IN THE COUNCIL

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 69, 18 September 1937, Page 15

IN THE COUNCIL

PERSONAL LIBERTY

TWO POINTS OF VIEW

Varying views regarding the political state of the country were expressed fn the Legislative Council when the debate on the Address in Reply was continued yesterday afternoon. The £.3. Martin spoke in support of the Government, and the Hon. ' b. J. Carrington who followed him, argued SfaTthe action of the <^™^ was destroying individual initiative and if it continued, would lead toa time when individual effort would disaThad been said that New glanders had political and religious freedom and that was true, but there was something even more valuable, and that was economic security, Mr. Martin said. The "depression" was still about, but the fact remained that the so-called depression period produced as much real wealth as any other period. Production was not hampered, and any inability to distribute what was produced was man-made. As far as the Government had provided goods and service it had created new wealth. Mr. Martin said. The first thing the Government had done was to restore the purchasing power of the people, it had engaged 19,000 men on public works, and it had restored the function of the Arbitration Court, which in turn had increased wages. In that way the Government had increased the demand for goods to supply the needs of those { employed. The criticism was frequently made that unemployment had not been solved, but he had never heard a member of the Government say that the unemployment problem would be solved. The Government had said it would tackle the problem, while admitting that unemployment was bound to exist under the present economic system with its machines replacing labour. If the policy of the Government had been put into operation during the depression the task of tackling the problem would not have been'so great. The Government was blamed for rising costs, but wages were rising in advance of costs, instead of, as in the past, having to lag behind rising costs. ECONOMIC VALUES. Eeplying to the criticism of the Hon. V. Ward, Mr. Martin said that income tax in New Zealand was less than in Great Britain. Mr. Ward had also criticised the rents for State houses, but the Government was only doing what a private builder would do. The rents were based on the economic value of the houses and there was no other reasonable way of fixing the rents. If bad times did come the Government would be more ready to reduce rents than the private owner, and during good times the Government would not lake advantage of a shortage of houses to push rents up.

As.a result of.the policy of the Government the standard of living of the workers had been increased, and their hours had been reduced. In 1935 the unemployed had no hope, and the workers, farmers, and business men all had a dread of the future, but today everyone was looking forward with hope to increasing prosperity.

The Hon. C. J. Carrington said that while listening to the previous speaker he had wondered if he was in another place, or listening to a candidate on the hustings. He did not wish to bring the debate down to party politics, because he considered that it was the duty of public men to analyse the position without bias. At the same tune things were being done that must have consequences, and it would be wrong to disregard the effect that would be made on the future.

Mr. Carrington said that he condemned the present elective system, which allowed a minority vote to return a member to Parliament. What was done at a General Election disfranchised a large section of the community, and some form of preferential voting was needed to correct the position. No man who supported the present unjust system could claim to be called a true democrat.

The people were being dragooned, regimented, and brought under the control of a bureaucratic Government, Mr. Carrington said. Initiative was being destroyed, and the people wpi'c handing all of. their caves to the Gov-

ernment. Their independence had been, sapped, and they were open to any political "stunt," or anything that might be "put across them." If that continued to go on the time would come when the people would bo incapable of helping themselves. LIBERTY OB SECURITY? The last speaker had said that economic security was of more value than political and religious liberty, but that had not proved the case in Spain. One party had offered economic liberty there', and the result had been wax with the Communists and Fascists on opposing sides. Where- was -the policy of the Government going to lead to? Mr. Carrington asked. Before they had gone much further Communism would come into the open. The Hon. F. Waite had said that democracy was threatened by Communism and Fascism, and that was quite true. To meet that threat the people should be encouraged to think and act for themselves, instead of allowing others to think and act for them. ' ■ .

The Government's housing scheme had been used to further the Government's policy, Mr. Carrington said. All through New Zealand, the Government was encouraging big combines because it was easier to socialise one big concern than 1000 small ones. The outcry of the small builders had forced the Government to modify its housing policy, but there were many small business men who feared future elimination. . .

The debate was adjourned,