CURTIN'S DRAB PICTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 11, 13 July 1944, Page 5

CURTIN'S DRAB PICTURE

CANBERRA, Juy 12

A post-war partnership between private enterprise and Government control has been advocated by Mr. Curtin. It would be dangerous, in the disturbed years following the war, he said, to hand over -the affairs of the country to private enterprise without strict control. To avert danger, the Federal Government must have the necessary powers. , Without them the Government could not control prices effectively, ration goods in short supply, or control investment. "The Federal Government is asking the country, at the referendum, to give it powers to deal with these matters whiclt the British Government has placed at the forefront of its White Paper on its employment policy," said Mr. Curtin. "The British plan to allow private enterprise to play an important part in post-war development applies to all democratic countries, but controls are essential. , "After the war, spending power will be high and goods in short supply, while there will be an enormous demand for investment projects. Unless private enterprise is controlled, the weak will be driven to the wall and the financially strong will become more firmly entrenched. "Profiteering will be rife and the people's sayings will be lost in the inflation which will inevitably follow."