ELEVEN PROMISES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 31, 5 August 1936, Page 6

ELEVEN PROMISES

ALL BEEN HONOURED

MINISTERS LIST

The Minister then set out eleven pr»« mises made to the electors last year, and explained how they had been kept His statement was as follows:— ,' We first promised to— , I.— Guarantee prices to fanners mad abolish the present speculative nature of their income. This has been applied to the dairy; industry; and the fruit, eggs, and honey; producers desire to obtain the bene- v fits of the procedure. 2. Legislate a statutory minimum wag* and salary to provide an adequate standard of living, for all workers. The 1931 rates of pay have been restored,- in and out of the Public Sen* vice, and the Arbitration Court is charged with determining a basic wage. ' . ■ . 3. Reorganise the education system to - r avide the maximum ponlbUltlM of advancement for* all our children. '- ' The five-year-old children are bade in the schools. The training- colleges at Wellington and Dunedin have been. reopened.* "School committees are being provided with adequate funds. An extensive School-building programme is under way. Attendance of the children of the rural areas at secondary, schools has been facilitated. The grants are being restored to'the-Free Kindergarten and the Workers' Educational Association. 4. Institute a National Health Inraraaee , Service to provide every, facility '- ~ for the maintenance and.restoration of health. < . Plans are being prepared for the erection of a dental training school. and procedure necessary to (establish a National Health Service is being investigated. . , - 5. Provide a, superannuation and pen* sion system that wilt supply an adequate income, to the aged, the ailing, the widow, and all these m> able to earn their own living. Old-age pensions and for widows^1 with children have' been increased to £1 per week. " , * Miners' pensions have been restored. \ Deserted wives and invalids are to receive £1 per week with 10s, for each dependant. Women "are to receive the full old*, age pension at sixt/ years. -' - Widows of soldiers - otherwise unqualified- are to receive a pension.'' /Economic pensions have been in* ' creased and pensions for soldiers' .de* , pendants restored., - •rt t i/o»,ii ■■ ■ i <■.!,":« :> PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT. , 6. ' Organise productive development .employment'through Public Works assistance to local authorities, and; the fostering of secondary'lndus* tries. ■■-■". Fifteen thousand men are' working on Public Works - under reasonable rates'of pay and good conditions; Negotiations are - proceeding with local authorities for facilitating the., com* mencement of necessary workrir Th« Bureau of Industry has plans';under way for-new industries. * '-v'- r •■ 7. Assume control of the eenmt,erettt -. system of the Dominion -'to" ensare " the maximum utilisation and Ate. tribution of. the, resources of the Dominion. i . -_•

.(The Reserve Bank has been taken over; credit facilities for, the dairy in* dustry and housing projects are avail* able.

8. Support the covenant, of the League of Nations for the avoidance et war and the maintenance of peace and the closest relations with thw nations of the British Contm*n« wealth. ,

A full delegation has been' sent tot , the' International Labour Conference* and another delegation is on its way to) the League of Nations Assembly, at Geneva. • The Minister'of Marketing leaves to* the United Kingdom after the close o| the session to extend trade > with thd Old Country, with subsequent nego* tiations with other members of tM| British Commonwealth'of Nations. 9. Reorganise the Mortgage Corpses* tion on lines similar to the MsM Advances Department. The Corporation has been purchase*! by the' State. The new regulation* and extended loan procedure have been inaugurated. ■ > ' ■ 10. Maintain the guarantees of the I>s)b* \ lie Service sriperannnatlon sy»« ' tern. , ' „ ■ " The system is still operating and , k i4 is proposed to remove the anomalies next year. Steps will be taken late* in the session to remove some of th« injustices suffered by. members of the Public Service who were ■ compulsor* ily retired on actuarial pensions. 11. Restore the "cnts" made in mctf and salaries. They have been restored. "A record, Mr. Chairman, worthy 08 some of our earlier statesmen, but it 'is not enough—legislation is insufficient— much work has still to be done," said Mr. Nash. "The- accomplishments will not be recognised until later. We may succeed, we may fail—l think we will succeed. Ido know that in the words of a great. Church leader, 'Hard indeed is the task set before us, and well we know that from this side, and that from the higher social classes and from, the. lower very many difficulties and obstacles will present themselves to be,overcome; but we wiU.not for all that lose heart, nor allow ourselves to be turned from our resolutions.'"