"BROKEN COUNTRY"

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 73, 23 September 1938, Page 6

"BROKEN COUNTRY"

MENDED BY LABOUR

MR. SAVAGE'S CLAIM

ft CONTROL OF MONEY

On rising to speak, the Prime Minister was accorded another sustained ovation. Mr. Savage said that it was not the , first time he had had to thank them ....for a warm welcome;—a very warm :j, welcome. It was not the first occasion Xjon which he had had the privilege of -meeting a Wellington audience, but, like the Mayor, he had never had the privilege of presiding for another candidate. "I have generally been one of the performers," he said. "Last time v,_l think the Mayor was a performer. This time he is acting as the referee, and I am sure he will make a good Job'of: it." ■*":- 3Mfr. Savage, thanked the people for "'"the great inspiration they had been, to lftiHim "during the last three years. He '■"^assured them that his heart was always 'jfjwith them and that the best that was "'^wi'thin him was always at their ser'^vice. (Applause.) 1": ° Mr. Savage digressed for a moment ;'sb deny a rumour that he had pro'fj;mised the Independent candidate for Bay of Islands that no Labour canwould stand against him. If '"^he electors wanted to help the Gov- '"< eminent they must vote for. the Lab!l'.,jQ,ur candidate. A similar story came XtSxom the Kaipara electorate. In this those who wanted to help the i-i^overnment must vote for the Labour "I am not talking about at all," he continuned. .^ "This is just a matter of plain fact. "This is a battle of parties for the Government benches, and every person *;'^elected to the House of Representatives J "who is not a Labour candidate—with £■; the exception of Mr. H. Atmore, the ;:pjndependent member for Nelson, and *;Mr. D. McDougall, Independent mem- " ocr for Mataura—will be voting against ..the Government on a vote of no-con- '" : "Some of them may be making .political love to me; political love on the will not be of much use to «-J'rne when there is a division in the *feKouse of Representatives. And the only people we can rely on are those to whom I have referred, the members for Nelson and Mataura, and every selected Labour candidate from one end of the. country to the other." THE GOVERNMENT'S JOB. **I am here tonight for one purpose," said Mr. Savage; "to show you in simple words and with plain facts that &c Government has done its job of mending a broken country." Mr. Savage said that he intended to Contrast the past with the present. .He did not need to ask if the people o were better off—he could see it in . _.their faces. (Applause.) The Labour ■^"Government had come into power to r^"help the people and make them "tJhappier. When he said the Govern-1 j^.ment wanted to help the poor he meant "'they wanted to help the great majority. Only a few were rich, but they made '^ a loud noise. (Laughter.) "'*' The Nationalists were always talk-' '"ing about reducing costs, but the only -^ way to reduce costs substantially was ?/■■"■-to reduce wages. They would not cut £"i;fcheir own wages, but they had had '" -practice at reducing the wages of« .-Pothers. They had done it in 1922 and again during the last depression. Re *"ir ducing spending power could never i *:~'£mcrease trade. While wages were high trade was good, but when wages ij'Were cut tens of thousands were into poverty. During the deeveryone suffered; even the ,*.;}.;five-y ear-old children were driven out the schools. The children were 2jX£ sacrificed for the purpose of saving iC; -money and for no other reason. Trainv. ing colleges were closed and teachers iv .;: were *put on relief work. The Nationalists accused "Bob" Semple of making a nation of navvies, but that "l"!'was what they had been doing until .^.fthe people stopped them. tf'f The Nationalists had broken appren.:.tideships and had turned the boys and ""''"girls out of the workshops, Mr. Savage Today they were making an appeal to youth, but he believed youth had too much sense to listen *->oto them. Because of what had been '--done the country was short of tradeswomen. He appealed to men in the -■"'building trade in particular to coT^ (operate with the Government to build ■•w the'homes that were needed. *••-'.<■■ Before Labour came into office, said ~^ Mr. Savage, the Public Works Depart- * ,-ment was a vast relief-work camp. .•;;, JWhen the Nationalists issued their manifesto in 1931 they said there were -jv-50,000 unemployed, but because of ■b^" their policy there were 58,000 unemployed in 1935. The Nationalists were going up and down the country saying the election was a battle between pri-

