DOMINION'S NAME.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 266, 10 November 1938, Page 24

DOMINION'S NAME.

ATTACK RESENTED. ARTICLES IN LONDON PAPER. REBUTTAL BY HON. W. NASH. (Special to "Star. ") WELLINGTON, this day. Ihe Hon. Walter Nash. Minister of Finance, ha- written a* follows to the editor of the "Stock Exchange Gazette," London, correcting statements concerning New Zealand made in two unsigned articles in the "Gazette": - '•Two articles on New Zealand in the "Stock Exchange Gazette" of September :' ami September 10 respectively, haw ju-t been brought to my notice." states the letter. "One can forgive the political bias in t lie in. but the di-regard for fa<-ts shows that the writer is ignorant. cure le«« or wilfully ob-curant i-t. For the rake of accuracy and the "epilation of your journal. I would like to correct Mime of the more glaring errors. In di-cu-sing a rclnctan-c to lend on -.ocond mortgage, your writer mjvs that 'the I'e-erve Bank has departed from it* true functions by taking on the duties formerly performed by the individual.' The. fact is that the New Zealand Reserve Rank dors not lend to individual per*ou —-it deals with the Government or Government Departments. "Your writer .-ay- second mortgage lending is unpopular because of 'interference by recent legislation for the relief of mortgagors at the expense of the mortgagee. . . Whatever inav be meant by •recent.' the fact i- that iwm Governments have come and gone sim-p this legislation vias introduced early in 1931. The Labour Government v hi• Ti took offirr in December. In:i"i. was concerned merely vith the final rehabilitation of mortgagors. Housing Position. *Tt is also -fated that housing in Xcvv Zealand "fell into arrears' because of rising costs of labour and material. The fact is that the biggest part of the housing shortage is due to the cessation of building during the recent depression, when the cost of labour and materials was at its lowest. "An allegation is made that 'the introduction of the 40-hour week has led to a severe shortage of skilled labour.' The main reason* for any shortage of skilled labour are that almost no apprentices were trained in the depression, some men lost their skill in the depression, and that the work resulting from the. Government's poliev both in making up arrears and in building for the future mean* that our resources are being used to full capacity. "In di-cussing the revenue for the 1938-39 financial year your writer nays that 'the still further drain on the taxpayers purse which the- new Social Services Hill will entail, leads to the inevitable conclusion that the estimated revenue will not be reached.' The name of the bill (now an Act) was the Social Security Hill; any additional costs under it come to charge in the 1939-40 financial year. Tlie Act does not come into operation until April, 1039. The revenue for 1038-39 will not be affected. \et your writer calmly states the revere as a fact.

Guaranteed Price. "Jn discussing the guaranteed price for dairy produce your writer says: So attempt was made to relate price increases to the rising costs of production. and the original scheme of a sliding price scale seems to have deteriorated to a haphazard and complicated form of export subsidy. 1 It would be difficult to yet more misrepresentation into one sentence. In the first place, the guaranteed price scheme is not and never was 'a sliding price scale'; secondly, it is in no wav an export subsidy—in fact, for the 1937.-38 season the Marketing Department received from Miles over £.}OU.OOO more than it paid for the producc under the guaranteed price; thirdly, the very basis of the guaranteed price is that it shall cover all the reasonable costs of efficient production (including interest on capital) and leave a net return to the fai mei which will give him a. reasonable standard of living. Jf vour writer knows anything, he must know that the guaranteed price has been fixed each year after consideration of the evidence and recommendations of expert committees, who have assessed in terms of butterfat every item of farm costs at the | eve i existing at the time <*>t tho fixation of the prico. ' Dairy Farm Labour. "The article >ays that 'the dairv tarmcr who employs labour is in an extremely unenviable position.' He goes 011 to infer thnt his labourers have the 40-hour week and must be paid double time for week-ends and overtime. Nothing could he further fr. m the truth. There is no legal limitation whatsoever of the working day or work ing week for-dairy farm labour. To

given s-von days' In-Inlay fcr every 12 weeks of work. Payment is not by make up !t>r this the worker must be hours of work, but at ft wecklv rate.

•'Your writer poos on to say that it ■is still more true, to-day that at least •id per cent of the dairy farmers in the Dominion arc, in varying degrees, unable to meet their financial commitments. This is the most imaginary and absurd of the statements. In" 1937, the latent year f..r which statistics are. complete, there were in the whole of the agricultural and pastoral industry only IS bankruptcies; of these, eight people described themselves as farmers. Among theap eight would be any bankrupt dairy farmers, and the mortgage relief legislation was no longer applicable.

"I would ask that you ?ive this letter a prominence equal to that given to the article. discussed, lor it in not a matter of political considerations, but of tile reputation and integrity of New Zealand."