LABOUR VIEW

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 102, 11 April 1933, Page 9

LABOUR VIEW

OF PRESENT CRISIS —- P REMEDY FOR OUR ILLS, ADDRESS BY MR W. NASFZ, M.P. Labour views of the present economic conditions, and the Labour .Party’s proposals towards t.he finding, of a romedv lor them, were put forward by Mr Waiter Nash, M.P., to an audience of bo tween 400 and 500 people in the Hastings Assembly Hall 1 ast evening. His Worship the Mayor,, Mr G. F. Roach, acted as ebnirman, and a short address following Mr l'asb t ’s was given by Mr W. E. Barnard, M..P. The present, crisis, said Mr Nash, was not a production crisis, for at least in the western wcwld it was seen that coffee, wheat, au<d corn had been burned, iarnr products had been limited, and cotton-growers had been limiting their output. There was something that was blocking many things from exercising their usefulness. Production had not failed; the fault lay in the currency and credit system and in the methods ■>/ exchange and distribution. Another factor was the malpractice of financiers in t,he leading financial countries of the wortld. The Prime Minister and other Min’Aters hud often said that the Labour Party had never had anything eon- ’ struetive to suggest, and merely obstructed debates. That was a wholly untrue accusation; the Labour Party had at all times put forward, In tae hope of being helpful, their proposal* towards reconstructive legislation. CONSTRUCTIVE PROPOSALS. The Labour Party’s chief constructive proposals were currency control and ordered marketing. Ou every occasion when there had been anything approaching a crisis, Labour had issued to the press a statement setting out the party’s suggestions towards bringing about better conditions. Mr Nash went on to refer to his party’s opposition to salary cuts, especially on the grounds that the cuts would bring about reduced spending power. The party urged that the people’s income should be increased rather than decreased, and that a reconstruction loan should be raised internally. Mr Nash went on to detail a number of constructive proposals that the Labour Party had made in Parliament. Several of these proposals had already been put into force and, if the country was to progress, others of the proposals would also have to be put into operation. There were now between 60,000 and 70,000 adult males unemployed, and no one who was not a relief worker could imagine the anguish of being out of work and deperdent on relief wages. Most of it was unnecessary, and if the Labour Party were given the opportunity, it would provide worn within three months for every man now unemployed. THE OTTAWA CONFERENCE. Dealing with the Ottawa Conference, Mr Nash said that the proposals expressed in resolution form were entirely in accord with progressive thought, but one of the flaws was the restriction with regard to the importations of meat into Great Britain. It was necessary that the price should be raised if capitalism was to continue, but it would not be necessary in a properly ordered community. Mr Nash detailed the arrangements that had been decided upon at Ottawa, and went on to ask the audience to remember the 3,000,000 unemployed in England. To them the price of the imported meat had been raised us a result of the restricted imports. That was all very well for the capitalist and for the farmers who were getting another 10 per eent, and for the speculators and agents in London. It was agreed also at Ottawa that butter should not be restricted, but it had been seen since that it was very considerably restricted. Mr Nash suggested that the butter export difficulty was entirely due to the New Zealand Government. He believed that the quota system would ultimately be agreed to, although it would be contrary to the spirit of the Ottawa Conference. The imports of butter into Great Britain had more than doubled in 19 years, and in New Zealand there were 70,000 people who could not afford to buy butter. At the other end of the world they were putting restrictions on the products that were the life-blood of our people. Ottawa set out to establish right principles, but already two serious departures from those principles had been made. COST OF RAISED EXCHANGE. Speaking of the exchange question, Mr Nash said that the only way to persuade the British workman to buy our products was to take his products in exchange. The' raising of the exchange rate was merely a hindrance to trade. The lifting of the rate would ultimately add 15 per cent to the cost of every commodity sold in New Zealand, and merely took money out of the pockets of the general public and passed it on to the farmer, but only indirectly through the stock and station agents and the mortgagee It was taking money from the relief workers, and its only virtue was that it would perhaps keep up production. Mr Downie Stewart estimated the cost of the raising of the exchange, from the Government’s own point of view, at £3,800,000, but the cost to the whole community would be £8,000,000, which would have to be found in increased taxation. One bank alone made £1,200,000, the very day after the raising of the rate, on its holdings in London. Every penny that had to be redeemed in London, and every article that was imported from England, would automatically cost 25 per cent extra. In reference to unemployment, Mr Nash said that much of the relief work was degrading and useless. The Government. if it had the will,' could increase the pay of the relief worker by organising productive works. Every man could be paid £3 10/- a week, firstly by the raising of £10,000,000 for development work and made available through the Public Works Department and local holies; or secondly by the issue of £10,000,000 worth of notes through the Treasury. He was not altogether in agreinent- with -borrowing, but anything should be tried in such urgent emergencies as the present. If the Labour Party were put into power, it would take control of the currency. The six banks in New Zealand had more power than Parliament or than any organisation in the Dornin-

ion, and certainly too much power for half-a-dozen people. Currency control would be obtained by the establishment of a central bunk. The next thing to do would be to control externa] trade through the State central bank, and exporting would be under license. Sales and prices would be negotiated, and returns to the farmer would be guaranteed. The party would reorganise aud adjust tho land system aud reorganise transport, and propose the establishment of a national investment board, as proposed. by Mr G. D. H. Cole, to control ani direct the investment of the people’s savings. The existing capitalistic system could be extended perhaps for a generation, but the next shock would crush it. Life must be made worth-w’hile for the. people, and the Labour Party could achieve that end if the good people would get behind it.