TOO MUCH STATE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11952, 24 May 1933, Page 5

TOO MUCH STATE

PRIVATE BUSINESS CONTROL

ADDRESS by MR. A. OAHJSANY

K £ED FOR GREATER- INTEREST

Taking ', advantage of their brief

visit to Gisborne, members of ' the Chamber of Commerce yesterday oniertained ; Messrs; ,J. Pearce vice-president*,- and -Mr,.'A. 0. Heany; organising secretary, of tho’ Associfitctl Chamber of Commerce. Tire president of . the local clianiborj, Mr. F. U. Dali, presided' and jat the close of the luncheon, Mi\ Ileany deiiyercd a very interesting address on. the subject of State interference with business. , > , .. ~ . _ r < In opening, Mr.. Heany said that he wished to explain some of the principles which were tlie foundations of the Chamber of Commerce. moye-r mold- .The .charge was frequently lu ado that Chambers. o.i Commerce wcro interfering too much in politics. SJ/iidoubtedly they did interfere in politics, but most people made the mistake of confusing party politics with other politics. . Chambers of Commerce had nothing to do with party politics, but it was essential that they . should interfere . with politics in the general sense. When tho Government ceased interference in business, Chambers of Commerce would cease interference in politics. “In tlioso days of struggle for . everybody,’’ he added, “the most severe, most enduring and’ most momontous contest that is in progress is that being waged by the individual against tlie State for the right to employ his abilities in private trade. The issuo is the. survival, of private enterprise in trade', or tho ultimate taking over .by the State of the moans of production, distribution and exchange.

“On the one blind w 0 have,. pri-

vate business striving to produce it's best and on the other tho State trying to prevent this being done. These activities of tho State fall under four heads:—(l) Restrictive legislation; (2) the exemptions and pri-

vileges enjoyed by State and ■ local

body trading concerns in connection . with taxation, rates and other charges and conditions ; (3) the growth of Stato departments beyond their original functions, to the detriment of private trade, and 4) harassing regulations and their arbitrary enforcement by over-zealous officials. “Particularly in this time of depression,. when all possible freedom and encouragement should be given te the exorcise of initiative and enterprise in the individual, w,e find these qualities smothered' by innumerable acts of Government interference in business, which make Ule carrying-on of trade, industry and commerce a matter of increasing difficulty, and in some cases an ini possibility.. ■

“Tho general public has little or no idea of the extent of this evil, which is still growing steadily. They suffer only Hie effect and do not realises the cause. In this country ve have deified tire State and petrified tho individual. YYe .have sacrificed lhe efficient for. tlio inefficient, and now wo. are reaping the meagre liaivest). The whole trend of our legislation is toward complete State Socialism. and we .cannot have that and wealth also.

TYPICAL INSTANCES OF STATE

control

•<*l “Through those activities of the S'Uvce a relentless pressure is being exercised on business. One can pick instances at iandom of harmful State control. Under the Transport Act. road services all over the con., try are being deliberately put out it action by the State; because °f Hie powers of absolute control gxaut eel te produce boards, curtain products way not be exported except ill rough seini-State channels: through State interference with private contracts, the people, way not invest in mortgages except on conditions determined by the State; they may nu purchase exchange except at tie price fixed by the State: the Stut ; by doing its own public works, prevents the growth of the private engineering industry: by the cxeicis of the Board of Trade Act. Commercial Trusts Act and Cost of Living Act. it is creating monopolies and restraining trade; through its len<ing departments, it has cnpplec private lending; it is rapidly becoming the largest lawyer and land agent; it is a substantial architect; it takes privileges in the. c ; ourts °* law as against private citizens; i is using powers .to forbid the crec - ion of new picture theatres and k dairy factories, and. so on almost in- ' definitely. It is extraordinary that there should he this continual conflict between private enterprise and the State; when the State depends so utterly on private enterprise to* its revenue.

CONTROLLED 13V UNSEEN

HANDS

• ,“No doubt' a- pi-ima- facie, case can bo made out for all these State activities,. and others like them, . the greater the measure of control, tho smaller, the field for private endeavour. The State, from .being, our servant, has" become our taskmaster. In, many directions we are being controlled by the unseen hands of tlte bureaucracy. Departments ask for legislation ; and regulations and get them. The businessman who objects is- looked' on a 3 an impediment, private trade is overridden, and the country suffers accordingly. Those remarks are directed at neither .Governments nor individuals, but if. is well that we should' know where wo : are heading. National, recovery will bo assisted not by the imposition of any new restrictions on trade but by the" speedy removal of existing .Turns •' TV -y ~ {•:■ ■

FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF : : FRiIVATE RIGHTS. •

‘ Our national character and. tho ou r economic life are, being undermined ,by the supersedeficb. of thm State over , private initiative and dqterpriso. Whon. private trade ha 3 been weakened and oven ffi some cases eliminated by this sort of suppression,. tile State will enter into the conduct of i’ui'ther services, for the peoplo, protesting the while that since private enterprise cannot serve the people, it must do so. -

Viu- • ACm,, TEST OF I£QUAL . ESSENTIAL. “When that, luippons in trade, tho pric'eyof, the State’s -•services will bo the, pHco: of tho lheOieieucy o.f a State conducted monopoly which has no Cqmjpetitbr witli. which to contend;. Prico's will be higher, and quality and service lower. And who will ; there bo, for this State. to tax dpr its revenue? The taxable earning capacity of. the people is already seriously impaired by unfairly competitive State and local body . enterprise. It is an astonishing thing that the flagrant violation of private rights that has been going on for years, resulting in injury and destruction to eld-established, businoses, can be tolerated in. a British country. ■•.“ Because of the advantages, the State allows itself and local bodies in trade, we are being hoodwinked as to tho 'real value of our publiclyowned trading concerns, • and until tlio illusion of the competence of the State in trade is subjected to tbo acid test of equal conditions, wo must continue to suffer heavier taxation and a higher cost of living than need bo, as well as the hobbling of the employable capacity of private enterprise. MATTERS OF NATIONALISM.

“It has become a matter of national urgency, as well as of common justice, that first, existing legislation and regulations governing trade shout'd he thoroughly overhauled ; second, ; that publicly-owned trading concorns should be made to pay rates and depreciation, and customs, land, income and general taxes tlio same as' private enterprise; third, that tlio foreign expansion of State enterprise should be checked; and, fourth, that the excessive zeal of State officials should be subordinated to the public interest.” Never before proceeded Mr. Heany, bad there been greater need for keeping State out of business. It was .becoming very obvious that this interference was not. to the benefit of the people. Their .aim should be to reorganise the whole of the S>-atp machinery to accord with the needs of the community, io eliminate some of that machinery if considered necessary. Chambers of Commerce owed a great deal to the executive in Wellington which was working for the common good without payment oi anv sort.

FINANCIAL AID ASKED FROM GISBORNE CHAMBER,

In closing, the. speaker pointed out that, since the Associated .Chambers had become a full time organisation. the expenditure had substantially increased. Previously the greater part of the funds-came from the four centres, but now these centres wore asking 'what- other chambers were doing. The Associated Chambers bad drawn'up a budget for the vear and in. this it was laid down that £45 was expected from Gisborne. Money only for absblutelv necessary needs was being asked. If Gisborne had a reserve, a direct payment immediately was suggested, otherwise there should be a cam ass of members and other businessmen. He felt confident that tlie Gisborne Chamber, not only in its ewn interests, but also in the interests of the community, would respond generously. as bad been the ease i ,u most other centres.

TANGIBLE RESULTS OF CH A AIDERS’ P EOTESTS.

Mr. G. G. Dlooic iuijuired whether any attention was being given bj M.P.’s to representations by tin Chambers.

M>r. Luke pointed out, that some legislation proposed bad not been put on the Statute Book because o; the Chambers' opposition. Not m much had beyn done as had been hoped, but undoubtedly the position was far better than if no action had been take,,. Unless tho business community took up the matter moie wholeheartedly than in the past, the same success would not be possible in tbe future. The chairman suited that he believed both local members and the council appreciated fully the work or the executive. (Hear! Hear.) It was realised they were doing a vast amount of work without any remumeration. The local chamber also ovreativ appreciated tlie visit- of the centre officers that daj. EFFECT'S. ON THE RETAILER.

Statements had been made, piooceded Mr. Ball, that retailers were feeling the effects of Government interference, but was it not a fact that a greater factor was tho elimination of the (retailer by tho growing favor secured by the factory-to-eonsumer method, not simply State interference “That is a direct result of Government interference; if wc had move tinio I could prove it,” stated Mi. Luke. ,

Mr. Ball stated til at the main question appeared to he whether Government interference in different directions was due to requests by those same retailors. How far were the majority to be over-ruled, he asked. The whole matter boiled down to lack of interest, arid apathy in regard to government, whether local of State.

Mr. Luke contended t] j&i, - until tlicv awakened the community to a sense of general good, instead. of sectional welfare, not much progress iwa-s possible. , -i ... On belialf of Mr. Beany and himself, Mr. Luke thanked the* Gisborne .Chamber.: .for’, tlie.. hospitality extended and fiie meeting closed.