Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1938. LABOUR DICTATORSHIPS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 301, 1 October 1938, Page 6

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1938. LABOUR DICTATORSHIPS.

The large audience that heard Mr A. N. Grigg s speech at Ashburton on Thursday evening must have been impressed by the sincerity of his expression of the dangers that lie in prolongation of the term of Labour as the Government of this country. There stood on the platform no man raising a bogey for the sole purpose of catching the votes of the timid but one who with wide sympathies and broad outlook is fully convinced that the wellbeing of the Dominion demands a halt in the introduction of experimental legislation. Telling was his indictment of Ministers for their assumption of dictatorial powers, for example in the control of transport and broadcasting. Another good point was his comment on the action of Mr Nash in regard to the compilation of the data on which the guaranteed price is based and on the manner in which the Minister rejected the figures presented by the British Actuary in connection with the Social Security scheme. But most telling was the denunciation of the provision in the Reserve Bank Amendment Act by which the direction of the policy of that institution is placed solely in the hands of the Minister of Finance. What this means is only too evident. While the Labour party as a whole is endeavouring to persuade the electors that the objective is not Socialism, Mr J. A. Lee, who as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing cannot be dissociated from the Government, has in a book, “Socialism in New Zealand,” just published in London, declared that with a Socialist Government in power, the Bank of New Zealand and, indeed, the banking system of New Zealand, must finally be owned in their entirety, else the Government is Socialist in name only. Mr Savage, despite his disclaimer of socialistic tendencies, said at Christchurch: “It was just as necessary for the nation to be the sole authority for the issue and control of money as it was for it to be the sole authority for the organisation and control of the Army and Navy. Even if they were agreed that the money system was not as good as it should be, it was necessary for the free life of industry and the welfare of the community.” Further the Labour Party’s election manifesto states: “In extension of its policy, the government proposes to maintain and extend the control of credit and currency until the State is the sole authority for the issue of credit and currency.” Mr Savage’s reference to the Army and Navy was unfortunate. The European Dictators have shown that armed forces can be used to the disadvantage of the world. So can political dictators armed with the powers conferred in the Reserve Bank Act direct the monetary system on lines that will be destructive of economic security. The vital difference is that armies and navies may be recalled, avoiding further harm, whereas embarkation on a wrong course in the financial system entails consequences beyond the ability of the most powerful dictator to avert. Jhus Mr Grigg’s speech on Thursday deserves careful consideration as a fair warning, by citation of actual happenings to date, of the lengths to which dictatorship may be expected to be carried by the very party whose fulminations against totalitarian States have been a marked feature of their political creed.