PARTY'S POLICY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 49, 26 August 1935, Page 10

PARTY'S POLICY

MAIN POINTS GIVEN

THE -EXCHANGE RATE

REDUCED TAXATION

STATEMENT BY LEADER

. Mr. Hislop today made, his first pub- '. lie statement in his capacity as leader _ of the Democrat Party. He outlined te] the main points of the party's policy, m intimating that he would enlarge "on an the various points from the public platform. "I have had the honour of being requested by the conference of the Demo- al crat Party to become its leader," said tr Mr. Hislop.- "That conference of n j thoughtful and earnest men and women, assembled from every part . of New Zealand and comprising both Maori and pakeha, represented the 10 feeling of the great mass of my fellow- ") countrymen. We realise that the time tn has come when we must stand together w to meet the drift of bur national af- at fairs. We must save. our country from sc the disastrous consequences already ap- ™ parent from a policy of-expediency "' and revolutionary experiment. a! "The country today realises that the two parties, which' comprise what is now, for the purpose of an election, called the Nationalist Party,-have both tr forgotten the principles for which they se stood. They have followed a policy sc the logical conclusion of which is the P1 subjugation of the people to a social- °' istic and bureaucratic control. With " experiment following upon experiment, a' with a cynical disregard of the people's P rights, based on the cry of expediency, s( with an unprecedented burden of taxation, crushing industry in order that P the experiments may be supported, v the confidence of'the people has been f '■ destroyed. ■ __ .*' CHANGE MUST BE MADE. "With all this, I am well aware of „ [ the many problems that in the past J; ' few years have had to be faced, and j the temptations to follow wrong s , courses. We feel that we can no longer rj trust the destinies of this country to j, " the members of the present Govern- 0 - ment and that if we are to survive _ - as a solvent and free people a change j f must be made. Z "It is with a deep sense of rcsponsij. bility, conscious both of the honour c c given me and the magnitude of the c f task, but with faith that we are in the j, c right, that I have accepted the position s t of leader. j. c "We have adopted a comprehensive | , policy, the full details of which I shall * 'i announce shortly when I take the platform. Our policy has been arrived at . ._ with a due regard to the economic con £ ditions of this country. We have avoided both parsimony and extravax .- gance. c POLICY FORMULATED. :- "After an exhaustive investigation > extending over many months, and an d examination of all the factors involved, c we have upon constructive pro■y posals affecting the major problems of a the day. "In the investigation, we have had a the assistance of former Ministers of w the Crown, former heads of Departu- ments, leading experts, and, by no to means least, practical experienced men d, of affairs. While thoroughly appreciain tive of the different problems that c- have. confronted the Government, we c- hold, on major issues, fundamentally is- different views with regard to the means of solving those problems. "I shall touch now, pending a full statement from the platform, on some n- of the major points of the policy. at 1- EXCHANGE. ■- of "We propose, as soon as possible, and having due regard to existing conditions and the position of traders and W local industry, to allow exchange to "f reach its true economic relation with let' sterling. Thus we shall remove from the people of this country a crushing by burden, inequitable in its incidence, on and destructive of trade. 2. ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS. as At the same time, we have a sound of and definite scheme to assist the mdi

victual -primary producer by a different method, and to the fullest necessary extent, at a much smaller cost to the community, and with less injury to our relations with the Mother Country, than, obtains under the present inequitable and inadequate system. We propose to break down the barrier, created by the present Government, between town and country. We shall create a spirit of unity in our people and a sense of mutual dependence.

3. TEMPORARY MORTGAGEE AD

JUSTMENT,

To create machinery to afford necessary temporary relief to mortgagor's, without involving either the confiscation of capital or equities, or the undue harassing of the farmers involved in the present Mortgagors' Final Adjustment Act.. At the same time to preserve the spirit of the sanctity of contracts. ' '

4. TAXATION.

The removal of the sales tax and the gold duty, tax, and'the review of the general incidence of taxation that the wheels of industry may again be set turning, freed of a crushing load.

