Mr. O. C. Mazengarb

Hutt News, Volume 12, Issue 17, 21 September 1938, Page 5

Mr. O. C. Mazengarb

NATIONAL {CANDIDATE FOB WELLINGTON SUBURBS ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING $fr 0. C. Mazengarb, the National Candidate for the Wellington Suburbs electorate opened his campaign at the Horticultural Hall on Monday evening. Mr. J. W. Andrews, prean attendance that tested the capacity of the hall to the utmost. The speaker was subject to a considerable amount of interjection from the. moment ho took the platform. However although this continued for some time his breezy manner after an hour's discourse won a patient hearing.

Mr. Mazengarb answered a number of questions and; was accorded an enthusiastic vote of thanks for his interesting address. In response to his invitation three cheers were given for Mt Andrews the National Candidate for the Hutt.

At the opening of the address feeling ran fairly high and an interjector demanded to know if Mr Mazengarb was going to speak uccoraing to his instructions from the National Party or give a political address. "The" National Party has given me no instructions, but I hear'the majority of the audience apking you to sit down" said Mr. Mazengarb. '

Whether he now wishes to conceal it or not, Mr Nash* is on record as a Qenvinced Socialist said the speaker. For several years he has held executive positions in a PaTty which has always had as its one and only objective —the Socialisation of the Means of production and exchange. But when he came into power and found the people anxious and nervous

becausc their voting had (in the words

of the "Standard") "handed over the government of the country to men who are pledged' to Socialism," Mr. Nash set about the re-statement of that obj jective. In his address to the Easter Conference he used these words Social ownership of natural resources social control of the methods of utilising those resources ... I see no other way of solving existing problems than that of co-operative commonwealth." But whatever the descriptive words Mr Nash may choose, his aim is what the ordinary man understands as "Socialism. " . At the same time I wish to dis-

associate myself from those critics who describe Mr. Nash and his Cabinet Colleagues as Communists he continued.' The truth is that Mr Nash is not a Communis* in the abhorrent sense in which the word is generally understood. The Communist would '' strike God from the skies" and it is improper to attribute such a desire to Mr Nash. But in respect of material matters the Socialist and the Communist aim at the one goal. The essential difference is in the means by which the Socialist and the Communists all hope to achieve their objective of a Co-operative Commonwealth. The Communist would proceed by revolution and violence if necessary—seizing factories and farms and killing off any owners who opposed them. The Socialist, however, proceeds constitutionally by a process of education, by .purhasc of "key" industries and by a system of heavy taxation io make everyone dependent on the State. He wants to break down the present system of private enterprise by stealth rather than bloody revolution. While, therefore Mr. Nasli is not a Communist, everything he has so far done and all the things he proposes to do, dovetail into Communism. That is wliv the Communist Party is supporting the Government at this election. Yellow pamphlets have been distributed by the Labour Party showing a hand holding a "Key." They call it the Key to the Co-operative Commonwealth which Mr. Nash conjures up for them, said Mr. Mazengarb, holding up a pamphlet recently circulated. The drawing doesn't indicate whose hand is holding that key. For the moment Mr Nash is supposed to be in possession to unlock the door when he thinks the tin lo has arrived. But there is a Left Wing in the Labour Party which is impatient to take the key from him. And -there are Communists outside who would burst the door open. History teaches us that the hour when a nation is troubled with some external crisis is the lime chosen by revolutionaries to break through the cordons of constitutional government. In a recent speech Mr. Nash asked whether the electors were going to send back into poweT the men who controlled this country in 1935. It hardly lies in the mouth of any member of the Labour Government to complain of what the Coalition Ministers did, when their policy in New 'Zealand was copied from the policy which Mr. Nash's Socialist comrades operated in Australia. But in any case the National Party is not composed of the same men as in**Tws. The ranks of the Pailiamentary candidates have been refilled with younger Nationalists over 40 of them —men who have made a success of the business of life in their own private and public vocations. These '' boys of the New Brigade" have a fair understanding of what this country wants juiA they will not be suppressed by facevPtß references to the "Old Gang. ' (Applause). A more pertinent question to put to the country is—Can we afford at this time of International Crisis to trust the governmen of the country again to a Cabinet composed largely of I men who were the leaders of the revolutionary strikes of 1903 to 19131 Will they taike their stand with the - strikers or administer the laws' of the country. If, unfortunately, against our wills, we should find ourselves plunged into warfare again, can we "' feel safe in leaving the defences of this Dominion to men who not merelj

failed to co-operate but actually fomented discord during the Great War?

