"DONE OUR BEST."

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 73, 27 March 1940, Page 14

"DONE OUR BEST."

LABOUR'S PROGRESS.

DIFFICULT PROBLEMS MET.

MR. SAVAGE'S LAST REVIEW.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, Tuesday.

"We are accused by some people if being too cautious and going too slowly; others say we have gone too far and too fast," said the acting-Prime Minister, the Hon. P. Fraser, when he read to the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour party to-day the report of the Parliamentary party. The statement, although read by Mr. Fraser, was that of the late Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage.

"Speaking for the Cabinet, the members of which have been directly concerned with the administration and have had to grapple with many and complex problems as they arose, I say we have done the very best we could, and I am not prepared to apologise for any of our awtions," the report stated. "We have had to wake the best of a difficult situation. In my opinion to have behaved rashly and to have jeopardised o'.ir opportunity to make solid gains for the working people would have been nothing short of criminal. We could only take risks at the expense of the wage-earnor and .men and women on the lowest income groups. They are always the first to suffer in a time of crisis.

"By proceeding with due caution, and, I suggest, with remarkable speed, th.j lot of the wage-earner has been bettered to an extent never before experienced in this country, and I believe in most other countries in the world. It is inevitable a Labour Government should meet with opposition from the vested interests it is pledged to curb. In every country where a Parliamentary Labour party has gained control financial business interests have seen to it that public credit is weakened and the Labour Government attacked, and, if possible, ruined by such means. New Zealand has been no exception to this rule, and during 1937 and 1938 the unscrupulous use of money almost succeeded in wrecking the welfare, of the people of the Dominion. It became necessary to institute exchange control in order to stop the flight of capital deliberately engineered by financial interests opposed to Labour's policy. Overseas Funds. "This type of opposition was, if course, not confined to New Zealand, but was, indeed, carried into the mam financial market of the world. lam glad to say these actions have been successfully combated. After exchange control had been in operation for 12 months overseas funds pose from £0,800,000 to £15,000,000, and as a result of import restrictions the excess of exj>orts over our imports trebled in the same period, rising from £2,900,000 to £5,K00,000. "Although the evils of poverty and unemployment have not yet been eliminated, conditions are vastly better and the worst hardships have been abolished," the report continued. "Broadly speaking, we have tackled the problem in three ways—first, by raising the national income; secondly, by, increasing the workers' share of that national income; and, thirdly, by ensuring that the worker shall be secure in his gains.

"Since Labour took office the national income has increased in a most striking manner. This is perhaps beet borne out by figures for production. In 1935 the value of production was £97,000,000; in 1939 it had risen to £136,000,000. The average over the past three years has been steadily maintained at about £136,000,000. Between 1935 and 1939 the aggregate private income has increased from £105,000,000 to approximately £174,000,000, an increase of some 66 per cent.

"All this has been duo in part to the improvement in prices for our primary produce. It has also l>een due directly to the policy of the Labour Government in increasing purchasing power and in passing various measure.* designed to stimulate primary and secondary production. In the field of primary production, we have taken steps to give farmers a stable income by means of guaranteed prices for various products, and subsidies. We have also reduced farmers' costs, notably by means of reductions in mortgage indebtedness to the extent of nearly £10,000,000.

"In the field of secondary industries we have undertaken steps which are probably of greater significance than any other measures taken in the history of manufacturing in this country. In order to redress the balance of our economy, we have tindertaken to promote in an effective way the growth of manufacturing in New Zealand. The most outstanding measures in this regard have been the import restrictions, imposed in 1938. Statistics of manufacturing leave no doubt about the results of our policy. Many New Factories. "To-day there are 876 more factories than in 1935, an increase of lfl per cent. They produce poods worth £114.000,000, which is 44 per cent more in value than they produced four years ago. Employment is found for over 23,000 more workers in our factories compared with 1935, factory wages increased from £13,000,000 to £22,000,000, a 68 per cent increase. The capital invested, as represented by the value of fixed assets. increased by £9,250,000. Of this, £3.750,000 occurred last year.

"In spite of these various increases, the national income, which is only another name for the total production of goods and services, is still insufficient. We need to go on producing more goods and services if the consumption needs of the community are to be met in full and if the standard of living is not to fall.

i "The second important aspect has un- ! doubtedly been the redistribution of national income in a more just and more equitable manner. In 1935 wages and salaries amounted to £66,000,000; in 1939 they amounted to more than £110,000,000, an increase of more than £44,000,000. At the same time, pensions have increased and unemployment relief rates have been vastly improved. "Thirdly, there is the question of social security. Perhaps I could best sum up the benefits of Labour's administration by comparing conditions of poverty in 1935 with the state of affairs existing to-day. In 1935 we had soup kitchens, old clothes drives, widespread malnutrition, bad housing and hospital relief. To-day there are 150,000 people receiving £11,000,000 a year in cash benefits under Labour's social security schemes. These benefit* cover the aged, the widowed, invalids, orphans, those with large families, unemployed, and war pensions. I would also remind you that universal superannuation begins this coming financial year. In addition there are maternity and hospital benefits."