THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LV, Issue 5627, 30 October 1931, Page 4

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

SEIRIEOIUIS PIOiStTT'IOiNi RECOGNIZED.

On September 10th the "London Times" published an article entitled "The Present Emergency" explaining ! why such Labour stalwarts as Mr KRlamsay McDonald and Mr Philip jSnowden had decided to link up with I the Conservatives to make a National j Government. The trend of the I Labour towards extreme socialism and even to Communism was the subject of concern to many followers of sane labour and the results of the Election show that the position as outlined by the "Times" was realized only too well throughout the Country "The National Government has met Parliament, which has been called together to meet the gravest emer geney confronting , this country since the War. The nature of that emergency ought by this time to be clear to every citizen. It is nothing less than the danger of the depreciation of the currency; and the primary task which awaits the House of Commons this week is to restore confidence in the stability of sterling by the drastic reduction of expenditure and the balancing of the Budget. Much, indeed all, depends upon the spirit in which this vitally important work is undertaken, and the courage which Mr MttcDonald has already shown in insisting in the face of the majority of his followers that it shall be done, and done thoroughly, is of good augury to the nation. But in view of the strenuous campaign of misrepresentation already begun by the leaders of the trade union movement, wth the expert assistance of some of his late colleagues, it would be foolish to under-estimate the force of the opposition which will be

encountered. That opposition, moreover, will have the immediate advantage of the floodlight of publicity focused upon the proceedings of the ! Trades Union Congress this week at j Bristol. It is therefore all the more that the plain facts of the 1 present situation should once more be laid before the public in such a way as to preclude once for all the posIsibility of any further misunderstandI ing. It should by this time be apparent to every one that a crisis which brought about the fall of the Labour Government, and compelled the most trustworthy leaders of Socialist thought in this country to reverse the trend of their previous policy, is duo to something far more serious than a banker's panic. The flight from the pound was not a mere ■manoeuvre cunningly devised by the sinister machinationsof international financiers with the intent of robbing t'he workers of their due. This fantastic explanation put forward in the recent Labour manifesto is too grotesque to survive a moment's examination. It is perfectly true that foreign bankers with balances in London already seriously disturbed by the financial crisis in Central Europe, became nervous and withdrew their funds, but their nervousness was inspired not by any ulterior motives but by a very well grounded fear that the position of sterling was endangered by the internal financial situation of this country.

Foreigners for some months past had observed what the majority of Labour politicians still persist in ignoring -that Great Britain as a nation was living beyond its means. They had noticed that the economic life of this country had failed to adjust itself (.0 the continuous and catastrophic fall in world prices which set in during the autumn of 1929. Imports, though falling slightly in volume, continued to be maintained at very high level, while exports dwindled rapidly month by month. For the first year of the world depression the invisible items of our balance of payments—interest on loans, commissions for financial services, shipping, and so forth— still sufficed to leave us a small surplus, but as the depression deepened these items too began to give out, till at last it became apparent that we were attempting, like Australia, to maintain our standard of consumption by the unsound expedient of borrowing from abroad. These observers had watched in the meantime the progressive deterioration of our Government finance, the mounting expenditure year after year, the cevert raids on the sinking fund, the confiscatory taxes on capital, and, finally, the undisguised borrowing of mllion after million for an insurance fund rendered houelessly insolvent by an increase not only in the number of the unemdloyed, but also in the rate of benefit. Last, but not least, in the cynical refusal to take any proper action on the interim report of the Royal Commission, they saw a proof of the helpless inability of the late Government to tackle the question of unemployment insurance.

Why—you may ask, if you don't know—is toasted tobacco considered so superior to untoasted ? Well, that's an easy cue! —because it IS superior. Sound: like a lady's reason ? Fact all the same! Before the toasting process was invented you couldn't buy tobacco free from nicotine for love or money. There wasn't ' any. There's plenty now. All our choice New Zealand tobaccos are toasted. Hence their delicious flavour and unique bouquet. Yes, and better still, they are free from the poisonous nicotine that you may smoke them ad. lib. without the slightest injury to, your health. Can you do that with the untoasted tobaccos —and all the imported tobaccos are untoasted—no, you cannot. Full of nicotine as they can stick! There are only four brands of toasted: Riverhead Gold, Navy Cut No. 3, Cavendish and Cut Plug No. 10. And it's just as >well j to bear that in mind when buying, l for imitations are appearing on the market. But "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" re--193

member.