At this point there was considerable dissent among a section of the audience whg indicated! sffpport for the strikers and one inteTjcctor asked if it was fair to heave an insult at tho strikers who fought with the only weapon at their disposal. Mr. Mazengarb pointed out that there were constitutional methods through the arbitration court of settling disputes, he was wholly in favour of such a course. Steps to Socialism Let me enumerate the steps Mr Nash has already taken to bring us to the Commonwealth of his dreams, said Mr Mazengarb. (1) He has assumed the complete control of currency and credit into liis own hands and' has eased' borrowing abroad. (2) He has provided; for the acquisition of all primary products against the will of the producers. (3) He has purchased land and businesses and in various other ways has added enormously to the public expen-' diture. (4) He has hamstrung private enterprise. (a) by entering into State competition with it, (b) by diverting to public works and into the public service labour which should otherwise have been available for industry, (c) by rais ing internal costs in such a way as to expose our own manufacturers to severe competition from abroad, (d) by conniving at pettifogging industrial res* trictions, (e) by imposing and threatening to impose such heavy taxation as to make industry an unattractive and unprofitable field for private enterprise. It is by such processes as these, by adding continuously to the number of people dependent on the State as seivants or beneficiaries, by breaking down personal initiative and endeavour, and by making it unprofitable to hold land or engage in business that Mr Nash hopes to achieve his objective whether you call it by the honeyed name of a Co-operative Commonwealth or by the better understood phrase—the Socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange, continued Mr. Mazengarb. Reserve Bank Mr. Nash in his most reent speech described as "epoch-making the fact that he has assumed into his own hands the power to control the currency and credit of the country. This he did by securing an amendment to the Reserve Bank Act which requires the Governor and directors of the Bank to give effect to the monetary policy of the Government as communicated to it by .he Minister of Finance. Within these limits and subject to these directions the 'Bank is permitted to regulate credit and currency within the Dominion, to arrange for transfers of moneys to other countries,, and to dispose of the money received for the sale of produce o vcl ' S( - ,aSi This amending Bill, said the speaker was literally rushed through Parliament as the first legislative measure of Labour's first session. But despite that urgcivcy, as far as we know, Mr. Nash has not so far sought to exercise the powers which he was in such a hurry to acquire. Why? The answer is that up till the present there has not been any need to, because in that first Session he found himself very much in the position of the cashier who contemplated making a dip into his Employer's cash, but was deflected) from his purpose by winning a first prize in latts. (Uproar). Mr. Nash found an unexpected increase in the National Income, Overseas prices went up Customs duties increased,, the Sales Tax mounted higher nearly every item of Government Revenue increased and this allowed of an enormous addition to the expenditure without using these emergency powers. That was how Mr Nash was able to earn the description of an orthodox financier. But there is one respect in which Mr Nash is not orthodox and that is where as Finance Minister he has violated the implied promise of Mr. Savage that there would be no more borrowing —no more debt in perpetuity, said Mi Mazengarb. In his speeches Mr Nash has stated that "all the money required for public works and schools has been bonowed from State Departments jwcli as the P.O. Savings Bank." He knows very well that Socialism depreciates anycountry in the eyes of the British lenders. If he wanted any money from them he would, of course, have to say "please;" he finds it much easier to dip into the Post Office Savings Bank without as much as a "pardon me" and' without even disclosing the rate of interest he pays for the money he borrows. When it is all J boiled down, the great talk of using the "public credit" is simply a euphemism for grabbing tnc money which people put into the Savings Bank or taking a forced 1 loan l of the money which people have entrusted to the Public Trustee or the State Insurance Offices. Mr Mazengarb said lie knew the answer Mr Nash makes is that other Governments did the same thing. Of course they did', but not to the extent that he is doing it and with safeguards such as Mr Nash has wiped 1 away said Mr Mazengarb. Under other Governments people had the option of lodging their savings with other Banks and other Institutions'. Now Mr Nash is in the unique position of being able to put an octopus clamp on the Banking Institutions through the Reserve Bank.

