NEW ZEALAND WELFARE LEAGUE

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 134, 4 December 1922, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND WELFARE LEAGUE

TO THE ELECTORS OF NEW

ZEALAND

The league desires to poirtt Out to you that it is not only the duty but jt is to the adv&ntagi t>{ every ititm ahd Woman that they shdiild take ail interest in the governance of the cOUfltfy, and fla-rU-cttla-rly in the class of member, you send to Parliament. For this reason it is, essential that you should Carefully conaider the grave problems of the tiny freed from party or sectional bias, and the Welfare , League ventures to place before you certain aspects of the. present political position from a Uationa-1 yaiat of view. ME MAIN iSStIE. Speaking broadly, tho alternatives Ufofe tho dountry are on the olie hand sound, pMgi'Msaive gdvei'nment retogu >' irig the rights of the individual, and on the other, socialistic communism aimirg at the abelftion of individual'properly and rights, and controlling every activity. The Reform dftd Liberal Parties stand foi 1 the first, and the Bd'calleJ "Labour" Party for the latter. Do not make any mistake about this aspect of th<J present "elections, 1 and do not allow artificial party divisions, specious manifestoes, and other electioneer! 1 ig devices to cloud the renl issues at stakc_. What the country needs. The Great War ha« been followed hy world-wide difficulties-—thte§ can Snly a solved by good government and sound statemahghij} j ho quack remedies wiil meet the case. At the coming elections you are offered two alternative remedies. The Refo: ;u and Liberal Parties propose to buildup and strengthen, in the interests of r'l, the shattered fabric of our institutions by constructive measures, while the Red Party advocate the tearing down—in one act—of the whole special and political, structure which has taken centuries to build, and to substitute in its place : nebulous „ machlne'toade abominat' -i, which past and present history ha* proved to be disastrous to everyone outside a.few self-interested leaders. The country needs stability ai)d an. opportunity to work out its own'salvation, With all claSfefes co-operating in tho .national irtter&*t. Til* Reds Party offers cIM-warfare, which means ruin to all. TRAfiji; AND INDUSTRY. The prosperity of the country benefits the whole population, and that prosperity c&n only be realised by allowing trade, commerce, afld industry to be carried on without thd handicap of artificial regulations Or coihfiulsory controls. Any legislation which tends to interfere with the natural laws of supply and demand must, at a. general rule, result in curtailing the enterprise on Which our. prosperity depends. New Zealand requires less Government interference and le:.j restrictive legislation, For these reasons the league protests against the tendency of both Reform and Liberal Parties, in Parliament and in thsir manifestoes, to extend Government activities and to continue restrictive legislation, but we ask you to realise that the Red Party's objective is to absolutely abolish individual efforts and to "socialise" the whole of the country's trade, industry, comttierce, and prodi"> tion. ■•,...

The lesson of history is /that there is no form of Government bo tyrannical as a bureaucracy, and the Red Party aims at a bureaucracy of the worst type.

TAXATION AND EXPENDITURE.,. Nothing kills enterprise more than heavy taxation, which also injures tho wage-earner and causes unemployment.. In order to expand trade and 'enlarge our industries, it is essential that a Substantial proportion of each year's income should be capitalised and put back into the business. This process increases employment, and by greater production lessens the cost of the product. The Government now takes so largo a proportion of incomft by wfty of taxaticn that there is nothing left to put back industry for expansion. The re.° if this state of things continues, must ue stagnation and unemployment.

The only remedy for. this evil is fmtlier drastic reduction of public expenditure on sound lines, and we call on to satisfy yourself that the candidate on vote for will support a policy of ovc - hauling our public expenditure and placing it on a busivieas footing and a speedy curtailment of borrowing—except for necessary Public Works that will ' 9 interest-earning.

A little has been done in this di'"?o tion ; both Reform and Liberal manifestoes contain somewhat v»'pie »en<" al promises of more, but the Red Party's manifesto makes extravagant promises which must entail extra expendit' "c and must largely increase tax-ntinn ••• i indioates no sugeestion of economy, whuii is the crux of the position.

OUR APPEAL. For these reasons we ask yon to vote for the best men, independent o* party considerations, and xabove all vote so that your vote will tell effectively against every candidate who Ib pledged to support the destructive policy of communism which means the end of individual liberty of action. For the National Executive,

Wellington, 14th Nov., 1922.

C. P. SKERRETT, President ARTHUR P. HARPER, Secretary.;, -Atvb.