LIVING STANDARDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 230, 27 August 1940, Page 8

LIVING STANDARDS

MR NIMMO’S VIEWS. REPLY TO CRITICS. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Aug. 27. The president ot the W'cllington Chamber of Commerce (Mr It. H. Nimmo). taking the greatest exception to criticism passed by railway workers at Petone and an anonymous letter in a Wellington paper, says people who deliberately misconstrue statements and twist them to suit their own pet theories are by their actions retarding tho progress of the country and disrupting the harmony that should exist, especially during these difficult days. In both cases, he said, he had been credited with having made a deliberate attack on the standard of wages with a view .to forcing down the rate, whereas what he did say was that he was a firm believer in the workers being well paid, and in these enlightened days workers had a right to be well and fully paid for their labours, thereby making it possible for them to enjoy the amenities of life. The part of his speech to which exception appeared to be taken was a statement that the standard of living in this country was, in his opinion, too high in relation to the rate of production. That, said Mr Nimmo, was the crux of his argument, and r a!so the root of the trouble in New Zealand at the present time. If we were going to continue the present standard of living we must earn it by the rate of production.