PARLIAMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 257, 29 September 1932, Page 4

PARLIAMENT

NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION MOYED LABOUR ADVOCATES CURRENCY REFORM When the Address-in-Reply debate was resumed in the House of Representatives, yesterday" afternoon, the Leader of the Opposition launched his motion of no-confidence, in the course of which Mr Holland strongly advocated a reform of the currency system. The Labour Party, if in power, would establish a State Central Bank with control of the note issue, he said. Other Labour members supported this attitude. Among the other speakers was Hon. E. A. Ransom, who defended the Government's policy in reply to Mr Holland. Mr H. S. S. Kyle, a Coalition member, criticised the Government's action in connection with the new contract for the supply of educational books and condemned the principle of having- as Minister with a portfolio a member of the Upper House.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. RESUMPTION OF DEBATE. OPPOSITION LEADER’S CRITICISM. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Sept. 28. When the debate on the Address-in-Reply. was resumed in the House of Representatives to-day the Leader of the Opposition (Mr H. E. Holland) moved his no-confidence motion. He criticised at length the Government’s unemployment policy and asserted that many hundreds of men had been withdrawn from the staffs of the Railway Department and other public undertakings and put on to unproductive work such as cutting gorse and blackberry. In the meantime, through the staffs not being kept up to strength, the repair work in the Railway Department was falling behind and the country would eventually lose heavily. Mr Holland estimated that there were no fewer than 120,000 unemployed (counting men, women and boys) in New Zealand at the present time and these people could and should be set to work on undertakings of value to the people of the Dominion. A Labour Government would at once take steps to transfer the men from uneconomic to economic undertakings, he said. There was a necessity for a vigorous public works policy on projects of value such as main and secondary highways and road access to the backblocks. The construction of economic railways should be resumed even if it did involve taking back the power that had been given to the Railway Board, Mr Holland continued. It was a ridiculous policy to give to a not very capable board the right to say to the Government: “You have no power to enter upon a policy of railway construction unless you get our consent first.”

There was room for higher development of primary industries and in this connection Mr Holland regretted that steps had not yet been taken to secure definite trade agreements with

other countries in order to increase the market for the Dominion’s exports. The day for tinkering with tariffs was long past. He did not wish to refer in detail to the Ottawa Conference until Mr Coates bad presented his report, but, he asserted, everyone must know that great danger was threatening our secondary industries. . TARIFFS AND CURRENCY. Mr Holland urged greater development of secondary industries. The Dominion should import no goods that could be produced here in sufficient quantities and on an economic basis, he contended. He would not bother with a tariff. He would simply inform the overseas countries that New Zealand did not propose to import the goods she herself could produce on the lines he had indicated.

Mr Coates: Irrespective of cost ? Mr Holland: No, because a responsible Government would take steps to prevent abuse of that description. Continuing, Mr Holland said New Zealand would have to devote more attention to her home market than she had done in the past. The purchasing power of the people should be increased and one step in this direction should be an increase in pensions. Referring to currency reform, Mr Holland said the country’s problem was to distribute the goods that were produced and the fact that people were starving in the midst of plenty proved that the present system of distribution was stupid and inefficient. The true wealth of the country was in what it produced and the Labour Party would support the establishing of a central bank to control the currency. The State could produce money just as banks could produce it. This would not produce inflation because it would merely be a case of manufacturing credit backed by the wealth produced by the country. He quoted at length from works by banking authorities and said Russia had a currency regulated by the volume of production. The Labour Party would regulate the price level and would increase the currency and credit as production increased. The purchasing power of any country was the purchasing power of the masses, and if the earnings of the masses increased the purchasing power would also increase. LANDS MINISTER REPLIES.

Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands, replied to Mr Holland’s reference to railway construction. He said no one would suggest that the construction of a railway of economic value to the Dominion should be stopped. The Railway Board’s recommendations had been actuated by the fact that projects were not economically sound and unless it could be shown to the satisfaction of the board that the resumption of work would be economically sound it was not desirable that it should be proceeded with. The Leader of the Opposition had advocated increasing the worker’s purchasing power, but the Minister asked how this was to be done along the lines suggested without increasing taxation. The purchasing power of the country was not a matter of currency alone. It depended on the commercial value of the goods the country produced. He was quite in agreement with the view that currency should be brought into line with the value of production and any conference which would achieve this result would be doing a great service'to the world. It was plain, however, that the currency problem could not be solved in any one country.

