CAUSE OF NEEDLESS SHORTAGES

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 307, 22 September 1943, Page 8

CAUSE OF NEEDLESS SHORTAGES

Labour’s Muddling With Import Trade

REVIEW BY NATIONAL CANDIDATE Dominion Special Service. HAXVERA, September 21. The biggest question at slake in Ibe general election was that of leadership, over which there was cause for widespread dissatisfaction, said Air. XV. A. Sheat, National candidate for I'ateii, speaking in Palea last night. In Mr. S. G. Holland the National Party offered the vigorous and inspiriting leadership of which the country felt itself so much in need at this time. Two chief reasons for publie dissatisfaction were that the Labour Government bad failed under wartime conditions to bring about political unity, and. that it hail submitted to the influence of interests outside Parliament. Referring to the import control, policy of . the Government. Mr. Sheat said that the people of New Zealand were today experiencing serious shortages of many classes of goods which should not be m short supply. While the war. accounted for some of these shortages, it was not responsible for all. The import control policy of Labour was the main cause, and Mr. Sullivan had just intimated that Labour had no intention of relaxing its octopus grip on the import trade. Lather they intended to tighten their nold. Alreadj’ a considerable part ot the import trade was directly in the hands of'the Government, and. what was left to the importer was subject to rigid control. It would not be long before the Government not only controlled the whole business of importing but also handled the business itself. The Government already controlled the whole of the export trade and they aimed to he also the sole importer. Even in respect of goods that were available abroad the people of New Zealand were being denied the opportunity of buying them. Misleading laibout- Assertions. It was being claimed by. Labour that this policy assisted local industry,, but this was not the case. The National Party believed that the people should be able to buv the things they wished to buy—not what the Government thought was good for them. . . XVhen import control was introduced in 193 S the overseas financial position of New Zealand was bad. The country could not nay for the goods it wished to import. Today the Reserve Bam:, held £25,000,000 in London, so this original excuse of lack of overseas funds no longer held good. . Labour candidates were pointing to the large deposits in savings and trading banks as evidence of a sound national position. Really it was. evidence of no such thing. Several pillions of these deposits represented goods that the trading community would normally have in their stocks, 'but were not allowed to ha'e because of import control. New Zealand had more money on deposit, but less .-oods in the wholesale and retail stores and m the homes of the people. „ From the beginning of control in IJ3B the trading community had been terced to deplete their stocks. If 1 ) or “} al ports had continued even up to the outbreak of war, New Zealand s stocks position would be much better, todaj. The people were accepting rationing in a spirit of docility, but in respect of certain items of clothing at least, the necessity for rationing had never been proved. Making full allowance for war condi tions it still remained ’true that the people of New Zealand were experiencing shortages largely as a result of •'xcessive Government interference with the free dom of traders.