REAL SOCIAL PROBLEM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11403, 2 January 1931, Page 3

REAL SOCIAL PROBLEM

AVORK FOR EVERY ADULT IN COMAIUNITY

LABOR LEADER REVIEWIS POSITION

FARMER SHOULD BE GIVEN SYSTEM OF CREDIT

(Press Association.) . , . WESTPORT,. Dec.'3l. <’ This morning 'the following' message was handed to the- press by Mr. IT. E. Holland, leader, of the Lubor Party: "I join, in ./voicing 'the universal wish for happiness arid. prosperity in .-the. coming, year, fully realising that the problem before all of us is how to translate the -human element of the .message into line with tliev experiences of our " everyday , lives,' for . after. all real happiifess; is that which finds its expression riot! in the lives of a privileged section, but'in' the homes of the pepple as a whole. The sum total of prosperity, is . a condition which prevails when the people in the mass are lifted above the haunting fear of want. How to bring that about is a real social problem —how to provide every adult member of .the community with the opportunity to .earn a means of purchasing a sufficiency of the necessaries of life for his wife and family and himself, and./how to make adequate provision for those whom accident and sickness will prevent from winning a living by their own labor. • . .

“There is no shortage .of these necessaries of life in this most richlyproductive country.- There- never has been such a shortage. There has been, and there is, a large , scale, failure to bring the laboring ’ power of willing men who are workless into application with. Nature’s waiting resources, and because of this failure we have been, and are now, • confronted with the monstrous paradox of women and children enduring poverty, want, and hunger in a land in which a super-abundance of food and clothing and' other human requirements are produced. In a country with immense areas lying idle, with millions of pounds’ ‘ worth ,of national and local public works waiting to be done, with a multitude, of,-primary and secondary industries - struggling to' maintain a precarious existence, and awaiting .encouragement and assistance, we have the equally monstrous paradox ef thousands of unemployed men clamoring for the right to work, which means the right to live!' “What is the remedy? The duty of all parties is to provide an effective answer to the question, especially is it the duty of the Government for the ■ time being. Certain of our primary industries are suffering for the time being because of what appears to be a deflation process operating in other lands, as well as in our own, but as I see it. the position is not nearly so dismal as some have a tendency to present, it. New Zealand, like Australia, is a country of rapid recoveries from * passing economic depressions, and when the present position in relation to our export, values is viewed in comparison with the averages ot past, years, the need for hopelessness and pessimism disappears. At the same time we-all realise the immediate difficulties with which the primary producers are faced, and it seems to me that the' greatest of these insofar as the bona fide ‘working farmer is concerned is the problem of bis interest liabilities. In times of ccononvc stress when cheaper credits are his outstanding need, the money market has a habit of tightening against the primary producer in common with the rest, of the community. On those who bold the power, the obligation rests to provide a better organisation of credit that, that which now exists, and such organisation can only effectively take place under public control.

WAGE REDUCTION WOULD PRECIPITATE CRISIS

"No policy of wage reductions could help New Zealand, at Ur's juncture. It certainly could not help the working farmer", whose wages bill frequently 0 is a small circumstance compared with his interest bill. Widespread wage reduction would have for it-s main effect the lowering of the living standard, of the people as a whole, and there would be a disastrous curtailment of purchasing power, and consequently a severe depreciation of the local market in which the farmer sells his products. Sucli a policy would accentuate the period of economic depression and would tend to precipitate the very crisis we wish to avoid. It will, moreover, be likely to affect the volume of our exports, for since exports are paid for by imports it follows that our capacity to export is conditional on our capacity-to consume the imports we receive, STATE MUST AID INDUSTRIES "Whatever party governs during the coming year it can only succeed provided its legislative enactments are framed, and its administrative activities shaped, in such a way as to make for stabilitv for those who render soc. ial service to the Dominion. Close attention will have to ho devoted to problems surrounding the operations of agricultural and pastoral primary producers, andi also to those who are engaged in the .output of coal and timber, other equally important primary products. State aid and encouragement must of necessity ho forthcoming in the case of these, and also secondary industries. No willing worker should be compelled to remain idle. If the right to work is denied it follows that \ unemployment sustenance must be forthcoming, but the payment of wages for useful work done is emphatically more satisfactory to the worker and the community than sustenance in lieu of work. HOW EMPLOYMENT CAN TIE PEOVJDED "How then can employment he provided? '' By selecting thousands of the most suitable men from the ranks of the unemployed and setting them to, work reading,. clearing, and preparing for settlement . jlands_. that are now unoccupied, and unVvorßcd; by the elnplo.vment of other men on public .works that are necessary, atid: consequently of economic value to the people of New Zealand; by building up; and ■developing both primary nnd secondary industries; by shortening the hours of labor, particularly in those industries into which labor-saving machinery has been extensively introduced; by serious endeavor to stabilise purclias.' ing power; and by‘a. courageous determination to .maintain living standard of the people at the ■ highest possible level. »': "May tho coming of• the new year bring a fuller recognition of the identity of interests of all who give service in the useful occupations of the. country. May, it. bring such a, change of economic conditions that The Social idea will ultimately fmd.vits < application. in the process of distribution, equally with the process of production. 'May the new year bring happiness and, prosperity for all, with the labor of the hand, and the bram reaping its true .reward." A "'A',;. • :