vate enterprise and Socialism—it was a battle between stupidity and common sense. (Cheers.) SOCIAL. CONDITIONS. "The social and economic conditions of today are miles ahead of what they were under the last Government and their system," Mr. Savage declared. Mr. Savage outlined what the Government had done. It had taken over the Reserve Bank. (Applause.) The time would soon come when the issue and control of currency would be in the hands of the representatives of the people. The Government had resumed control of the State Advances Department, had instituted the guaranteed price for dairy produce, and the farmers were intelligent enough to know the difference between their condition today anc| in 1935. By increasing wages and salaries, standards of living had been altered. New Zealand had as much wealth as any country on earth, and the Government wanted the producers of that wealth to enjoy it. They wanted to see the people on the land get what they were entitled to, but, as he had said three years ago, the farmers could not have a guarantee unless the other workers were also guaranteed a decent standard of life. A decent standard of life could only be provided by co-operative effort. All workers were giving a service that made society what it was, and it would be morally wrong to give one.section a thing at the expense of others. There were people who said wages were too high—wages were not high enough. (Applause.) There would never be equity while private corporations controlled the money of the country, Mr. Savage said. Labour did not claim to have increased the price of butter in London, but they had distributed the national income on a more equitable basis. Someone in the House had said that Labour was distributing: someone else's money, but no one could prove that a farmer could produce alone. Thousands of others helped, and it was by co-operative effort that the country's produce was marketed. The Government did not intend to take the farmer's land, and that was proved by the way the farmer's equity had been improved in the last three years. The Government had been accused of doing away with religion, and the latest was that the Government was hurrying on the election for fear the Prime Minister would pass away. Even if he did die New Zealand would still go on, but he hoped to live long enough to see the reactionary forces of New Zealand smashed for all time. (Cheers.) USE OF.BEOADCASTING. Mr. Savage said that he had been accused of proposing to make use of broadcasting. He had no intention of using it to defend himself, but he did intend to use it to defend the honour and credit of New Zealand. There is an element in New Zealand that would close the banks to defeat the Government, but the banks today were in a better position than they had ever been. He would use broadcasting if necessary, but he would look after himself without broadcasting. Returning to his review of the Government's achievements, Mr. Savage said that thousands of farm mortgages had been adjusted; £4,000,000 had been written off under the Government's relief legislation. Did that look like socialising the farmers? It looked like restoring their equities. Last year £1,500,000 was voted for the improvement of country roads, and «frey had another £1,500,000 for that, < *'ork this year. Bob Semple had undertaken to get all backblocks farmers out of the mud in five years. The wage-earner had no illusion about who raised his wages, improved his working conditions, and gave him the 40-hour week. If they realised the advantages they would make certain that no other political party would be allowed back into a position where it would immediately whittle down the benefits now enjoyed by the workers. "We have either to go on or go backward," said Mr. Savage. "Where do we go?" Loud chorus: On! Mr. Savage: That will do me. He went on to say that the business man had only to look at his increased turnover and to ask why people were spending more money to realise how beneficial Labour had been to him. Retailers knew the value of the purchasing power of the people. Thousands of shopkeepers were prosperous because people had more money to spend. Manufacturers, merchants, companies, and all commercial organisations knew the great gains in their turnover and profits. THE FARMER'S INCOME. "Half a million pounds' worth of machinery was made in New Zealand last year because under Labour farmers are sure of their income,"' said Mr. Savage. "An additional half a million pounds' worth of furniture because there were more homes. And talking about furniture, I see that

