr Semple was asked if he could express any opinion about the completion of Parliament Buildings. “That will certainly be included in the schedule of works for serious consideration,” said the Minister. “There is one thing the people can be assured of, and that is that any job avo undertake to do will be thought out from every angle before we do it. When we make up our minds that there is a job to be done, then we will do it with the least possible delay. It will be my aim to secure, not only the co-operation of the engineers of the department, but also of the men on the job.” Work for 1500 More Men. “ I have found,” said Mr Semple, “that there are vacancies for 1500 men at full-time work on various jobs which the Public Works Department has in hand. Steps will be taken immediately to get these vacancies filled. The work available is in the construction of aerodromes, landing grounds, and the like. “The question of wages on such jobs,V’ ! continued the Minister, “ijs purely a policy matter for Cabinet consideration, It must be obvious to everybody that the new Government has not yet had time to'consider the question; but those men who are unemployed can rest assured that this matter will receive consideration at the earliest possible moment. In the meantime, they should not hesitate about going on to the jobs I have just mentioned. They have my personal promise that questions of accommodation and wages will be the first matters for the consideration of the Cabinet in the New Year. I do want the unemployed men to understand clearly that they can go to these jobs with the utmost trust in the Government as far as the future is concerned.” CO-OPERATION WITH! FARMERS. ASSISTANCE TO SETTLERS. WELLINGTON, December 6. Co-operation with the farming community and all possible assistance loi those desirous of taking up land, in accordance with Labour’s declared programme, will be the policy of the 'Minister for Lands (tlie Hon. F. Langstone) and the Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin). In a joint interview they said they felt assured that they would always be in close touch with the man on the land, because all the members of the Government elected for farming constituencies would give them active assistance in the many problems that would arise. The Ministers said they were determined to act harmoniously. Both realised the immense importance of agrarian interests, since 30,000 farmers supported directly 400,000 of a population of 1,500,000. Profitable production would be encouraged, so that those on the land could be kept there, and encouragement would be given to others to take up farming with a. reasonable hope of success. Every effort would bo made to develop land settlement projects. Mr Langstone said ho would never hesitate to call in farmers for a full and frank discussion, and a practical, common-sense policy would always 'be followed.

The Minister for Agriculture said he was most happy in his appointment.

He knew and understood the farming community, and. he believed all would work harmoniously with him. Radical changes would bo effected by reason of Labour’s policy of guaranteed prices; but all coukl be assured that the change would be brought about in a practical andi helpful way. He realised that he had a big job as ex officio chairman of tlie Executive Commission of Agriculture, but he was eager to assume his responsibilities'.