NATIONAL PROSPERITY

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 April 1938, Page 12

NATIONAL PROSPERITY

.MR. SAVAGE’S REVIEW

•'BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE” A--4 L-J “

[PEB PBESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, April 20. A. particularly enthusiastic reception was accorded the Prime Minister, (Mr. Savage) when he addressed a crowded audience in Wellington Town Hall to-night, in connection with the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party. The Concert Chamber of the Town Hall was' also crowded, Mr. Savage’s speech being heard there through loud-speakers. Tlie Prime Minister was introduced by Mr. J. Roberts, the President of the Labour Party; who said that Mr. Savage personally had proved an inspiration to the Labour Party. The Prime Minister was then greeted by the singing of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Mr. Savage said that the present occasion was one of the pleasurable experiences in Parliamentary life. “One would fail to be human,” he added, "if he were not moved by such an enthusiastic reception.”

Referring to opponents of the Labour Party and their misrepresentations, Mr. Savage said that he would let nothing get in his way, or in the way of his Party in giving service, to the people. His opponents had tried every way of getting in the way, and had used both ridicule and misrepresentation, but they had failed in their objective. One thing which the actions of their opponents prompted him to say was: “Thank Heaven for our broadcasting service.” The Prime Minister referred to a number of current msirepresentations covering Labour’s policy, and also himself. "It is probable,” he said, “that most of you have heard all sorts of rumours about my health, because of a recent indisposition. According to my- political opponents, I am suffering from every known malady, from hiccups to hardening of the arteries. All kinds of stories are abroad. A friendly London’ editor has advised me by air mail that 1 am to resign when the elections are over. Others have gone so far as to select my successor, but the political desiny of this country rests with the people. and only they have the power to remove me from office. I' have never felt better in my life than I do to-night. Please fake no notice of those who, for political reasons, are conducting a whispering campaign at my expense; but

1 will have something more to say about politics in a moment. In the meantime, let us look at actual conditions in the country.

“The economic position of New Zealand is better to-day than it has ever been in the recorded history of this country. Trade has been buoyant since the Government came into” office with a stimulating policy. Prosperity is more widespread, more substantial, and more secure than it has ever been before in the Dominion. We have broken all records. Why have we broken all trade records? Because the national income has been more equitably distributed than ever before. The rank and file of the people have been better able to buy. and to pay their bills. May I anticipate the editorial rejoinder to-morrow, that we have also broken all previous records in respect of taxation revenue, which is a very different thing from increased rates of taxation. Of course we have, but at the same time we have excelled the records of all former governments in spending the money to the best advantage of the people as a whole. What is taxation used for? Let me analyse tjie use which was made of the revenue. For Labour’s first complete year of office, 1936-37, the total revenue from taxation was approximately £31,000,000;' £11,000,000 was national debt services, of which £6,500,000 went overseas; £18,000,000 was spent on social services (social services include health, education, pensions and unemployment relief. More than half the amount which is obtained from taxation is handed straight back to the people); £3,000,000 was for highways. The rest of the money went in essential repairs, defence, and administration.

“Now, we hear a lot said about high taxation, but the test is, what . have people left after paying taxation? Between 1935 and 1937 the aggregate private income increased £37,000,000. The yield from taxation increased by £10,000,000. The extra money left for the people was £27,000,000. It is too early yet to' give full detailed results of the past financial year, which closed at the end of last month. A provisional report, however, shows that the year wds again notable in comprehensive evidence of progress and prosperity. Another substantial surplus has been secured, and I can assure you that my colleague, Hon. Walter Nash, will be able, as Minister of Finance, to present A SPLENDID BUDGET to Parliament next session. The salient feature of State finance last year is this, there will be a surplus of approximately £BOO,OOO, and the public debt will be less at the end of the financial yeai’ than it was at the beginning. This is a fact, in sj>i|e of critics who charge the Government with overspending. Surpluses hre important, hut not 'half so important as health arid social security? and we will organise our finances and oiir economy so that the people will''be’secure in the benefits which should be theirs. Our opponents say we are spending a lot of

