RAILWAYS, EXCHANGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 September 1934, Page 7

RAILWAYS, EXCHANGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

MEMBERS AIR VIEWS IN FINAN-

CIAL DEBATE.

ME LINKLATEE FINDS BUDGET CHEERFUL.

(By Telegraph—Press Association). WELLINGTON, Last Night.

In the House of Representatives this afternoon the Financial Debate was resumed.

Mr. D. W. Coleman was disappointed with the reference in the Budget to railway construction. He would like to have seen the Gisborne-Napier railway completed, but it seemed that the railway was to be abandoned. He thought that, if a vote could be taken, most members of the House would vote in favour of its completion. It was the popular thing to-day to blame the Railway Board, but the Railway Board had nothing to do with the stoppage of work on that line. Just on £5,000,000 had been spent on the line and the Public Works Department engineers stated that completion would cost £1,800,000. Surely the line was worth that amount, and interest had to be paid on the amount expended whether a train ran over the line or not. The line would serve 43,000 people, and 10 per cent, of the sheep in the Dominion were in that district. If the Government had definitely decided not to resume work on that line, it should not adopt a dog in the manger attitude, but should allow private enterprise to take it over. At the same time he considered the lino should be finished by the Government and not private enterprise.

He considered that better treatment should have been meted out to the unemployed before any wage restorations were made. He criticised the Government for not making the old-age pension increases retrospective and also for not giving the Arbitration Court power to issue a general order increasing wages. Exchange Bate and the Fanners. Mr. J. Linklater congratulated the Minister for Finance on tljp optimistic and cheerful Budget he had placed before the House, and said it must be pleasing to all to have- a balanced Budget. Every country in the world had had tremendous difficulties to face, but few had faced them as New Zealand had. The task had been unpleasant for all members of the Government, but it had stuck to its task, though it had had some deserters. The high exchange had been of great benefit to the farmers, who had had to be assisted in some way. He could not understand why some members said that farmers had not received benefit from the exchange. Mr. Linklater thought that the establishment of the Mortgage Corporation would give investors confidence in land investments. The corporation promised to provide ample security for land investment.

Mr. C. A. Wilkinson criticised the raising of the exchange and said that the high exchange was bringing about conditions that would be detrimental to all sections of the Dominion. The Government, he considered, should be most careful in taxing British goods, or they were in danger of setting up conditions that would be to New Zealand’s detriment. To-day the world had to fight for its markets and New Zealand seemed to think its outside markets were of little value. Balancing Exports and Imports. He went on to quote the -values of goods sent by Britain to foreign countries, and said that France and the United States were relatively much better customers of Britain than the Argentine, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He was not a free trader and wanted fair treatment for manufacturers, but unless they could reach a bet-

ter balance between exports and imports than at present, trouble would follow.

Regarding the Mortgage Corporation he said that the. State Advances Department and the present lending institutions had treated the people very sympathetically. If a man had a case to make, he could put it up to the department, but. he would have no chance of doing so to the corporation. In that case business would be the essence of the contract; if a man could not pay, he would be sold up.

Mr. Wilkinson said the Auditor-Gen-eral in his report said the Dominion had lost £1,000,000 in the conversion of its silver.

Hon. J. G. Coates: The Auditor-Gen-eral is up a tree; he does not know what he is saying, and he will say so.

Mr. Wilkinson went on to criticise the Government for allowing Australian coins to be circulated in New Zealand and said all such coins should have been collected and sent back to Australia. New Zealand, in its silver conversion, had made a desperately bad bargain.

