“ADDRESS” DEBATE

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 March 1943, Page 2

“ADDRESS” DEBATE

ANGLO-U.S.A. RELATIONS

AIR BASES IN N.Z. WELLINGTON, March 8 Continuing the Address-in-Reply debate, Mr Doidge (Nat., Tauranga) referred to the Scrimgeour case. He said the Government had unquestionably lost prestige over the matter. Its action had been expressed as weak, vacillating and spineless, we thought members ought to be. toia what was behind the whole business. It seemed to him, from the Appeal Board proceedings, that someone was gunning for Mr Scrimgeour. ine public was quick to resent anythm o That looked like a vendetta. Mr Doidge said that the people in New Zealand were deeply concerned over statements made recently in tne United States by Congressman Maas that New Zealand had used leaselend funds to build airfields, and that the United States would not relinquish these airfields after the war. The Prime Minister had replied to the statement, stating that it was untrue that airfields were all built under the lease-lend system. He replied to the suggestion that wnen the war was ended the United States would retain the air bases m this The "Minister of Supply (Mr Sullivan) said that this matter had been raised officially. Mr Doidge said that the people of New Zealand were very appreciative of the American aid. It would be foolish to ignore the fact that there were many Americans who did non like us. For instance, he said, there had been a strange outburst recently by Mr Wendel Willkie. The Hearst Press had never disguised its dislike of Britain. There also W’ere MiHenry Luce and Colonel McCormick. 'These people, of course, were not representative of a vast body of the United States opinion, but their. views were the opinions of a not inconsiderable portion. We must remember that, glad as we were to have the United States aid, the United States had only come into the war because they had to. Britain would always be a motherland to New Zealand. Never over one acre of New Zealand would any flag fly save our own New Zealand flag and the Union Jack. Mr A. S. Richards (Govt, Roskill), speaking of Mr Doidge’s reference to Mr Scrimgeour, denied that ivlr Scrimgeour had been sacked. He had been suspended certainly, but now he had been reinstated. Mr Richards defended the Internal Marketing Department. He compared the prices of butter, wheat, meat, wool and cheese in New Zealand now with those during the last war. On these commodities, during three years oi the last war, eighteen million pounds of excess war profits had been made, he said; but such was not the case in the present war. MAPiKETING The Minister of Marketing (Mr Barclay) denied the statement which he said had been published by soma newspapers, that the United States was getting more for the butter and cheese it sent to. Britain than New Zealand was getting. The Minister said that he had cabled to England for the facts, and he had been informed that no butter is being shipped there from the United States. Cheese from the United States was being bought for 6.27 d sterling per pound, as compared with the 7.BZu sterling received by New Zealand. To the United States forces in New Zealand we supplied cheese at 7.4 d per pound. Mr Barclay also contended that the woolgrowers were . receiving 50 per cent, more for their wool than they received before the war. Giving the woolgrowers’ incomes for wool grown for export and for consumption in New Zealand, the Minister said that in 1937-38 the wool-growers received £12,775,000; in 1938-39, £12,577,000; in 1939-1940, £16,411,000; in 1940-41, £17,272,000; and in 1941-42, £l«,167,000. Mr Barclay added that there certainly had been an increase in production in the last two years, but in the prices alone the sheepfarmer was better off to the extent' of 36 per cent. The Government’ really understood the farmers’ position,'and it was trying to stabilise it, the same as it wished to stabilise the position of the workers. Mrs A. N. Grigg (Nat., Mid-Canter-bury) made a plea that unnecessary marketing costs- should be cut out in the case of essential commodities. She suggested that a committee, including women members, should be set up to investigate the whole matter. Women should be represented because they had to handle the family budget. Women, she said, were not asking for luxuries, but they did ask for good wholesome food for their families. She contended that it was wrong that a Government Department, such as the Internal Marketing Division, should make a. profit handling essential foodstuffs. She stated that a large number of children under the age of fifteen were working in factories, etc. She asked that the Government should take steps to disallow this. Mrs Grigg made a plea for granting soldiers the freehold of their farm properties when they returned from the war. It seemed unfair that they should be denied this privilege. They had fought for their country. It was unfair that they should be denied the right of owning a foot of it. Mr J. Thorn (Govt.. Thames) said that if the Internal Marketing Division were to be condemned, it should be condemned on any mishandling of commodities that it actually dealt with, but not on mishandling of those for which it had no responsibility. For instance, it did not handle plums, peaches, New Zealand-grown oranges, grapefruit, or vegetables. All of these commodities were controlled by private enterprise, and the high prices were attributable to the present auctioneering system operating on the market, which was short of supplies. He complimented the Division on its handling of apples and pears and lemons. CHRISTIAN ORDER Sir A. P. Ngata (Nat., Eastern Maori) said that a large part of the world’s population comprised native races. He would ask what place these coloured races were going to have in the operation of the principles of .the Atlantic Charter and the New Christian Order. There had been some sort of smug complacency in some of the addresses given from the churches. He would like to know what was going to be done in the New Christian Order for Mohammedans, Buddhists, Brahmins, and followers of Confucius. A lot of Maoris were wondering if their race was to share in l the New Christian Order. He stated that a lark of coordination seemed to exist between the National Patriotic Board and Provincial Councils. With regard to the Rehabilitation Board’s policy, he contended that executives should be appointed whom Maoris should be able to approach to ascertain what was being done with regard to houses and land for Maori soldiers. He urged the appointment of a Native Minister to deal with these subjects. He said that Maoris wanted not only equality in law, but equality of opportunity. He also advocated the settlement of old native land claims.

Mr Fraser, interposing, said that in this respect some lead from the Maoris themselves would be helpful. Mr Moncur (Govt., Rotorua) advocated that the people of New Zealand should be taken more fully into the Government’s confidence regard-

ing certain matters affecting the war. Mr Moncur instanced the fact that on March 3 last year, fifteen flying-boats left Java, fully loaded with refugee women and children, and they were all shot down by Japanese Zero planes off Broome, on the north-west coast of Australia. This information was not given to the people of New Zealand until five weeks ago. Personally, he thought that it should have been given immediately that it happened, or not at all. Such delays in releasing news created suspicion among the people who were apt to think that something must be happening about which they .were not being told. Mr Moncur also paid tribute to the New Zealand manu- 1 facturers, stating that we in this country could "produce goods the equal of any in the world. The debate was continued by Mr Coleman (Govt., Gisborne) and Hon. J. G. Cobbe (Nat., Manawatu), and was interrupted by the adjournment at 10.30, when the House rose until 2.30 to-morrow.