DOMINION TOPICS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 6, 2 October 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

DOMINION TOPICS

State Houses. It is apparent that, even allowing for the rapid construction of State houses, the number of homes built in the present year will be well below the predepression average. The sluggishness of the building industry is certainly not due to any slackening of the demand. The housing shortage was sufficiently acute toward the end of the depression to engage the attention of the National Government; and with the return of prosperity this shortage has been accentuated by the rise in the marriage rate. The conclusion is inescapable that private builders are cautious because of the high cost of labour and materials, the mortgage adjustment and rent restriction legislation, and uncertainty over the effects of State housing activity on the market as a whole. The Government must accept some of the responsibility for the situation that has arisen. The people of New Zealand rely primarily on private enterprise to supply them with houses. The first object of its housing policy should therefore be to ensure that private enterprise operates under reasonably favourable conditions.—Christchurch “Press.”

On the Defensive. Interest in political affairs will be substantially quickened now that the Address-in-Reply debate has been brought to a close. In the main the speeches followed traditional lines, save only for the practice of the House of extending the time of every speaker regardless of the standard of his contribution to the debate. The exception, however, was made when one member raised his voice in objection. There was then no extension of time. It is clear, however, that much more liveliness will be shown on the Opposition side of the House this session, and right through the session the members of the Government will meet with a new experience of being on the defensive after nearly two years of office.—Timaru “Herald.”

Suggested Boycott. The waterside workers are not making a solitary protest against the Japanese bombing of civilians. Public opinion appears to be roused in Great Bri-, tain, and one punitive suggestion is that there should be a boycott on Japanese goods. A member of a distinguished English Liberal family has suggested further in “The Times” that representatives of the British Empire, the United States, and Holland, the countries having greatest trade with Japan, could put her in a state of economic isolation in a week. It is obviously desirable that Japan should be made to see that there is no tolerance of her present inhuman conduct. Perhaps it is ironic to speak of the ethics of warfare, but. such as they are, Japan is ignoring them. If Western nations are prepared to allow her to fix the standard of conduct in warfare at such an appallingly low level, the outlook for civilisation is almost hopeless.— Timarii “Post.”

Taxation Unaltered. Not all the suavity or earnestness of the Minister of Finance can disguise the fact that in framing the current year’s Budget the Government, in a period of expanding revenue, has gone back on its promises to reduce taxation. Mr. Nash argued that because State'expenditure had been increased since Labour took office by £8,500,000 and the national income had expanded by £20,000,000 in the same period taxpayers had no reason to grumble, nor, presumably, the Government any need G remember its promises. The salaried men or the professional men with moderate earnings arq, likely to find cold comfort in the Minister’s special pleading for their increased tax demands. Nor is there in the Budget any suggestion that conservation of national resources is even contemplated by the Ministry. Mr. Nash is confident that the Dominion can, if it will, avoid the evils which follow the ebb and flow of trade and finance in other lands. His confidence would be more easily shared if other economic forecasts made by members of the Government had been found correct. The electorate was assured that wider social services, higher wages, shorter hours of work, higher returns to farmers and a general uplift could be accomplished without increasing taxes. The Government —and the taxpayer—is wiser to-day.—“Taranaki Daily News.”

National Health Insurance. With the general arguments advanced by Dr. McMillan in support of of national health insurance in a contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate a large measure of agreement is possible. There is really no controversy concerning the desirability of the establishment of a system of national health insurance in New Zealand. But this is no simple matter in itself, and is so much the less so because the Government proposes to link its scheme, whatever it may be, with one for the institution of national pensions. a project which may involve the community in very heavy commitments. Most manifestly the details of the health insurance scheme should have very careful consideration in order to ensure that whatever Is done shall be based on a regard as just as is possible for the interests of everybody concerned. To that end the proposals should be subjected beforehand to the ordeal of a public examination and scrutiny such as can only be beneficial in its results. —“Otago Daily Times.” The Hardest Hit. During a speech in the House of Representatives the Minister of Finance said that it did.not matter much if the cost of living rose provided wages rose to a greater extent. That may be so, although there are certain qualifications, but what of the people whose income has not risen and who still must face the higher cost of living? It is not denied by either Mr. Nash or Mr. Sullivan that costs have Yisen during the past two years, but they contend that wages have risen so rapidly that there is a substantial margin in favour of the consumer. But that line of argument only shows that they have limited their comparison. They have not taken into account that big section which has no means of increasing its income, but must pay to the full any advance in the costs of goods and services. The Hon. V. Ward, M.L.C., stated that the wealthy man could look after himself fairly well, and that the wage-earner had his union and the Arbitration Court to protect him, but the man on a moderate fixed income, those on superannuation and others, had no such assistance. —“.Waikato Times.” ‘