Mr. E. P. Healy, after congratulating the Minister for Finance on what he termed a ‘ ‘ bulls-eye ’ ' Budget, turned to railway construction, particularly tne South Island Main Trunk. He said that part of his electorate had no chance of development while that rail'road was at a standstill. He wondered what the Railway Board could manage ; it could not manage even a sawmill and it should not be loft to the board to say whether the railway should be proceeded with or not. It would be to the interests of the country to complete both the South Island Main Trunk and the Gisborne-Napier line. He hoped, if a reasonable proposition were put to the Government by private enterprise to take over the Christchureh-Picton line, it would not stand in the way. After the tea adjournment Mr Healy appealed to the Minister for Lands and the Government to consider ways of placing unemployed men in the South Island on small farms. Mrs.. McCombs On Unemployment. Mrs. B. E. McCombs said the most pressing problem in the Dominion at the present time was unemployment. She said she could not help thinking, when the Government drew up its plans for the year, that it had not a thought of the unemployed. The decrease in the unemployment figures had shown a very small decrease in the past year despite the extra money circulated through the sale of wool. The people did not want a reduction in unemployment taxation while unemployment continued. She contended that the reduction should not have been made. The unemployed were in a desperate plight and were living in misery, often with the bailiff under the same roof. Surely if there seemed to be a turn in the tide of the Government’s finances, something should have been done for those people. She quoted the Health Department's report, referring to the malnutrition of children; also to the crowded condition under which people were living. She said many young children were compelled to help augment the family income by assisting on milk rounds, delivering newspapers, or selling lollies in picture shows. The department also thanked those w r ho organised health camps in order to prevent malnutrition among the children. Was that an indication that the unemployed were being paid a sufficient wage? The whole thing was an indictment of the Government's policy. The statement that it would not do to make relief work too attractive was an insult to the workers of the Dominion. Unemployed Boys. Mrs McCombs was astonished considering all the appeals that had been made by business-men and others, that the Government had done nothing for unemployed boys. The Government did not seem to have sufficient imagination to realise that the boys and girls were the Best asset the Dominion had. The Minister for Education and the Government refused to do anything for the boys, but in New South Wales the Government had taken the matter in hand and had established seven vocational schools. Even more was being done in England. The Government continued to collect an increasing sum—it must be over £1,000,000 annually-^—from women; yet it was putting unemployed women and girls off with only a few pounds. • It was time the Government did something, .adequate for those women- and. girls.: _ Teachers had suffered, more of the the--reduction iii salaries and- the disorganisation of their work, and the fact-that a teacher had to shift to gain promotion meant continued Unrest in-the profession. She pleaded with the Government to do something for. returned soldiers who had suffered as a result of war service but who were unable to prove that their present condition was due to war service. Increase In Defence Vote. Mr. W. P. Endean defended the increase in the Defence Vote, and said that in the last war New Zealand was defended in the North Sea. If war broke out in the Pacific; he supposed she would be defended somewhere in the vicinity of Singapore. He did not think the raising of the exchange was contrary to the spirit of the Ottawa Agreement, his understanding being that that question was left open to each Dominion to decide for itself. He considered, with the price of gold about £7 per ounce, it would pay the Government to encourage that industry and relax the restrictions as much as possible. The tourist industry was another thing that should be given every j encouragement.

He thought the Mortgage Corporation scheme should be given close consideration. He hoped the Government would give an assurance that there? would bo

no more interference with mortgagors’ relief) so that the private investor could take his -part in lending on the land. He thought that the old-age pension restoration should have been made retrospective; ' He considered that, instead of restoring the wage-cut to the civil servant, the Government should have reduced the taxation under which the whole country was staggering and taken a big slice off the unemployment tax. University professors’ Remarks. Mr. Endean considered the Government should bring down legislation to give it power to deal with university professors who made remarks such as those made in Auckland recently.’ Mr. R. McKeen said members on the Government side had evidently been vieing with each other to find suitable words to praise the Budget, but he compared it with Columbus, who, when he set out, did not know where he was, and when he got back he did not know where he had been.

Mr. McKeen said the Auckland professors desired only to educate the people-of New Zealand. they said after their day's work was done had

nothing to do with the Government. Ho asked the Government to do something to improve the apprenticeship position. The housing problem was one > that should be tackled ; there was a definite shortage of houses. Two and three families were compelled to live in the one house because they could not pay rent. He said the sales tax was most inequitable and unjust; those who'.wero paying it were persons with small wages. He thought that the tax should have been removed. He contended that the Budget should have shown a deficit of £2,967,000. In addition, the National Debt was piling up year by year. The House rose at midpight.