SOCIAL SERVICES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 252, 7 October 1932, Page 7

SOCIAL SERVICES

PROPOSED CUTS

MINISTER’S criticism.

THE GOVERNMENT’S DUTT

(From Our Special Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Oct. 7. Certain sections of the National Expenditure Commission’s report have obviously not found favour with Cabinet according to a statement by the Minister of Health, the Hon. J. A. Young, official Government spokesman, in the financial debate in the House of Representatives last night. While admitting the value of certain parts of the report he denounced others, especially those relating to the proposed cutting of social services.

Mr Young commented on the growth of social services and the increased burden being laced on the country as a. result. He said that one of the dangers which beset modern government was that it might crash under, the weight of its own humanity. The Commission was composed of people who were called “business men.’’

Labour voices: We accept that. Mr Young said that if business men controlled the country with their cold, machine-like mentality they would soon bring the people to a state of discontent. It was impossible to apply such business methods to the conduct of public affairs. The business of the State was very different from commercial transactions, for it dealt, for the most part, with human beings and not material questions which could be reduced to terms of hard cash. The greatest asset a country could have was the health of its people and the Government had a duty to its people in this respect. The nation needed men trained in State affairs, who understood hufiian nature and who were imbued with the desire and capacity to give service in the building up of a happy and contented people. The first essential for the people was self-reliance. People should be ready to do things for themselves and not lean on the State for its assistance. Those who were ready to rely on the State for everything would soon bring down upon themselves the very pillars of society and they would eventually give way to some other racial group. The character of man had not changed, and what had happened in the world in past days would occur again as soon as similar circumstances presented themselves.

“I want to say. that we have social services in this country which require to be upheld, and as far as I am concerned and as far as the Government is concerned, they will bo upheld,’’ the Minister said. Criticism had been made against State activities on behalf of mothers and. infants. The country was receiving great assistance in this respect from the Plunket Society, two-thirds of whose total income came from private donations. It could not be overlooked that if this society were not working the Government would have to bear the whole cost, for the work would have to be done. It was such social services as this that could not be appreciated by the materialistic mind. Again, it had been said that the Government was doing too much through the St. Helen’s Hospitals, but here again work could not be avoided. Work of this nature was required for the rich as well as for the poor, for many maternity troubles arose not because people could not afford to pay, but because they were ignorant. He was rather surprised that men who showed such a grasp of material matters could not appreciate this very important aspect of the State’s Activities.

Discussing maternal welfare generally, the Minister said that certain recommendations had been made which, he was satisfied, it would be wrong to put into effect. He was prepared to resist them and he knew that Cabinet was of the same mind. It had been proposed that, there should be a slackening off in this work, but it was not going to be done.—(Hear, hear.)