RECONSTRUCTION

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 52, 2 March 1934, Page 8

RECONSTRUCTION

TIME FOR ACTION

N.Z. LEGION ATTITUDE

"A FIGHTING PLATFORM'

Supplementing the announcement (published cm Wednesday)- of the general principles of tlio programme" of the New Zealand Legion, the leader, Dr. It. Campbell Begg, issued today the following statement:— Thore is urgent need in New Zealand- for a dynamic policy of reconstruction. The only way possible'is to formulate a long-range plan, and got the maximum of agreement as to immediate measures . based upon it. Agreement on immediate steps must bo based on an intelligent analysis of the existing situation. What has to be considered, for example, is the future af our dairy industry in ten years' time, not what desperate expedient can keep it going now. The Royal Horticultural Society in England considers that its plans will obviate the necessity for Britain to. import apples. Where then will our apple-export trade be? Major Elliott recently expressed the opinion that very soon it will not be necessary to import a single egg from foreign countries and the Dominions. What then of our poultry industry being built up with such high hopes? ' THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK. The political situation is such that, a largo percentage of the population would bo prepared to advocate oven with certain mental reservations su'eii a programme. Democratic government is very much in the melting-pot in Great Britain; the talk of armoured cars for Fascists, and Sir Stafford Cripps's recent utterances give point to that. The political situation in New Zealand is such that a general election with very little notice may be precipitated any timo in the next five or six months. What then? Are the reconstructive measures, to be undertaken by some particular party which frames an attractive programme and manages to gain a slender majority in the face of determined opposition in the House and outside, or is it to bo undertaken by a Unity Government which even though its-measures might, have to be far-reaching and drastic will have a large section of all interests behind it? BASIS NOW, DETAILS LATER. The Legion's proposals, we believe, give a basis that can be" accepted. Stated as they are in broad terms, they_ arc sufficiently comprehensive. Details can in any case only be formed after tho Government to cany them out is in being. ' . ' ' Future policy, for example, in regard to the maintenance or alteration in currency depreciation; its effect on internal debt charges, the policy of our futuro relationship to Australia, tho amount of issue of currency notes at the depreciated level— these are all matters for a Government in being. More than that, they are matters for constant watching and adjustment, and require a body to deal with this adjustment which is constantly in touch with the situation. '■jKo act of Government in giving subsidies to farmers, assistance to the dairy industry, protective tariffs to manufacturers, is an act that can be fixed. The repercussion of every such incursion must be watched and adjustments made accordingly to the ; daily or weekly changing conditions. , There is no such body now. Endless and spasmodic commissions indicate that there is no machinery of government for initiation and continuous watching -of such measures. BENEFITS DEPENDENT ON VALUE. Wherever the people as a whole (otherwise tho Government) feel called upon, to help any particular section in the national interest, the light to demand regulative power in the interests of • tho whole community should' be rigidly enforced. Subsidies to shipping should carry with them a demand for reasonable freights, proper labour conditions in employees, adequate and nonoverlapping service, and certainly restriction of profits. The same principle holds right through, whether the woollen industry, tho daily farms, or. ■ anything else is concerned. The consumer ivho pays for the concession must be protected byknowing that adequate wages are paid, and that quality of the product should bo maintained and price reduced to the minimum. An economic council! which is representative of all interests is the only effective body for such purposes. Its exact composition and method of formation require care in formulation. This task is now occupying our attention. MINOR CHANGES USELESS. The changes in Government administration to solve the local body impasse are not presented as philosophical..Tho whole weight of the organisation will be behind their advocacy. Minor changes are useless and temporising, and soft words to placate interests'have left the position as it is for fifty years. . . ■ ■■ The platform of the Legion is in fact not a philosophical one. It is a fighting one, and the whole energies of the organisation will be devoted to getting the men and the methods to put it into execution at the first possible moment. For this reason we shall oppose any commission which does not embody a reference to this system iv its order of reference. We know too well what the purpose of commissions have been in tho past—largely to givo the Government tho appearance of doing something without offending those vested interests which they know full well will oppose anything being done. The timo for action is now.