LABOUR POLICY

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1938, Page 2

LABOUR POLICY

POLITICAL ADDRESS AT PRINCESS THEATRE HON. P. C. WEBB AND JAMES O’BRIEN

The Princess Theatre last evening wa s well filled in spite of the very inclement weather, when political addresses were delivered by Mr James O’Brien, Member for Westland and Hon. P. C. Webb, Minister of Mines. The chair was occupied by Mr A. R. Elcock, Deputy Mayor. Mr J. Fox, chairman of the Hokitika branch of the Laboui Party was also on the stage.

the speaker. During the slump when the farmers had free labour given them, then the farmers could not keep them. The farmers are now on their feet, with the guaranteed price. It had been l/l and 1/3 and now it was going up to 1/4, and he knew the farmers were well satisfied. The Opposition were not going to stop the building programme. but they were going to build 5000 house s per annum, at a cost of Gi million.

The speakers' were heartily received when they appeared on the stage. Mi, Elcock briefly introduced the speakers Mr O’Brien being the first to address the assemblage.

If the present Opposition get into power, within two years they will have another 50,000 on the dole. AATien Labour got into power within twelve months the Invalid Pension Bill became law. He was proud to hav t > been the first to bring an invalid pension bill before the New Zealand Parliament. The medical service the Labour Party would bring in, would be without any social distinctions. Social Security is for the purpose of relieving poverty. They would he able to finance it. The Opposition did not vote against it, but they'were not going to have the privilege of administering it.

Mr James O’Brien who was received with applause, said In* was exceptionally pleased to be present again in Hokitika and to have with hhn an old friend, Paddy At ebb, who had come in accordance with a promise ho had made some months ago to deliver an address in Hokitika. He proposed going from one part of the country to where he • felt his services would be of most assistance to advance the interests of the Labour Party. He would he coming back to AA r estland about a week before the election. He had conic now to give something of their policy propos-' als, and he took the opportunity of referring to the Social Security Bill and the Health Bill. AVe are living in a beautiful country, and there should be no difficulty in doing away with poverty that had existed here for so long. The Labour 'Party had won their way to the Treasury benches three years Brer on a straight out programme. Almost for the first time fif history a political party had gone to the polls and having won the election, in three years had put on the statute hook all the planks of their programme. No stone will be left unturned to havp a benefit provision for every person in +be land. The average family in New Zealand nays to a medical man an average of £lO per annum. For less fbnn onr. third of that, amount we wdl r ive a free superannuation, a free medical service, an increased old age pension, and we will raise the invalid pension. AH these are wrapt up in one social security hill, which was passed in the recent session of Parliament.

Everyone of us is subject to sickness, and it wa s a matter of urgency and necessity that they should all receive proper attention.

Coming to personal matters, Mr O’Brien said he had much to thank the people of AVcstland for. He had in. the past worked fo r the advancement ot the district, and had endeavoured to the best of his ability to push on their best interests. Before tile Labour Government he had obtained a good share of expenditure for Westland and since the Labour Government Tiad come into power he had been enabled to more than double that expenditure. A little over a year ago the people of AVestland at Hokitika, had given him a great presentation for his wife and himself, which he had very deeply appreciated. He desired to thank them all for the wonderful amount of confidence the electors had reposed in him. He would be going away to other parts of New Zealand shortly to help to advance the cause of the Labour Party, but he would return here a couple days before polling day and would then h e aide to refute any statements of an untruthful nature that may hav e been, mado use of against him hy his opponents. (Applause).

This election will be fought on the past three years back, and the three years before that. He remembered coming: back over three years ago when the men on the aerodrome were getting 3/6 and 47- per day. He had been up to the Humphreys Gully works. The men were wanting a few sacks to keep the cold from blowing through theii tents. Under 20 the young fellow could not get a job. They were taught to loaf for years'. This election is eoing to be fought on quite different lines to what the opposition wanted to do. They did not want to be known as the old gang.

HON. P. C. WEBB. Hon. P. C. Webb, Minister of Mines then addressed th e assemblage. He said it was a pleasure always to come to Hokitika as it has many pleasant recollections for him. It was many years since lie- had ■ first spoken m Hokitika, and the reception then given was of a different nature to that he was now receiving, but it was the same story that he told then to what he was telling them now. . Where we stand to-day, the rest of the world will stand to-morrow. Westland once sent a great man to Parliament.

