"SMASH AND SLASH"

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 116, 12 November 1935, Page 6

"SMASH AND SLASH"

GOVERNMENT UNDER FIRE. MR. R. SEMPLE'S SPEECH The policy of the Government was attacked by Mr. R. Semple, the Labour candidate for Wellington East, in a meeting he addressed in the Capitol Theatre, Miramar, last evening. The theatre was well filled, and Mr. Semple was given an attentive hearing. At the conclusion of his address, a vote of thanks was carried unanimously, and cheers were given lor the candidate and the Labour Party. Mr. C. J. Hoy presided. Mr. Semple said .that when the Coalition set out to smash pensions, slash the education system, and force employers to discharge workers because of the deflationary policy, the Prime Minister had stated that prosperity -would come. It was surely known to my thinker that the volume of money in circulation measured the prosperity or stagnation of the community. The spending power of the people was the only propelling power which drove industry. How could there be more money when incomes were reduced? When Mr. Forbes had finished his job, the unemployed had increased from 30,000 to 79,000, due to no other cause than the cancelling out of the people's purchasing power. He would admit that exports had dropped by about £30,000,000 to £35,000,000, but he wanted to emphasise that owing to the Government's actions the country's internal income had dropped considerably. OUR BEST MARKET. Some people said that the Old Country was our best customer, but he would say that New Zealand was our best customer. The position today was that the country consumed 60 per cent, of its total production, and exported ■40 per cent. The development of the machine age was a contributing factor to unemployment, but the greater proportion of the unemployed had been made unemployed by the Government's deflationary policy. In its development today, Japan was challenging the rest of the world. She bought cotton in India* manufactured articles, and undersold the Indian manufacturer. Further, it was not accurate to say that Japan's wages were the lowest in the world. Japan's manufacturers were subsidised by the State with non-interest-bearing money. The British Minister of Agriculture had stated that the rest of the world had locked England cut of the factories and had locked the country into the fields. Britain's present agricultural policy had been brought about by necessity, as the whole face of the world was changed. The builder, the inventor, the engineer, the scientist, and the creator had each done his part, but the politician had been fast asleep. When New Zealand fell down on the world's markets, through circumstances over which we had no control, the Government had destroyed our internal market by robbing the people of- their income. SOURCE OF MONEY. The Prime Minister would say, "Where's the money coming from?" but, said Mr. Semple, money only reflected or measured values, which had to be created before money had any value. New Zealand was one of the most fertile countries in the world, and if that were so, why was it that there was malnutrition among the children in the schools? The poverty that stalked the land was a man-made calamity. (Hear, hear.) Eminent medical men at the head of their profession had attacked the Government for -its policy, which was. having fa detrimental effect: on the health of the child^ ren. Mr. Semple from clergymen's opinions of the present social conditions, and said that if the Government nominee were returned for Wellington East, then it was".a case of "Heaven help the children;" It was said that children were suffering from malnutrition; that term was not correct; it should be semi-starvation. Every vote for the Government was a vote to condone the crime that had been committed. BALANCING THE BUDGET. The Minister of Finance. (Mr. Coates) had said- that the Budget had been balanced, but how had it been balanced? By accident. There was only one decent way in which to balance a Budget, and that was in terms of humanity. Mr. Coates had balanced the Budget by filling .the asylums and emptying the cradles, and that opinion was the opinion of a medical man. Mr. Semple condemned the Government's action in-failing to complete the new railways. To answer the question, "Where was the money coming from?" the Labour Parly would take control of the two banks which partly belonged to the nation. The Reserve Bank would be a people's bank. It was said that the Labour Party would deflate the currency as was done in Germany, but, said Mr. Semple, Germany had deflated deliberately. The Labour Party would, take control of currency and credit: It was necessary to revalue the lands and bring them down to their productive value. i

GUARANTEED PRICES.

Mr. Semple contended that Labour's guaranteed prices could be put into operation, and by means of a graph showed that the rise and fall in the price of primary produce over approximately the last fifty years would have given an average return which might have been guaranteed.

At the conclusion of the address, Mr. J. 'Tucker moved, and Mr. J. Arthurs seconded, the following motion, which was carried unanimously:— '

"That a hearty vote of thanks be accorded Mr. Semple for his instructive and able address, and that this meeting of the Wellington East electors hereby declares its appreciation of the valuable and untiring services rendered by Mr. Semple, both as city councillor and- as member of Parliament, and expresses its fullest confidence in him and in'the Labour Party. Further, this meeting pledges itself to support his return to Parliament with an overwhelming majority, and to use every effort to secure the return of a Labour Government."