VITAL ISSUES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 300, 30 September 1938, Page 3

VITAL ISSUES

FREEDOM OR SOCIALISM? AN APPEAL. TO REASONABLENESS ADDRESS BY MR GRIGG.' In an address frequently punctuated by applause, Mr A. N. Grigg, National candidate for® Mid-Canterbury, boldly outlined the anti-Socialist ideals of his party when he faced a packed audience at iSt. Andrew’s Hall last evenihg. Many members of the audience had to stand and fully '2OO others failed to get in at all. The Mayor (Mr G. I. Miller) presided, and introduced the candidate, who, he said, required little introduction to an Ashburton audience. He was glad to see a man of such qualities taking an active part in the campaign. It was time New Zealand’s young men went out and “did their stuff.” Mr Grigg said the large attendance in itself showed the enormous interest 1 there was in the political affairs of the country, and one of the reasons was that the people realised that New Zealand was not yet ripe for Socialism. The Labour Party stood for Socialism, and that was why he had come out as a candidate. The election was to be fought on principles; usually they were fought on the policy of one party or another. The two principles involved this time were Socialism or freedom. Labour stood for the socialisation of the whole country, the main objective of the party giving the meaning to its legislation. Private enterprise and freedom were discouraged, and these things were those which New Zealanders had been brought up to believe in. Laughing at Socialism. Just lately the Government had been trying to hide all references to Socialism, even laughing at it; but in 1936 Air Webb had stated that Labour was still the advocate of Socialism. Air Armstrong had said that the aim was Socialism, while in Australia, Air Semple, who apparently thought ho was far enough away: from the Dominion, had made similar utterances. Air Lee had published a book in England, and in that lie stated that New Zealand would soon tell to what extent if would speed to Socialism. Another great danger was that. Communists existed in New Zealand to-day. Many people thought that Communists were a bit of a bogey, but the truth was that Communism was operating in the Labour Party, and it was working successfully. Prominent Communists were holding high positions inside the party and one of these was Air AlcLaghan, who a few years ago was editor of a Communist paper and was now president of the New Zealand Federation of Labour. Alany people were not aware of that fact. •

If the party was a genuine Labour Party he would have no quarrel with it and would not be standing before that audience. Not all those in the Labour movement were Socialists, as was shown by a statement made by the president of the American Labour Party.

The Individual is Nothing. Everything given nnder Socialism had to be paid for. It all had to come from the people, through taxation. Mr Savage had said that no Government could give without having the money. It could not come out of the atmosphere, but, said Mr Grigg, it would be better to get it that way than to get it from the printing press, as was likely to come about if Labour . had its way. Under Socialism the individual was nothing and the State everything, but the National Party stood for an opposite principle, and in this it was receiving the large support of the newspapers. Labour could not fool the people this time. Mr Grigg went on to refer to land tenure and stated that while the Prime Minister had asked what he would do with the land if he took it over, he had never denied that his party aimed at taking over all private property. Labour had first of all taken control of the money and then of transport, the power of finance being vested completely with Mr Nash, who would at all times dictate the policy of the Reserve Bank. There was not much likelihood of a sound financial policy being forthcoming under a system such as that. When the National Party took power next month, some might expect to see all the Labour Acts wiped out at once. That would not be so. Most of them would go, hut it would have to he -done cautiously. Dictatorships Created. Speaking of the Transport Licensing Act, Mr Grigg said that in this there was' another effort to create a dictatorship through the Minister (Mr Semple), who had the sole right to make the law. It was not reasonable to think that an appeal to one man would have the hearing that would be given by a Court of impartial men. That was a right that was a principle of the British people. Mr Grigg quoted a case of a young business man who had been deprived of a thriving business when the Government took over transport services. That was not justice, it was confiscation. Another case of dictatorship was when the Prime Minister announced the broadcasting schedule lor the olection campaign. Discrimination had been shown in the allotment of dates. Labour receiving twice the number or broadcasting nights. A reference to the dairy industry was made by the candidate, who saic there was no right of appeal against the prices fixed by the Minister, r committee had recommended an increased price to moot the higher costs, but Mr Nash had refused to sot that price as it- would bo an admission that the dairy farmer had been loaded with c-xtra costs. Though the average production of butterfat per cow in New Zealand was 240 pounds, Mr Nash had declared the average to bo 2do pounds and had set the price on that. Mr Grigg referred to the housing question and said: that the problem had been largely put. on its feet by the previous Government by a subsidy on