Helping the Farmer. Something in the nature of a minor revolution in the stock section of the Ruakura State Farm will occur under the policy announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. W. Lee Martin. It is intended to make the farm a place where practical expression will be given to the research work carried out by chemists and other experts in every department of agriculture. To put this policy into effect the breeding of pedigree stock will be discontinued. Plant and animal investigation will be continued, but will be expanded to meet the conditions of the average farm. The experts will thus be able to advise the farmer, as the result of practical experience, on the most suitable methods of manuring the land, caring for | stock, and breeding. The farm was I formerly" run with the object of im--1 proving herds by the breeding of purebred stock, and it has imported many valuable strains, including the first Milking Shorthorns. It also bred purebred Jerseys, Ayrshires, and other breeds of cattle, and Berkshire pigs. ■ But while it has done much in this direction to improve herds, it cannot be said to have had as much success as private breeders. The change now contemplated is a wise one, and should I greatly enlarge the usefulness of the farm.—“ Auckland Star.”

New Zealand Publicity. International exhibitions are going to be overdone in the next year or two, but no country that has scenery to sell can afford to ignore them. There is a reminder that San Francisco is to have an exhibition in 1939, and that there will be a world’s fair at NewYork in the same year. There is littledoubt, as the Auckland Chamber of Commerce suggests, that good New* , Zealand displays at these centres I would attract many visitors to the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in the following year. But it is important that the Tourist Department should avoid the errors of the past in planning a New Zealand court. Very bitter criticism was voiced over New Zealand’s abject display in the Johannesburg exhibition last year, and this was not an isolated complaint. The time has passed when carcases of mutton, bales of wool, pyramids of apples, and pictures of Rotorua can be expected to have any pulling power on the more and more pampered traveller of modern times. Competition is so keen among countries that have even more to offer than New Zealand in the way of entertainment and interest, if not of majestic scenery, that the attractions of the Dominion require a modern and ambitious setting. In respect to American exhibitions, it would pay the Dominion to engage an American expert with a knowledge of modern trends in publicity to plan and carry out something in tune with the times.—Christchurch “Star-Sun.” Summer-Time Again.

Probably no annual change is more warmly welcomed than the advent of summer-time, which was introduced for the 1937-38 season last week-end. If there is one complaint which the’ majority of-New Zealanders find with its operation, it is that the additional daylight is inadequate by being restricted to half-an-hour, and that the limits of late September and April between which it operates are too confined. The introduction of daylight-saving in New Zealand was vigorously opposed, principally by dairy-farmers. To-day such opposition has virtually disappeared. What remains of it has been completely disarmed. The immense benefits which the custom affords to so large a number of the people, especially factory workers for whom an extra half-hour’s daylight means a welcome extension of time for healthy recreation, far outweigh the minor objections still raised. Its advantages, in fact, are so plainly proved and so eagerly appreciated by a vast majority of New Zealanders, that a Government which represents pre-eminently the workers of the country should have the courage to improve on existing practice by extending the daily addition of sunshine to a full hour. —Napier “DailyTelegraph.”

The Sustenance Men. The Minister of Labour was able no show the House of Representative? that of the 20,000 men on sustenance, only 5546 were classified as ablebodied. The remainder included 7000 fit only for light work and no fewer than 7454 men, 5604 of them married, who were unfit for any kind of work. This classification is overdue, and the Minister deserves credit for undertaking it. He has now before him valuable data for dealing on more rational and humane lines with the formidable problems previously concealed under the general label of sustenance. In the first place he should be relieved of responsibility for the 7454 classed as totally unfit. They are obviously unemployable and should not remain a charge on the employment funds. Mr. Armstrong says that other and more appropriate provision will be made for them. That will certainly be'far better than paying these unfortunates a dole and taking no further thought for them. Almost as many men now stand revealed as fit only for light work. Their separation from the mass of the unemployed should serve to re-direct attention to the difficult question of fitting them into economic niches they are capable of filling. As the United States has proved, relief works need not all be of the pick-and-shovel variety, but can be devised so as to engage many light hands. Finally, to have a register of the able-bodied sustenance men should assist the Government in taking a firmer line with those able but unwilling to work.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

Control by State. The Labour policy has for ultimate aim complete control by the Government of most national activities. The. latest intimation of a Government monopoly of banking is a further step in this direction. What the effect of such policy will be on the outside world, and especially in Britain, upon whose goodwill this country relies for so much of its protection and trade, remains to be seen. The “dominion” that is most pronounced to-day, in New Zealand, is that of the Government over private rights and enterprise. Admittedly, a certain degree of Ministerial supervision is desirable in this direction, but State control has already gone beyond what was necessary. New Zealanders are an easily governed people, but the virtue of acceptance of Ministerial decrees has its limits. The Labour Ministry would be wise to lessen its zeal for dominion over those it was elected to serve.—Greymouth “Star”-