Continuing, Mr Ransom said the land was the source of wealth of the Dominion and it was the duty of the Government to do all it could for the people on the land. He believed what was being done to bring about more intensive production was the best tiling to do at the present time. EXPANSION OF TRADE. Ottawa had proved that New Zealand could not sta.nd alone either in trade or currency. Trade within the Empire was a good thing, but was not sufficient in itself and other markets would have to he developed. In 1929 foreign imports into New Zealand were valued at nearly £10.000,000. while onlv between £2,000,000 and £3,000,000 worth of New Zealand’s goods went to those countries. However, those countries needed our primary produce a.nd an effort to secure a place in their markets should be made. A Labour member: How does that fit in with the Ottawa Conference? Mr Ransom said the securing of new markets would not interfere with the Ottawa agreements, because the ..Dominions had no right to expect that Great Britain would or could always absorb the whole of what tlie Dominions could produce. Mr W. E. Parry supported the views expressed by tlie Leader of the Opposition on the subject of currency. He asked wliat objection could be raised to the issue of one pound in currency for every one pound’s worth of goods produced in the country. , Hon. A. Hamilton: You are speaking of a self-contained country. Mr Parry: I am speaking of New Zealand as it is to-day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. OTTAAVA CONFERENCE PRAISED ADDRESS-IN-REPLY MOTION. Per Press Association. AVELLINGTON, Sept. 28. The Legislative Council met at 2.30. Sir James Allen gave notieo of intention to introduce the Religious Instruction in Schools Enabling Bill. Moving the formal Address-in-Repiy motion, Hon. J. Trevethick said the Ottawa Conference had been an object lesson to all nations. It had shown the energy and force of the Empire and had given a lead to other nations which would henceforth realise that Britain was not simply a market for their produce and that Britain intended to give preference to the Dominions. It was the duty of New Zealand to ratify and honour the Ottawa agreement. Mr Trevethick contended that the Dominion should not only lower the tariff on British good.s but should at the same time increase duties on goods from foreign countries. The policy of New Zealand should l>e “Empire First,” and if there was an increase of duties collected on foreign goods as a result of raising the tariff against them the money should be expended on Empire purposes. He urged the exploitation of markets in the East.

SUGGESTED MERGER OF PARTIES Hon. G. J. Smith expressed admiration for the work accomplished by the Coalition Government during its first year of office. It had faced an extremely difficult position with courage and determination. The Speech from the Throne had referred to the necessity for international action for the stimulation of world trade, but in international action they should not

Continuing, Mr Parry said the position throughout the world was that there was plenty of everything except money. There was an abundance of goods of all kinds, and the remedy could only be found by providing the people with money to buy the goods. COALITION MEMBER CRITICAL

Mr H. S. S. Kyle criticised the renewal of tlie contracts for school text books. Ho said tlie department should have its own copyright and should have the books printed by public tender. He asked what business firm would, renew a contract on a falling market. If the Minister tried that principle in business lie would soon be out of business. Mr Kyle condemned the action of the Government in giving tlie Education portfolio to a member of the Upper House. He declared that so long as the system existed which permitted this there would be no true democracy in the Dominion. He had been asked in Christchurch wliat lie would do if a vote were taken on the subject, a.nd ho had declared that he was willing to stand by his convictions and “vote him Mr W. Nash said that while lie did not wish to belittle the difficulties the Government had to face, he believed the Prime Minister had done more tlian any individual to destroy confidence in the country’s finances. He was satisfied the country could be carried on without waiting for conditions to improve overseas. . . Mr A. D. McLeod said that, some world solution of the monetary problem must be found ; otherwise civilisation would be in danger of collapsing. The cure could not be found in a small country like New Zealand. He quoted figures" to show the fall in tlie value of exportable primary products from New Zealand, despite the increase m the volume. Tlie total drop over three years was £27,000,000, of which £25,000,000 related to wool, meat and dairy products. He asked how any local handling of the currency could meet that position. Mr J. A. Lee said there was no hope of a rise in prices in New Zealand while the spending power of tlie people in Britain continued to shrink, but one of the first essentials to an economic recovery in the Dominion was a fixed price in terms of New Zealand currency for the produce of farms. Mr \V. A. Bodkin said tlie day of high tariff walls for tlie protection of Dominion manufacturers bad gone, and if manufacturers were to survive they would have to scrap their antiquated machinery and modernise their factories. He claimed that tlie best method of doing away with unemployment was to settle meii on small farms, because the men in the best position to-day were those on small areas which were not over-capitalised. Rev. C. Carr contended that the greatest problem in New Zealand today was the domestic problem. He had no’wish to dispute the seriousness of the world problem, but there was the strongest demand for us to face the local issue.

The debate was adjourned on the motion of Mr A. J. Murdoch, and the House rose at 11.32 p.m.

lose sight of'thel often suffered through th l “ te ™ ondar y agreements. He 1, /6 e <J loped a s far industries should be aev n large as possible in order to absorb a number of those seeking n dldus tries been said that &eco P^ i f o jL i )U t in were dependent on primal., ,eh reality they were dependent on jach other as it was essential to pre the balance of P°,P, U , at *°“' +o ensur e manufacturers would ha •, vj e a t a that their goods were availab reasonable price. j.-ffionlties in Mr Smith said be sa.w difhcuh s the way of the establishment of a tral Reserve Bank because o k of he suited that Khought the n parUe S o shotdd consider &ssrtri ft sas^i?sS formation of one strong party.