money. Of course we are. Everyone is spending a lot of money. That is the reason why trade is expanding. J here is no other way to expand trade at home or abroad. What is the real position? Ihe total value of production last year was the highest on record in New Zealand. The cash increase in two years of Labour was over £39,000,000. as compared with a production value decrease of fully £37.000,000 in the two blackest years of the depression government. It docs not require monthly bulletins to prove the difference in values, but. while frankly admitting the gain and effect of oversea increases, I take leave to point out that the hug eaccretions to the volume of production are the direct results of the Labour Government’s policy of more equitable distribution of income. Official figures prove that the increase in the volume of production from field and factory was much larger, after the first full year of the Labour Government, than in any of the previous, recorded years. If that is not a convincing' testimony of the wisdom of the Labour Party’s contention that increased demand, due to guaranteed prices, higher wages, pensions, etc., would cause increased production, then there can be no value in any kind of factual evidence at all. Let me illustrate from the prosperity chart the change which has taken place as a result of two years of Labour rule, taking the latest available figures. First of all, take the trading position—the year ending February, 1936—the year ending February, 1938. increase per cent.: —Exports £48,360,000 (£65,150,000) 35 per cent.; imports £37,250,000 (£57,750,000) 54 per cent. Is that the evidence of ruin that our opponents predicted and still predict? Then take the banking figures, as a further index to business activity. February, 1936, February 1938. cheque transactions (weekly average) £l6. 670,000 (£20,950.000), an increase of 25 per cent. Bank notes in circulation (month’s figures) £6,860,000 (£9,300,000), an increase of 35 per cent. Not only are our people spending more. They are also saving more. Year ending March, 1936, year ending March, 1938, increase, Post Office Savings Bank deposit figures £25,600,000 (£33,000,000) 29 per cent. “I would like to remind you, at this point, that we are charged with being spendthrifts and reckless visionaries. The perpetual cry of the Nationalists is that we should concentrate on saving for a rainy day. It is thus suggested that the Government, has encouraged the community to become thriftless, to 'eat, drink, and be merry.’ But thrift to-day is at a peak level. All records in savings have been surpassed under Labour. To-day, there are over 1,130,000 depositors in the Post Office and trustee savings banks. Of that record total, fully 880,000 are in the Post Office Savings Bank, with over £58,000,000 to their credit at the end of last year. Since the Labour Government restored wages and quickened development and industrial enterprise, the deposits of savings have exceeded the withdrawals by over £3,000,000 a year. “Labour came into office pledged to restore the PURCHASING POWER of the people. The statistics of wages and salaries paid, as revealed by the unemployment tax returns, show how (his pledge has been fulfilled: Year ended March, 193(u year ended March. 1938. increase, wages £72,000,000 (£100,000,000) 39 per cent. I ask, would that increase of £28,000,000 in the workers' wages have occurred had Labour not been returned to power? Will it be maintained if Labour ceases to be in power? If the buying power of the people’ is reduced, how will it affect the commercial life of the country? It is that extra £28,000,000 which has enabled the people to purchase more food, more clothes, more pleasure, and still to put more away in the savings banks for a rainy day. "The next point 1 wish to refer to is unemployment. The registered number of unemployed in March, 1936, was 54,500; in March. 1938, it is 6,695, to which must be added to make a comparison with the figures two years ago 8,000 men totally unfit for any work whatsoever. To-day there are over 20,000 men on public works, and their output shows that they are not afflicted with (he ‘leprosy of laziness.’ Public ' works have never been more economical or more efficient. These 20.000 men are paid at living wage rates, with conditions unsurpassed in Similar work in any other part of the world. Thousands of retailers, shopkeepers, and manufacturers are all thriving, as a. result of the Labour Government expansion policy.

In this connection, I would like to refer to the social services generally. The biggest increase in the Labour budget is for social services. New Zealand is one of the richest countries in the world, and can afford its social services. Next to U.S.A., New Zealand has more motor-cars per head than any other country, this in spite of the fact that cars cost twice as much in New Zealand as in the U.S.A. In two years, the number of cars has increased by 27 per cent. Seventy-four of every 100 homes has a radio set, and the number of licenses is still increasing. In two years, the number of radio licenses has increased by just on 30 per cent. In the last twelve months, people could afford to invest £6,840,000 on the totalisator, representing an increase of 101 per cent, over two years. There can be no question of the ability to pay for social services. Labour’s policy of increasing social services at a cost well within the capacity of a rich country to pay, without any undue strain at all, has raised the ire of the Nationalists; but you may accept my assurance that, nothwithstanding the bieatings of the daily Rress and the selfish cry of big interests, the SOCIAL SECURITY PLAN of the Government will be made the law of the land during the next session of parliament. The newspapers have seized upon actuarial calculations of the probable cost in ten and forty years, but tliey are Very silent about the inevitable, increases in production that will take place during the same period. The experience of the past is not without its value in this

