SOCIAL CREDIT

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 111, 6 November 1935, Page 14

SOCIAL CREDIT

INDEPENDENT'S VJEWS

MR. DODDS'S CAMPAIGN

Something unique in the way of Parliamentary candidates must be Mr. G. W. Dodds, Independent Douglas Social Credit candidate for Wellington Sub-! urbs, who told a meeting at the Kelburn Kiosk last evening that his primary object was not to be returned to Parliament, but to put his views before the people. In a comparatively short address, followed by an uneventful question- time, Mr. Dodds put forward as his main objects the abolition of poverty while retaining private enterprise. Mr. Dodds admitted that- it was his first attempt at active politics. It was his primary intention to attempt to gain support for a policy based on two questions of supreme importance— two questions that were not being placed before the public, -but which would mean the economic security of everybody, and greater liberty for the individual. They were the abolition of poverty and the retention of private enterprise, which were the basis of Douglas Social Credit. What was the purpose of the eco^ nomic system? he asked. There was capacity to produce super-abundance; the manufacturers and farmers in the Dominion were willing to turn out far grater real wealth than they were doing today. The purpose of the economic system, he suggested, was to facilitate the production and distribution of the things the people individually desired. By the application of science New Zealand had been able to produce very much greater real wealth than previously. USE OF MACHINERY. Machinery had been introduced— labour-saving machinery—which enabled the economic object to be fulfilled; but the numbers of workers had been reduced. There was more produced but fewer men working. A voice: At less wages. The purpose of the financial system was to ensure that the people, as consumers, should have sufficient money to enable them to satisfy their desires from- the production * system. A politician should be the servant of a sovereign people arid should be in the House for "the purpose of serving 'his constituents', will. He should not be bound by party ties, bilt should work for his electorate as a whole. The problem of poverty and the provision of a: decent standard of living for all sections of the community had to be considered as it appeared today and not from its historical angle. Let the people awaken to the fact that they would not have a democracy until they realised that they were the source of authority for the government of the country. "If we put you in what sort of control would we have over you?" asked a member of the audience. The candidate said he would give effect to any will of the people if he were returned. It was not his primary object to become elected, but to. put his views before the people, views which applied to other candidates. Parliament existed for carrying out the will of the people and had been criticised for not doing its duty; but he would not put the whole of the blame on the Government. If the people had a sovereign prerogative and did not exercise it then they were largely to > blame. politicians; and people. It was not the business of the people, or of -their Parliamentary representatives, to make up their minds on matters of technique. The business of the people was to make up their mind what they wanted, and the business of the .politicians was to see that that want was satisfied, if necessary with the aid of experts. That was the anm of Douglas Social Credit. It did not want the confiscation of property or the abolition of private enterprise. It insisted that the desires of the consumers should be met. Some of the a"oience might be concerned with production, but they were far more concerned with consumption —they were consuming a huge variety of commodities, yet producing, at most, too. They were producing so 'that they might use profits for greater consumption. He wanted private enterprise, which had the economic power, and the consumers, who had the working power, to get together and decide that they wanted the financial policy adjusted to meet the requirements of modern industry. By that means would the abolition of poverty be secured. A vote of thanks was passed to the candidate.