Mr. Mazengarb said one favourite argument of Government speakers is to quote thet increase in the amount of deposits and the number of Post Office depositors. But if the State taxes the money say of a thousand depositors and disburses it through public spending to other people, some of whom open Post Office accounts for portion of what they receive, not one penny, is

added' to the savings of > the people. All that has happened is that the State has increased the number of depositors to which it owes money If the p.oecss goes on the original depositors, ins.*;..! of getting their pounds "back, will haw to share them with the ones who have

opened new accounts. Mr Mazengarb pointed out that is the danger of currency inflation when the State seizes the mtfney of Post Office depositors.

Continuing Mr. Mazengarb said it is sometimes claimed for the present Government that the increased taxation is due to a desirable expansion of Social Services similar to what took place during tho Liberal regime of 18931906. Mr Nash himself said in his speech on the Social Security Bill that the objection's being made to this measure were the same as the ones put forward in the "Nineties" against the Pension proposals of those days—namely" that the country couldn't afford it. But anyone who compares the first and last years of Seddon's administration with the first and; second complete years of tho Socialist administration will be started by the alarming differences. Mr Mazengarb quoted the following figures to show these differences: — In 1900 the total taxation was £3,841,59(5. The taxation per head (ineulditig Maoris) was 1 £4/3/5. In ,1893 the total taxation was £2,339,511. The taxation per head (including Maoris) was . £3/7/11. The increase per head in 13 years was 15/(5.

The progressive increase per annum under the Liberals was 1/3.

In 1938 the total taxation was £3(5,7G7,5:20. The taxation per head (including Maoris) was £23/1/3. In 193(5 the total taxation was £25,476,372. The taxation per head (including Maoris) was £10/5/(5, showing an increase per head of £(5/15/9. The progressive increase per annum under Socialism was £3/7/10.

In other words, Seddon's pensions and other humanitarian legislation was arranged' and a War financed for the trifling addition of 1/3 a year. Mr. Nash's progressive increase is over fifty times that of (>7/10 a year. And when the charges! for Social Security are . added next year, the .percentage increase will be something like 400 times what it was under the Liberal regime. Mr. Nash talks soothingly to the people by saying it is not the amount of taxation that matteTS, but the amount you have left. "Well y.ou don't need to be a scholar of mathematics to be able to work out how long it will .take at this progressive rate of increase before there is nothing left to tax. When that condition arises Mr Nash will have realised his life's dream —a Co-operative Commonwealth where private enterprise and taxation are to be things of the past," said Mr Mazengarb. Where Mr Nash has a'ready Failed Before .we decide to accept from Mr Nash a further dose of Socialistic legislation let us look at his failures and set these failures'" alongside his achievements said the speaker. 1. He has failed to. secure an Agreement for bulk trading in England. Immediately after he passed the first section of his Finance and Marketing

