SESSION’S BUSINESS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 67, 12 December 1932, Page 5

SESSION’S BUSINESS

Criticism by Mr. Holland WORK OF THE COALITION By Telegraph.—Press Association. Westport, Dec. 11. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. 11. E. Holland, arrived at Westport from Wellington on Saturday evening. He said that during the course of that portion of the present session which had just ended ouly one or two measures of any consequence had been put through, and the Government had put forward no policy of any kind whatever for coping with the outstanding problem of unemployment and its direct internal cause, the lack of purchasing power. The Labour Party alone, said Ml. Holland, had presented constructive proposals for industrial rehabilitation and monetary reform. This programme had been outlined by himself speech in the Budget debate, and had been further developed by the DeputyLeader of the Opposition, Mr. M J. Savgae, when moving the Labour 1 ally amendment to the recent Finance Bill, Through himself, the Opposition hail also put forward a proposal for a comprehensive investigation by a committee, representative of the Government, Opposition, and Independents, of tne main problem, and different proposals advanced for its solution. Parliament, continued Vri should not have, adjourned until the House had been given the opportunity to deal with remedial legislation. Because of the Governments failure in this connection, the coming Christmas would be the saddest in the history of the Dominion. It was notorious that the central reason for the adjournment was to give the Government breathing space in which to endeavour to compose the extremely serious differences which were threatening to end the Coalition. As a result of those differences, farreaching developments were possible. Iu any case, Mr. Holland said he was convinced the present Parliament would not last for the four years term to which it had unconstitutionally extended its own life. . ~. The gravest danger that confronted the Dominion, in Mr. Holland’s eyes, was the likelihood of another failure to bring down effective legislation when the House next met, and the possibility of the Government entering upon further destruction of purchasing power bv additional salary aud wage reductions. This would intensify deflationary processes, and might unfortunately make Mr. Rl A. Wright's forecast of a revolution in the near future something more than an ex-Minister s angiy threat. In that case the charge made by the ex-Minister of Education that th eCoalition Government would be responsible for what followed would be abundantly justified. The only way of stability and security was in the policy enunciated from the Labour benches.