“BEWILDERING HASTE”

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 197, 18 May 1936, Page 8

“BEWILDERING HASTE”

Passage of Government’s Legislation MR. W. J. POLSON’S WARNING By Telegraph—Press Association. Hastings, May 17. A warning to the people of New Zealand that they must wake up and realise the seriousness of the legislative steps being taken by the Government. whose bewildering haste in passing legislation had been responsible for the people not realising what it meant, was uttered by Mr, W. J. Polson, M.P., speaking at the provincial conference of the Hawke's Bay Farmers’ Union, at Hastings, on Saturday. Using vigorous, = unequivocal language, Mr. Polson expressed the view that by next year the Government would have carried out its declared in tention of socialising the ownership of land and that at the same time othet primary products besides butterfat would have been brought under the operation of -the marketing scheme, which put the farmer on an even lower basis than the worker with a minimum wage. Even the farmers did not realise fully tbe restrictive char acter of the Marketing Bill, which ab solutely limited their earnings. Mr. Polson complained that the Minister of Finance had absolute control of the Reserve Bank and the marketing pool funds. If a corrupt Finance Minister eve r got control—Mr. Nash wag not corrupt, he knew, but only an idealist and dreamer—he could become a millionaire in twelve months. Under the I. C. and A. Act, a workei could get as much for labour as the employer liked to pay, but the farmer could not earn more than the minimum under the guaranteed price. The recent meeting between the Minister and delegates from the dairy conference was farcical, Mr. Polson said, as the delegates were told they could discuss the Bill but not alter it. Mr. Polson hotly defended the exchange policy of the late Government, and said tbe policy of the present Government would cause inflation. There was evidence tills season that butterfat, left alone, would -bring a higher return than under the guaranteed price scheme. The Government’s mortgage legislation proposals were a delusion, he added, and Mr. Nash’s visit to England would be useless, as England, adhering to a long-declared policy, would refuse to make bilateral agreements.

In vigorous terms Mr. Polson defended his taking part In politics as president of the Farmers’ Union, saying the union was created for political reasons and existed for the same reason. H e had for the present joined the Opposition to fight against the Government, as he could fight better with a team than alone. H e announced that he was going to give up the office of Dominion president of the union, as he wanted unrestricted liberty to fight the Government’s socialistic legislation. However, he would continue working as ever in the farmers’ interests.