building. The trade was getting well on its feet when Labour took office and said it would build houses that could bo rented at a very low figure. Alany people had cancelled their programmes on that, but the houses built by Labour had averaged a cost of £I2OO, with rents twice that originally stated. On top of that, the people could not buy the houses. Labour, for all it had done with housing, had not done nearly so well as private enterprise coidd and! had done. A. man of 25, taking over a- house could pay in rent over £3OOO by the time ho was due lor a pension but still not have a, penny of equity in the place. Air Grigg spoke of the Social Security Act and said that while it was a good thing in principle, the Labour scheme was far too expensive for this country to carry. Air Nash had based it on the increased income of the country over the last 40 years, but no sane person would believe that our national income was to‘~go on increasing at the same rate over the next 40 years. The only guarantee a young man of 16 had that he would get his pension at 60 was the word of the Prime Alinister and Air Nash. “Mr Nash Thought Better!” An expert had been brought from England to report on the scheme, but Air Nash thought he knew more about it than the expert, so he had worked it all out for himself.

“We have been told by the Socialist Party that they have done away with unemployment, but we know that is ridiculous,” said Air Grigg. The Alinister had refused to say where he was going to find the money to supply the payments for the people. The health portion of the scheme had been rejected by the medical men of the country and he (the speaker) was certain the people would stand behind the doctors in this. The doctors had been barely 7 consulted by the Government, which had produced a scheme that gave partial help to everyone instead of full assistance for those who required it. Mr Herring had said that ill-health meant a loss of £7,000,000 in wages each year and the same amount was paid to the doctors, but that meant that each doctor was receiving about £7OOO a year. The speaker did not think they were all getting that much. The upward trend of taxation m the Dominion was surveyed by the candidate, who quoted official figures to show the increased rises that were taking place and showed that the individual tax had risen. This had pushed up the cost of living, 28 per cent, in 20 years, and in 1938 the (rise was 50 per cent above that of 1914. The pace was going, on all the time. “An Iniquitous Thing.” “Compulsory unionism is a most iniquitous thing,” said Air Grigg. “It has caused a lot of trouble and there are many strikes and stoppages under the .Socialist Government. Unions are a good thing and have done a lot of good in the past, but compulsory unionism is a vastly different thing.” He roundly condemned the mannor in which union funds were being paid to party funds, another injustice in British eyes. The Minister of Labour had not been a; great deal of help in settling strikes, as was amply shown in the Auckland case. “We want a fair deal,” said Mr Grigg, when he quoted incidents of slow working, on the wharves at a number of ports in New Zealand, with comparisons with figures in other countries, r

On the subject of defence, Mr Grigg said this was a subject that had been giving many people a lot of worry. The navy and the army had been j starved for years. Regiments had been i disbanded, for all their old traditions. [ This country was almost defenceless, and he thought the disbanded regiments should be reorganised. Another cruiser should he obtained and in the event of war all the resources of the country should be mobilised. It was about time money was provided to bring the defences up-to-date. Australia had a large rearmament programme and would be prepared to assist New Zealand, which should be prepared to assist the Commonwealth. A paltry million pounds had been provided for defence and it was doubtful if that amount would be spent. Closing his address, Mr Grigg outlined the National Party’s policy for the future and paid a tribute to the leader of the ‘party, Mr Hamilton. No rash promises of huge reductions in taxation could be given, but the National Party would, if elected, save an enormous sum of money to the taxpayers. He appealed for patience and reasonableness and urged his hearers to look always to the best interests or the nation in the future. Answering questions at the close of his address, Mr Grigg said he was in favour of a suitable immigration policy that would not harm those already resident here? The (governor of' the Reserve Bank had protested against the Government policy, but the directors appointed by the Government had not. There would be no unemploymenttax on women under the National scheme, as far as salaries under £250 were concerned. There were many details that had yet to be gone into but they could be assured, that the National Party would take all steps possible to protect every person in, the country. On the motion of Dr. J. Russell Wells, who paid a tribute to the candidate. and Mr R. D. Robinson, a vote expressing sincere thanks for Mr Grigg’s able and inspiring address and pledging unswerving support in his task was carried with prolonged applause. Cheers were glso given, for the candidate, who was accorded musical honours. [Extended report, published by arrangement.]