Brother Adam Hamilton is going to give you £100 for furniture. I think I stiould tell Peter Fraser's little story about this —'another little darling and the furniture is ours!' (Prolonged laughter.) This is one of their strong points—a £100 worth of furniture. You will get £20 off with the first child, so much for the second, and so much for }he third. When the whole lot come the furniture is yours! You can't buy furniture more cheaply than that!" (Laughter.) Mr. Savage said that Labour enabled the people to be better clad, and the tradesmen gained. And the pensioners would not forget what Labour had done for them during the last three years. Why did not the National Party oppose the Social Security Bill in the House? They said they would not allow the scheme to operate if they got back. They were going back to the old pensions system. They could have voted against the Bill without injuring the old pensions system. "They are making a mistake when they say they are not going to allow the Social Security Act to operate. That is a challenge to me, to the Government, and to you, ladies and gentlemen." SOCIAL SECURITY. Dealing with Labour's proposals for the next three years, Mr. Savage stressed the need for the application of the Social Security Act. The day was coming when all would have access to medical services and hospital treatment without the fear of not being able to pay. "The medical men in New Zealand will give the service," he said. "I'm sure of that; as sure as I'm standing on this platform tonight." The Nationalists were complaining about the boys and girls being taxed, Mr. Savage said, but they were quiet about the benefits they were to receive. They would get all medical and hospital benefits, and even if they were not ill they would be helping their parents and providing for their own old age. The Government was providing homes, improving the schools, and improving the system of education. The building programme was going ahead as rapidly as possible. The Labour Party not only stood for freedom in the home but for homes fit to live in. The material was available and homes were being built as fast as the men could build them. "The clear objective of Labour is to make money the servant instead of allowing it to remain the master of mankind," Mr. Savage said. "During the centuries that have gone money has taken many forms and has always been based upon something that had little relationship to the development of industry and the needs of the people. "When it is realised that during that period it has been controlled by private individuals or corporations whose main object was to pay dividends rather than to provide a service which would meet the requirements of production and distribution, it can easily be understood why it was that we had periods of rising and falling prices, trade booms and depressions, which in the main are due to fluctuations in the supply and distribution of buying power. It is just as necessary for the nation to be the sole authority for the issue and control of money as it is for it to be the sole authority for the organisation and control of the Army and Navy. The issues involved are too great to be left to- private individuals and corporations." BIGHT OF INHERITANCE. Mr. Savage said that the Government wanted to make it possible for men to work for themselves and their children. Labour would not destroy the right of inheritance. It would help the men on the land and would help others to go on the land. It would apply modern machinery to land improvement and, instead of putting men on the land to lose their savings, would put them on farms where they would be sure of a living. The previous Government embarked on a policy of deflation which bankrupted property owners by the thousands. They were not going to inflict the guaranteed price on anyone. If people thought they could get on without it, it would save the Government a lot of worry. He did not think they could. It was better for producers to know what they were going to get for their products at the beginning of the season. Coming to defence, Mr. Savage said that the Labour Government had done more for defence than any of its predecessors. Defence expenditure which had dropped to £600,000 in 1933 and stood at £1,000,000 in 1935, stood today at £3,000,000, including aviation expenditure. The money was being spent sensibly, according to the advice of experts. On the question of foreign policy, he said that the Government stood for collective security. (Hear, hear.) ELECTION ISSUE. "The issue at the election is a very simple one," Mr. Savage said. "The Labour Government is creating a new social order with higher standards of living and a greater measure of happiness and prosperity to the average man arid woman. As a democratic party, we are asking for an emphatic popular mandate." Mr. Savage said some claimed that a stronger Opposition was needed, but if the electors carried that to a logical conclusion Labour would be outside the fence. He wanted the electors to make every post a winning post. (Applause.) "If Mr. Hamilton gets back," said Mr. Savage, "it will mean old-age pensions at 22s 6d a week instead of 30s; widows with young children will get 20s instead of 25s a week; invalids will be given 20s a week instead of 30s; miners stricken with their occupational disease will be paid 25s instead of 30s; there is no sickness benefit and no emergency benefits. These people will remain dependent on charitable aid. It will mean exactly what it did last time. "I think it is a grand thing to be able to live in order to serve," said Mr. Savage in conclusion. "I have no other object in life at all. I do not mind being branded a visionary. I would soner be an idealist with some vision of the future and burn the midnight oil to make those visions come true, rather than go down to the grave as a great statesman waiting for something to turn up!" When Mr. Savage resumed his seat there was prolonged applause and cries of "Good old Mick" and "We want Savage." ■ The Mayor read a telegram received during the meeting conveying an assurance of support from "Waverley listeners." Mr. H. E. Combs moved and Mrs. C. S. Stewart seconded the following resolution:— "This mass meeting of Wellington citizens thanks the Rt. Hon. the Prime Minister for his masterly and inspiring review of the political situation in New Zealand, and his explanation of the Labour Party's election policy, and hereby records its sincere appreciation of the splendid work that he, his Cabinet colleagues, and the Parliamentary Labour Party have accomplished in three short years, in transforming the economic, industrial, and social life of the people. We are proud of the work they have done, and look forward with confidence to the continuation of their splendid achievements after election day. "Furthermore, we express our complete confidence in the Rt. Hon. the Prime Minister and the Labour Government, and pledge ourselves to work untiringly for their return on October 15." A show of hands was called for and the motion, was carried unanimously.