To-day they had the National Party’s manifesto published in the dav’s owners, pages of it. They would remember the late W. Ma ssey said he was going to give the workers a fair deal. Then Hr J. G. Coates came on and said what he was going to do. Then, they came to the 19.31 election. His opponent, Mr Greenslade had denied there would be any cut in wages. Within ’two years they had all the cuts against wages and pensions Never did that late Government keep faith with the people. To-night he had that National policy. It wa s ;a recurrence of past promises of a few years ago. They could all remember how they kept the five years old from schools, they cut the dental clinics, and the other cuts in hie services. At present Labour had returned all those cuts and at the present had 90,000 children receiving dental treatment. One of the old gang, Mr Endean had said they could not have too high a standard of living with New Zealand so near to Japan, but Labour had shown it was possible to in--1 crease wages and the standard of living. 1 There was an increase of 26 million I jn manufactures under Labour. Undei the Coates Government factory wages l went down by five million but under Labour' wages went up by over five millions. The Opposition sav that Labour cannot'carry on the country but the results of the past three years spoke for themselves. If we thought that these people were able to ca.rv out what they promised the Labour Party would try to help them. The manifesto stated they were not going to touch the Reserve Bank. The old Government, had a sort of a half pie bank, hut the Labour Party had made it a real live institution. In the Great War, Great Britain had borrowed 7,000 million for the war, out of nothing. We say we want money for pensions, money for the sick and the invalid, but their opponents say they cannot get it for such a purpose. When Labour came into office they found that the previous Government had only •5,700 men on public works. Labour came to light and put on 9000 more and put them on at, a decent rate of pay, and even that wa 3 not too good. All the old gang were there and they had all voted for the pension cuts. The farmers are now going to have a compensated price, by the lowering of costs. It seems iike a parrot cry to

What does New Zealand owe to that great man, Richard John Seddon. When he brought that old age pension bill down there was great opposition, but soon after it became law and thousands of the old pioneers participated in it, and no one dared talk of its repeal. When ; the compensation bill was brought down the old Tories op-= posed it, but there was not one of them who would dare repeal that now. When the widow’s pension bill came in it was said to be an awful thing to bring in, but it became the law and would remain on the Statute books. There are 1200*people who have an independent spirit as a result of the invalid pension bill. He ventured that the vote of the people will lie almost totally against the repeal of the Social Security Bill. In the old days Now Zealand was looked on as a laboratory of new measures. Tn 1935 when the Labour Party came into power there were 16000 unemployed men, without youths under °0 being counted. When the Labour Government took office the first thing that Peter Fraser did was to buy milk for the school children of New Zealand. It was necessary to give the child good food and a good home. Under the last government, the children were not allowed to go to school and the teachers were sent out on the dole at 10/- per week. Then there was the housing conditions. We were 20,000 houses short. Our carpenters wore out on the dole. By the end of the year we will probably have 10,000 apprentices this year. Under the conditions that prevailed before Labour took office, over half of the farmers were bankrupt. Anv amount of farmers never ate Ihe butter they made on their own farms. To-day we have the guaranteed price. Never in the history of New Zealand were the farmers j in such a prosperous rendition as they have been at the present time. Ho had been in business all through that time of trouble. He know of businessmen worth £so*ooo before the depression came on, and thev had to gr? out without a penny. The average business men suffered more torture than the average dole recipient. The run of prosperity has made its way

and the business man of to-day was J never so prosperous as he was now. If they wanted prosperity they had to have the people fully employed on wages that would enable them to live , properly. Inside of three short years the Labour Party has brought about such prosperity, though the Tory government said it could not be clone. Nor did they believe the Government would have been able to bring about such successful measures as they had done.

Dealing with finance he said the State should be able to control the currency of the country. It should be made possible of the control of the monetary Values of this country. The Reserve Bank, had supplied the Government with the money to pay the guaranteed price for their butter, and had also supplied the money for their housing problems. Every 14 minutes of the day new houses were being handed over for the use of people. AA'e require an additional 1000 skilled artisans for the works that we wish to. put in hand. More than 18 millions are required for new public buildings. Only the urgent cases are being carried out. He was one of those who believed they were not spending enough money on public works. The cry of the old government was roads for the backblocks. The Labour Party said make the roads, and have no backblocks.

In 1933-34 there was spent on highways £22,000; in 1937-38 there were spent £84,000; in 1933-34 there was spent on roads £4150; in 1937-38 there was spent £118,300. In the last five years there had been spent on Public AVorks in

Buller County 242,000 Inangnhna County ... ... 211.000 Grey County : 218,000 AVestland County 437;000

Jim O’Brien has done something for Westland, even if AVestland had done something for Jim O’Brien. AA 7 estlancl had been starved for years, but Westland and the \A T est Coast was coming into its own now because they had a Labour Government.