5. UNEMPLOYMENT.

We have propounded a definite scheme that will, through the channels of the public, and, in particular, private employment, return within a short time all fit men to their normal occupations at normal wages. In place of the present spirit of "defeatism" displayed by the Government we have complete confidence in the soundness and efficacy of our scheme. We shall again set machinery working—the mill —the hammer—the saw—and the plough, and all their attendant activities, to their accustomed : tasks.

6. RETURNED SOLDIERS

A definite scheme to recognise and meet, to the fullest extent, the long deferred and just claims of the returned soldiers. ' y ' 7. PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE. A comprehensive hospital, health insurance, and pensions scheme. 8. THE MAORI RACE. A scheme to meet the just claims, too long deferred, of the Maori people. ; 9. LOCAL BODIES. An immediate investigation for the purpose of reforming'local body government, so long promised and never done by the present Government. 10. PARLIAMENTARY REFORMS. .The introduction of more businesslike methods in bur Parliamentary sys-

r S. l\ Andrew Hiolo MR. T. ,C. A. HISLOP, C.M.G.

■. . r e an,- together with a review of the j- 0 umber of members-of Parliament, o f ad reforms of the Legislative Council. c 11. MANUFACTURING INDUS- Li /' . TRIES. . ■ el The protection and encouragement, 5? long certain definite lines, of economic ■" lanufacturing industries in this coun- of cy, upon the principle of a balanced ™ ational economy. m 12. EDUCATION. m 1 The provision for increased facilities a or the education of children along m nore practical and useful lines. In h; his respect, to ensure, in conjunction A vith our employment proposal, the a ibsorption of boys and girls leaving oJ chool into normal channels of produc- j( ion, trade, and industry. To revert to a ive years as the school commencing c 'ge. ' oi SOUND FINANCE. . al "In connection with public affairs, I a hink that I may claim to have ob- ti :erved meticulously the principles of p ;ound finance. All the above pro- l )osals, and other items of policy, have seen subjected tothe closest examina- q ion and checking by competent j. mthorities and completed for the c ' platform. They comply with these sound principles of public finance. "After giving this outline of some points of the policy, to be elaborated apon the platform at a later date, I iesire to express my- warm thanks to the many who have given their time F and energy to the' task. "There, lias been, through interested quarters opposed to us, exaggerated talk of dissension' in the Democrat tl Party. In the formation of any party tl some differences are bound to' arise, a Today I can say that there is no party d in this country more loyal each to the t other, and more strongly united in the t pursuit of a common ideal, than is the Democrat Party. a "I have, during the past years, at- J tended many, conferences both in this t country and in ,the Old Country. I<• can say today with pride that never have I attended a more generally repre- t sentative conference, where there has s been a higher standard of character, * ability, and singleness of purpose, than ' the recent conference, of the Democrat l Party. It is indeed. an honour to lead I this band of men and women, strong 1 in faith, and united in purpose. Their 1 names will soon be before the coun- f try, and in each constituency I ask for 1 their support. ; -. ] FACING REALITIES. i "It "is time that the farce of party ' names was ended, and realities faced. ' We stand for the basic principles of democracy, the rule of the people ! through theirs representative institutions. The present Government, which calls itself, now, yet another name, , Nationalist, has done much to drive this country into all the evils of the Socialist bureacracy, than any - other Government in our past history. But it has done no more than.follow, at an ever-increasing rate, the course both leaders were individually following, before the present union took place. There is little difference in principle between the Nationalists and the Labour Party. It is time the mask j was off. "We are a party new in name, but oiir principles are not new. We have before us this objective: the good of tfte country. We shall change neither our name nor our principles. We shall in this campaign follow no pettycourses, indulge in no mere personalities or intrigue, but we hope to raise the tone of the discussions of our national affairs to a level worthy of our people. . "We believe fundamentally in the greatest possible freedom of the individual, and, the fewest possible shackles

upon his legitimate activity. We believe, also, that the general good is the supreme aim;. We believe in the equal, I and not the partial, sharing of the j burden of troubled times, and of the fruits of ultimate prosperity. "We in our party, each one of us, has pledged himself to carry our message through the country. We shall fight all the way for recognition of the principles for which we stand, and through our faith win through to ultimate victory."