SOCIALIST “CHANGE OF TUNE” IS ALLEGED IN HOUSE

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 August 1949, Page 3

SOCIALIST “CHANGE OF TUNE” IS ALLEGED IN HOUSE

, WELLINGTON, August 30 (P.A.). More Labour members spoke in favour of a dollar loan in the House of Representatives today, although they were twitted by Opposition members. Mr C. H. Chapman (Government, Wellington Central) said the United States, in spite of much ill-founded 'criticism, had greatly aided by loan and gift the recovery of Western Europe. If the New Zealand Government considered it advisable to approach the United States _fdr a loan to obtain certain essential goods, especially tractors and other equipment, no unfair criticism should be levelled at the Minister of Finance , (Mr Nash). I Mr G. F. Sim (Opposition, Waikato) said New Zealand Socialists had I changed their tune and were now saying that there was a field for capi- I talism and a field for Socialism and 1 that both could work together. They were even saying that to maintain; standards of living and to increase food exports to Socialist Britain New Zealand must have a dollar loan from capitalist America. This was from the members of a Government, one of whose Ministers had said during the recent war: “When the war is over the capitalistic system will be as dead as Julius Caesar.” Fortunately that prediction had been false and capitalistic America had helped to reestablish Western Europe. Dr A. M. Finlay (Government,; North Shore) said there was still a ’ tendency in the United States to re- j gard the present world economic crisis as primarily a deficit of goods in Western Europe to be remedied by harder woi'k and the abandonment of Socialist policies, whereas the crisis really arose from a surplus of American goods. For the first time in history a major country had a surplus of both primary and secondary production and American foreign trade was chiefly concerned with getting rid of that surplus. It was not merely a case of Britain and other countries failing to capture American markets. [ “No Real Solution” Britain could cut her selling prices 'by reducing wages and living standards, as would be inevitable if ster- ■ ling were devalued, but that would > be no real solution, said Dr Finlay. : The crisis might force the British : Government to take such steps of ; price control enforcement as would ! result in the survival only of the most efficient producers. The best Ameri- ; can help to Britain would be to make her industry more efficient. Another 1 corrective would be an increase in ( east-west trade in Europe, but the real solution appeared to lie in further long-term American loans on a , predictable basis. i Dr Finlay said the proposed Ami erican loan to New Zealand would i be a good investment not only for the ! United States and New Zealand, but for Britain and the rest of the world, for every 1,000,000 dollars lent should within a few years produce more than 1,000,000 dollars’ worth of food.