Dealing with the housing problem, be said since the Labour Party bad come into office the houses they had erected, if placed a chain apart, were sufficient to reacli from Hokitika to Reef ton.

Referring to the houses they were building, he repeated Mr Savage’s statement that the houses they were

to build should be -good enough for

a Cabinet Minister, or it would not be good enough for a worker. They had now at Dobson, the very latest equipment for a life-saving brigade for use in necessity in their coalmines.

They had been informed by a high authority that there was every possibility of petroleum being discovered on the West Coast, between Ross and Ikamatua. Now the Shell Company had engaged a staff of high expert officers. •

The machinery that was to be used for the purpose of boring for oil was of the very latest obtainable in the world. The machine that he hoped to see soon in operation was the most modern in the world. Jt would make a bore 2ft. across and go down three miles in the earth. Tt was due to ’the Labour Party that this work was possible. He had the utmost faith in the Coast, and. the Government had that faith too. We believe there is an enormous work yet to be down. Thousands of acres of good river land was being washed to sea every year. It would cost, over five millions to save - this land. There was also the question of afforestation. They had a plan for a reafforestation of their land in the upper country. It meant a big job, but it had to be carired out by a Government with a vision.

He had in view an-up-to-date drainage scheme for the improvement of their farms. They wanted good' plant, the creative work of man. They should bring the machines on to the farm. He urged them to make the best use) of the best machinery for the improvement of their farm lands.

With his friend, Mr O’Brien, he had flown over Jackson Bay, and they had decided that they should have a harbour there as soon as passible. They had got a report, and Cabinet bad approved of the work, and it was now being carried out. That harbour and the road into South Westland would be a monument to the enterprise of the Labour Government, which gets things done.

He had no apologies for the work of the Labour Party. They had done all that was humanly possible to do, in tlie time at their disposal. To-day there is a job for every man in some part of New Zealand or the other. This ivns the first year when Labour was able to see that they had a job for every man able to work. To-day men on public works were able to

average over £1 per day. Their con* $ ditions were -also better, but they ; y were still not yet good enough. Whije the name of Richard John stands out, there is another man > My v *“ te J. Savage, whose name will long be remembered as one of the greatest of ~ leaders. Also H., Holland, while Jim O’Brien had done more for Westland • than any other person. Mr Webb made.an appeal on behalf of Labour recounting again the record of their past three years. Stating, the people would have in a few weeks a ... glorious opportunity to 'record a great vote for one of the most respected . men, Jim O’Brjcn, he would ask for him permission to go out to other V parts of New Zealand, as the electors of Boiler had given him permission® to go and do; his b'fst for the labour . | Party. , j | . To-day they were;in the happy tipn of not havingit° make premises, for every one of their promises of tlio last election had been kept. New Zealand at present was a thousand times better off now than * when Labour went into office. All their j expenditure had been carried out without any borrowing outside of New | Zealand. No government in the lnsj torv of the Dominion has such" a woh- | derful record .of achievement as the i present Labour-:,-Government. He was glad to come to-Hokitika, and-he asked them to remain true to their traditions' and show their appreciation of ’ the services rendered, on election day. (Applause).' - V QUESTIONS. At the conclusion of Mr Webb’s-;-address quesfi'dns were "invited ,by .toe ( member for the-district. . , ' -

. In answer to a query whether public servants, would get full superannuation benefits-since the fund-was no longer Vo the superannuation fund, but the social security fund. Mr O’Brien said that the position at present was that th e social security fund would, not interefere at all with other' superannuation schemes and that the :maif who had been paying into such a scheme would receive the full amount he hadvpiid in. Another question as to whether pub- ; lie servants receiving under £2OO per annum superannuation would derive any monetary, benefit from the social security proposal, drew the response that where superannuation benefits for public servants fell under £2OO per an- \ num they would .be .made tip to £2OB per annum by the.other, scheme. If- i * 1 Tv.:* n\ ' ‘

In the event of another war wouiu tjie New Zealand Government favour the conscription of the youth of the country to go as cannon fodder, was a third question asked the member. Mr O’Brien said in reply that the Government would not let tlie youth go as cannon fodder.. If it happened that a war arose from the trouble at present being experienced in Europe and Britain became involved the Government would give full support to Great Britain. Personally he thought that if anything was going to be conscripted, for a war it would be wealth before human beings.

Mr J. L. Turner then thanked Mr O’Brien and Hon. P. C. Webb for the addresses, and moved a vote of thanks to them and a vote of confidence in the Labour Government, which was seconded by Mr E. W. Heenan and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the chairman for presiding concluded the meeting,