ECONOMY POLICY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 74, 29 March 1932, Page 8

ECONOMY POLICY

CABINET TO DECIDE '

". INTENSIVE SITTINGS

FOKM •OF LEGISLATION

Cabinet will commence* at 10.30 a.m. $o-xnorrow a week of intensive sittings -preparing legislation for the remainder of the Parliamentary 'session. It is impossible at the moment, in the abgence of definite legislative proposals, to foresee the end of ,-the session, but ,jnuch will depend on t>e progress made by the Ministry in tfre course of the next few days. Thd1 humour of the House after its rcsifcnption on sth 'April, and the manner of presentation =of the economy and wther measures to lie brought down, wrJll be other determining factors. Thi% Prime Minister-is Btill hopeful that Parliament's work, which has already occupied more than the four weeks hei originally allotted to it, will be brought to a close, so far as the purpose of tl/Je present emergency session is concern'Sd, by the end of £prU. ■" .' " Ministers have ~taken, advantage of the Easter week-jend to slip out of "town for a changef of atmosphere before Settling down to continuous Jiourainthe Cabinet.room. The Prime Minister, who v jtent to his home at jGheviot "for Eafiter, returned some- ' whaf unexpectedly this morning, a day ahead of his programme, and his part-, aer head of f.m Coalition, the Eight Hon. J. G. Coa lies, was at his desk early this morning after returning to Wellington yeste-feday. The Minister of Jfative Affair } (the Hon. Sir Apirana JNgata) also cjame from the North this Jnorning, and •' the Minister of Internal Skffairs (the 'lion. A. Hamilton) yester- - feay afternoo'ii. The Minister of Education (the H;oV E. Masters), the Minister of Defertce (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe), fend the Minister of Lands (the Hon. £3.-A. Ranjajjm), are due this evening, find the: M'mister- of Finance (the Hon. W. Downip Stewart), the Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young), and the Miniver of Agriculture (the Hon, \D. E. Msfcfcmillan.), to-morrow mornings. FU&L CABINET AIUSTEK. The Cabinet'muster to-morrow morning will therefore be a full one. The prime Jllinister stated to-day that he propose* a period of work at high presJBttre, .siting .daily morning, afternoon, land evtening, so that when Parliament aresumefe next Tuesday the remaining fcegislagive measures may be introduced sas quickly as possible and members •nay {Sat down to business having before jtHem comprehensive idea of the GovJBrnm lint's proposals. • Thfe greater part of the time of "CJabifiet will be occupied in considering ; the p-ecommendations of the Economic "• JEon^mittee and the National Expendi. " Jtui'^i Commission for efEecting economies \ in aiublic administration. 1 " igppeTmost in the minds of the people Ss Hhe question whether a further cut an | wages is to be made. If a redue- ' %*ff a *s eeided on, the extent of it will &'j<e to c having - regard ■ aMr the proposed Is in the £, tax on -gjages and income for the purpose of -miemployment relief—itself amounting %&}. a' cut of 5 per cent. So far as wages -' 'fcuteide the Civil Service are concerned, - She Prime Minister has already inti- -■■ siated that the Government proposes ,So allo,w freedom for employers and employees to come together to review injdustrial conditions as provided for in - j£he Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment' Bill, .recently passed by the House, and now about to be con- '" fcidcred in the Legislative Council. ■• . Another important policy decision is ■ pwaited in the matter of bringing about _'_ 8- reduction in interest rates throughout - the Dominion. Definite statements have - jbeen- made from the Treasury benches ■that the .Government intends to tacklo fchat question, but the means and th^ ■ amount of reduction have yet to be - JPxed. FIELD FOB ECONOMIES. - t The degree of carrying into effect the - Jpany other detailed recommendations ipf the two committees is as yet in the tnelting pot. Some of the more important recommendations of the Economic " jDommittee have been withheld for ! aubiication simultaneously with the ; financial statement to bq presented to ~ th& House shortly by tHe Minister of • finance. They deal chiefly with the Budgetary position, and no doubt will , nave an important bearing on Cabinet 'a \ (lecisions. Tho chief field for adminis- '-" trative economies is opened up by the "" Interim report of the National Expenfliture Commission,, which has submit- .- jted proposals for sayings in national services amounting to roughly ■ 15£3,000,000 in the coming financial • Jfear. The greater part of this pruning (flown is proposed to be done by cuts in ' permanent appropriations—debt services, pensions,. motor taxation, salaries • and wages, . etc.- —and so far possible economies in departments of State have - been indicated in only two.sections of the service, the Legislative Department • fend the Education Department. It is nndcrstood that the respective Ministers in charge of these departments ' ere to submit recommendations to .Cabinet as to the extent to which they think it advisable the Commission's suggestions should be carried into effect. -It is not thought that holus fcolus approval of the Commission's proposals will be. made. FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS. _ The National Expenditure Commission is continuing its inquiries into • possible economies in the many other '.departments of State and their branches. The Prime Minister stated to-day, in reply to a question, that the / Commission was making,good progress with its work, and he expected that phe balance of the report would be (Submitted to the Government before ithe session ended. He added, however, fcbaf he did not think it-would be accessary to have • Parliamentary authority for carrying out approved recommendations; the economies could be .. jnade by Cabinet decision and could be |>ut into effect forthwith. .In order to give effect to its programme with a minimum delay, and to avoid opening up discussions on the ramifications of many departments of State, Mr. Forbes intends to embody as many as possible of the decisions of .Cabinet arising out of this week's jAiscussions in a composite Finance Bill. jtThe range of debate on such a measure will naturally be very wide, but the passing of the legislation will not be co lengthy as the opening of separate Statutes for the purpose of amendment JWould involve. NOT A TIME FOR SENTIMENT. That the measures about to be taken J>y the Government in the cause of feconomy are justified by the present outlook of the Dominion was the iburden of remarks made by the Prime JMinister yesterday when passing through' Christchureh on his way to JWellington. Mr. Forbes said- that motives of sympathy with those whom the economies would affect could not be allowed to shape public policy; the position of the country necessitated ■ Bteps that were bound to hurt someone jor. other. , However much - one might Regret, having to. make economies in public expenditure at times like the present, if hadrto be remembered that the solvency of the country was wrapped up in the problem, and if expenditure was not curtailed the consequences to the country and the individual would be even worse than at present.. " Mr.. Eorbw^aid-.Jliatcthei^raUb^ußi^

ness to be considered by Parliament on the resumption would be the Unemployment Bill introduced last week. While realising that relief workers were not to receive as much as they would like, he said that New Zealand was providing more for the assistance of the unemployed than most other countries, and so many taxation burdens were being borne by the people just now that any proposal to increase greatly the burden of unemployment relief had to be watched with great care so as not to be too severe on those who had to pay. The position in Great Britain, Mr. Forbes observed, gave rise for the hope that better things were ahead for New Zealand. Confidence had been restored at Home because the people had faced their difficulties squarely and had applied remedial measures promptly, and he was certain that New Zealanders would be just as willing to face the position in order to overcome their i