respect. In 1900, the value of production was £34,000,000. In 1937, the value of production was £136,000,000, an increase in value of 300 per cent. Of course, one has to take into account also increases in population and the movement.in prices. A further comparison should therefore be made between the volume of production at the beginning of the century, and the present dya. This comparison of volume of production reveals an increase of 100 per cent. Similar increases have taken place. In 1926-27 (one of the best of the pre-depression years) the value of production was £120,000,000. In 1936-37, the value of production was £136,000,000. Over the same period, the volume of production increased by 18 per cent., and that is only half the story. People are engaged not only in the production of goods, but also of services. These, too, have been increasing. Of course, there arc no precise figures, but we do know this, that in 1900 one-efiird of those actively engaged were producing services. To-day, the proportion has increased to one-half of the working population, and wo can expect this movement to continue with the advance in the standards of living. But (here are other vital factors in addition to this marked shift from the production of goods to that of services. The PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY of Labour has increased by approximately 28 per cent, since 1901, and with the advance in scientific progress and mechanical efficiency, we can further increase. There is nothing static in the organisation of society, and to deny the inevitability of future increases in production is mere prejudice, flying in the face of reason and commonsense.”

Mr. Savage, after referring to the increase in production at the present time, stated that the increases in the 1936-37 year were very large, ranging from. 20 to 50 per cent., and if the increased amount paid in wages last year is any indication, the figures of industrial production will establish a new record. He then went on to the position of the farmer. “Official statistics,” he said, “do not sustain many of the complaints made by the Press. On the contrary, the figures demonstrate a magnificent advance on the treatment he received from the Coalition Government. The farmer's improved position is indicated to a remarkable degree by the greater use of fertilisers and agricultural machinery. The increase in the production of superphosphates in two years was 30,000 tons. The 1936-37 production was a record. The area top-dressed, which decreased under the Forbes-Coates Government by 430,000 acres, when artificial depression was considered to be of greater benefit to the country than artificial fertilisers, has increased under Labour in two years by 650,000 acres. The improved INCOME OF THE FARMER is also reflected in the increased use of agricultural machinery. In two years, an additional 1,700 dairy farmers have purchased milking plants; and so with agricultu'fa* tractors. .Since 1935, no fewer than 1,240 farmers have bought these machines, which reduce manual and animal labour. Farm prosperity has, in fact, been demonstrated in many ways. The farmer, like the prosperous townsman, has a perfect right to use his increased income as he desires, but it may be observed that last year the country people bought 30 per cent, more brand new motor cars than they did in 1936. Is that a sign of bad times? Then there is the wonderful increase in totalisator investments at race meetings. The rate of increase ranged from 100 per cent, to 430 per cent. The average increase in 17 country districts, last year, was twice as much, compared with the investments five years ago. The benefits of a guaranteed income to dairy farmers have been reflected in the official returns. These gains cannot be refuted. Let me remind the dairy farmers that, although they doubled production in the ten years before the advent of the Labour Government in December, 1935, they did not get a penny extra as a reward for their splendid efforts. They were driven'to the verge of bankruptcy, and yet. they are invited to destroy the present system of guaranteed prices, and begin all over again. The Labour Government’s guaranteed price plan gives the dairy farmers justice and security. Are the farmers likely to surrender the substance for the shadow? Every dairy farmer knows at the beginning of the season what price he is to receive. He is entitled to his share of the total production of the country, and has the right at all times to approach the Government to present his claims. It may be that we all give too much thought to material things. What is to be New Zealand’s destiny? After all, that is the most vital problem confronting the people of the Dominion. Are we to go forward and make the most of the abundant life Providence offers in this beautiful land? Are we to go back to the old ways of economic conflict, with no social security for the people? Personally, I am prepared to give the remainder of my years to making New Zealand a better country for New Zealanders, and promoting by full co-operation with the other countries in the British Commonwealth of Nations a better world order, giving every citizen a fair chance to get happiness out of life, with social security in old age. That, is my philosophy. That broadly, is the policy of the Labour Government and Party. All down the ages, one truth has been fixed. It is this, ‘Where there is ho vision, the people perish.’ ”