ECONOMIC INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 290, 3 September 1931, Page 10

ECONOMIC INQUIRY

Hearing of Evidence HOUSE TO ADJOURN More Time for Committee DRASTIC STEPS EXPECTED (By Our Parliamentary Representative.) With the object of enabling the Special Economic Committee to devote more time to the tailing of evidence, the House of Representatives will adjourn from this evening until Tuesday evening. This decision was made at yesterday’s meeting of the committee, which has yet to hear a considerable amount of evidence, and which is desirous of completing this part of its work as soon as possible to enable it to deliberate and report to Parliament by the end of this week or early next week.

In spite of the fact that the committee is not hedged about with the usual restrictions concerning the activities of a Select Committee, even the brief official reports covering the day’s work have been suspended for the past week. It is clear, however, that beyond the recital of the names of witnesses, little of importance can be stated at the moment, although it cannot be denied that particulars of the nature of the evidence being given are sought anxiously beyond the confines of Parliament. It will not be until the. committee has finished with the witnesses and started to shape a course of action that anything of real moment will occur. It is already fairly clear that the remedies to be suggested and the method that will probably be proposed to bring about the economic rehabilitation of the Dominion will not meet with the unanimous approval of members of the committee. One fact stands out clearly, and that is that drastic measures will have to be taken, and no matter what proposals arc accepted as most likely to be attended with success, they will not be pleasant from the viewpoint of the taxpayer or the general body of wageearners.

Every effort will no doubt be made to avoid the imposition of additional taxation, but it was stated in the lobbies yesterday that a proposal had been placed before the committee for a further 5 per cent, cut in the wages and salaries of Public Servants. This proposal does not go as far as that advanced by other witnesses last week, when it was urged that the cut should be 10 per cent, in addition to that already made. It has been pointed out to the committee that if a further 5 per cent, reduction were made in State salaries, an amendment to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act would be pressed in order to carry the cut into the ranks of employees outside the- pay of the State. A reduction in the number of members of Parliament is believed to have been advocated by witnesses representing the chambers of commerce, who also advanced views in accordance with the declared policy of the Associated Chambers, and which had been advocated from time to time. It is understood that these witnesses were examined most closely by the Labour members of the committee. Additional protection was urged by witnesses representing the manufacturers, who are believed to hnve expressed the opinion that this was the most effective means of placing New Zealand industries on a sound footing. Evidence was given yesterday by Mr. J. T. Spears, president of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation; Mr. F. C. Campbell, president of the Wellington Manufacturers' Association; Mr. A. C. Mitchell, president, and Mr. T. O. Bishop, secretary of the New Zealand Employers’ Federation; and Mr. F. D. Cornwell, of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council.