legislation Mr Nash went to Lngland in. order to arrange a bilateral agreement with the Old Country under which he would establish credits for the goods we send Home and make bulk purchases of the things we require. Mr Nash thought that would be a sound basis of reciprocal trade for any Socialist j society. But. unfortunately 1 , he couldn't | get the British people to see things from his point of view. On his return he stated quite frankly that lie "couldn't get that agreement." Instead of coining back with an Agreement he brought a novel and original theory called "Insulation" or "How to be prosperous when the rest of the World is in the trough of a Depression." 11. He has failed to give to the fanner a price for'his dairy [iroduce which will enable liiin to enjoy a standard of living commensurate with the rest of the community and which will attract people back into primary production. ,111. He has failed-to build houses at the prices and rents which he originally contemplated. In his first Budget Mr Nash proposed to build houses for £000 each, and his colleagues stated that these houses would be rented at 1 —/0 to .17/- per week. Instead we find that the cost is more like £1200 each and the rents over 30/- a week. IV. He has failed to protect our secondary industries front outside competition. In May of last year Mr Nash stated "When it comes to giving relief to our secondary industries we will see that they are adequately protected" and last month at the Industries Fair in Christchurch he* is reported as saying— "New Zealand has no better avenue for the employment of the people than in the development of secondary industries." Nearly all bur secondary industries are being hamstrung by competition from abroad, by vexatious industrial restrictions and by an increase of taxation the like of which almost breaks the heart of any person who would l set out to build up a business in this country.

Manufacturers and various Chambers of Commerce liave. from time to t'liie given Air Nash figures and facts showing that if you raise costs of production in New Zealand beyond certain relative figures, goods will be brought here from abroad to the detriment of our own industries and the workeis engaged in them. The statistics of the' Customs Department show that we are importing over three times the quantity of jam that was formerly imported into this country. Linglish, Scotch,, Canadian and Australian jam is omported into this Dominion bears a duty of 2d or 3d a pound, surcharge, freight and exchange up to 25 per cent, —and 'sells over the counter at 2d! to 4d a pound jar cheaper than New Zea-

land jam. 'The storekeeper is buying imported into this Dominion bears to paylfl/- for local' jam. This change in our Internal Economy has all happened in the course of two years said Mr Mazengarb. We have the fruit and 1 w have the factories and we have the labour, but we aTe attempting the impossible. 'Unless something is dk)ne speedily to rectify matters one more industry will go out of existence and its employees be thrown on the mercy of the State.

Gn. the last day of last month Mr Nash declared "It is clear that those who adopt the motto "Buy New Zealand good!s" are adopting common scr°e. But it is only human nature foT people to buy in the cheapest market. V. He has failed to introduce his reforms without a heavy increase. in taxation and has caused the cost of living to rise. Where Mr Nash has changed his Mind The logic of facts has forced Mr Nash to change his mind in two important matters said the speaker. 1. All the; leading members of the Labour Party prior to last election promised to dismiss the sceptre of unemployment. They have l een since juggling with figures in an attempt to prove that they have fulfilled their promises. The sketches and photos 'they produce were designed to show that unemployment has been banished from the larwl. Indeed the Minister of Labour recently said that unemployment was down to zero. Now when faced with the facts that on the eve of this election there are 3(i„000 men directly dependent on unemployment funds, that lie is spending £500,000 every month for the relief of unemployment Mr Nash comes out with the statement — "It is not possible under tho competitive system to abolish Unemployment." When asked how he is going to provide for the unemployed lie replies' — "It may be that we can organize things a bit better next year! In those words Mr Nash reveals his intention. to give us another dose of Socialism soon after the election. But let me ask how can it be any better under a Socialist system? The plain truth emerges that it is not the Competitive system which lias failed but Socialist interference with Private Enterprise. The Government has given to the Unemployed everything that could reasonably be asked except the one thing they want most, the one thing that would do the most good for the country, namely jobs in private enterprise. 2. In his 1936 Budget Mr Nash stated "Practically all financial authorities agree that a time of Depression when

interest rates are low is the time when public works should be expanded." He was right •there said Mr Mazengarb. Economists did enunciate that view as a result of the big degression. Mr Nash accepted that view when it suited him to do so. But in his last Budget the argument was the other way round. He was confronted with the contention which the Prime Minister had been freely making that we are out of the depression and enjoying prosperity. Mr Nash then changed his mind as to the theory of the Economists which he had previously accepted and made up a view theory of his own to suit the altered circumstances..