REPLY TO CRITICISMS

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21533, 24 July 1935, Page 12

REPLY TO CRITICISMS

A reply to some of the criticisms levelled at the Government and at 3omo parts of his own speeches was made by Mr M. E. Lyons, the National candidate for the Lyttelton seat in the by-election, in his final speech at Lyttelton last evening. Mr Lyons addressed an audience of about f>o without interruption, except for a few in-, ter,jection3 by one man. Mr Lyons was given a vote of thanks. The Mayor of Lyttelton, Mr F. E. Sutton, presided.

Mr Lyons said the Government must be given credit for doing unpopular things in days of adversitythings which would not win votes at the poll. The Government made readjustments affecting all sections of the community when the disastrous fall in overseas price levels occurred. It was easy to go about the electorate promising a man £4 a week on a whole string of reforms which would cost £40,000,000 a year, when the Government's revenue from taxation was oniy £25,000,000 a year. It was regrettable that an election campaign was apt to develop into a promising campaign. He hau nothing to offer in the way of wholesale promises, but the Coalition promised that the country would be brought back to an even keel and the recent improvement maintained. In some quarters the Government was blamed for engineering the fall in prices. Although the Government had some able men in its ranks, they could not possibly have influenced world prices. Although money wages were cut fairly ruthlessly, real wages were practically the same, as was demonstrated by the cost, of living figures, which showed a detinite fall largely offsetting the decrease in money wages. Mr Lyons quoted from the Abstract of Statistic? in support of this contention. Financing Public Works Mr Lyons said he believed a dellnito case could be made out for the raising of an internal loan to finance economic public works. The best means' of meeting the unemployment problem was to get men "Back into their normal occupations. The .increase in wages circulated in the country in the last year was a sure sign of the trend towards recovery, A voice: Rubbish! Rubbish!

Mr Lyons: f dare say a calm,' logical statement like that appeals to you as rubbish. God gave you what brains you have and I never quarrel with the Almighty. Mr Lyons mentioned the tunnel. road, tree planting, and more particularly housing as suitable works for the absorption of the unemployed. He gave an instance of how the Unemployment Board was stimulating industry. A loan to an engineer had enabled him to increase his staff from 10 men to 48. Now that England was becoming more self-reliant for the foodstull's and primary products it • .is time to abandon the cry "Get on the land, young man," and explore every other avenue of employing youths. Mr Lyons examined Labour's proposal for guaranteed prices. Under Labour's plan, he said, it would be necessary to send £25,00f),.000 a year in New Zealand money overseas fendebt payments instead o£ £9,500.000 as at present. Costs in New Zealand would rise rapidly and wage earners would need to have their wages raised. The net result would be that the position would be the same as now. Mr Lyons said that under Labour's plan under present conditions if only Id per lb were lost on the butter, cheese, beef, mutton, lamb, and wool exported, it would cost the State £6,750,000 in a year. It was said that the farmer received guaranteed prices during the war, but then there was a customer, the British Government, ready and willing to take the produce at the port of shipment, and take the risks ox getting it to England. That was vastly different from now, wnen the produce had to be shipped to England, and the grower had to take the risk of selling it when it arrived there.

"Nigger In the Woodpile" < Mr Lyons said that even Mr Walter Nash, National president of the Labour party, has admitted that the "nigger in the woodpile" in Labour's plan was the source of the money necessary to put it -into effect. He said that at the national dairy conference in Palmerston North Mr Nash had been asked repeatedly "where is j the money coming from?" Mr Nash eventually replied: "That, is the nigger, in the woodpile." Mr Lyons said Labour's plan was uneconomic arid the country should not for a moment consider committing itself to it. Referring to Labour criticism of the Native Affairs Department, Mr Lyons said Sir Apirana Ngata personally had emerged from the enquiry with the cleanest of hands. Sir Apirana had spent his life in serving the native race, and had retired from the position of Native Minister without profiting himself by one penny piece. "Let there be no apathy on either side," concluded Mr Lyons. "Let every vote be polled and I am content to accept the decision" of the electors."