THE NEW ZEALAND LEGION

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21116, 17 March 1934, Page 9

THE NEW ZEALAND LEGION

♦ CASE FOR A UNITY GOVERNMENT VIEWS OF DR. CAMPBELL BEGG The utility of conferences, with •pecial reference to the conference of the New Zealand Municipal Association and the conference of representatives of dairy farmers, was dealt with by Dr. R. Campbell Begg. president of the New Zealand Legion, who is on a visit to Christchurch on business relating to the legion, in an interviewyesterday evening with a representative of "The Press." Dr. Campbell Begg said that special point had been given to the legion's programme by the meeting of the municipal conference and the conference of representatives of the dairy industry. It seemed that the municipal conference shared the Minister's lack of interest in town planning. V.'ilh the crying need for complete readjustment of local administration, such conferences did not apparently concern themselves. The pitiful procession of resolutions on minor matters and farcical deputations to Ministers, only indicated the lack of reasonable system of government with a proper allocation of functions. There were two svstems of government, if they could be dignified by that name, running side by side in New Zealandlocal and central—and it was hard to say which was really in control. An Economic Council Needed The need of an economic council tlong the lines proposed by the legion and now advocated also in Canada was exemplified by the dairy conference. The interests concerned in this matter were not only the farmers but also the retailers, the consumers, shipping, and labour, and any Council in which these interests had no sav could not produce anything without the suspicion that the interests of a class were being considered

and not those of the whole people. He believed that the establishment of the shire as a unit and the economic council as an advisory body were the developments which would permit democratic government to live. New; Zealand was notoriouslv conservative m if= ideas While Great Britain was m-dul-nn" in revolutionary experiments to "meet changing conditions, this country was drifting along chaotically without any clear long-range vision of its future. The Alternatives The urgent need was a unity government of representatives of all the parties to put into execution a constructive and immediate programme. Failin" this, the representatives ol New Zealand should give way to another set of representatives who realised that emergency times required emcrgenrv measures, and that the best brain's of'all the elected members, irrespective of partv. were necessary for thc iob. That, he believed, was the considered view of the maiority of the neople in New Zealand, and the legion's organisation was being ncrf>ot°d in order to give effect to thenwishes. The Lesion's Programme Dr. Campbell Begg said that the legion had steadily adhered to its programme of ill The recognition that the reorganisation of government and administration was pivotal. (2) That is was necessary to frame a long-range policy for the future dcvelonnient of New Zealand. (3> With this long-range policy m view, the advocacy of the immediate steos' that should be taken for economic rehabilitation such as would be acccotablc to the large body of public in this country. The broad outlines of that ulatform were row published. The legion had •laturallv given a trrcnt deal of thought to th" methods of effecting what it considered should be done. Tt had arranged small conferences with organ-."-rims such as: Th" New Zealand ■Manufacturers' Association, the FarTiers' Union, the Trains and Labour Council, the National Union of Unemployed, associations advocating monetary and land reform, etc.