Labour Would Increase Wages

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7412, 20 December 1930, Page 7

Labour Would Increase Wages

HENRY FORD’S PHILOSOPHY. CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 19. A protest against the abolition of tho Arbitration Court and any reduction in wages was made by 700 people last evening. Speeches setting out the Labour Party’s view on tho present economic situation of tho Dominion were made by the Mayor, Rev. J. K. Archer, and four Labour members oi Parliament. The meeting passed the following resolution: “That this meeting of citizens eqnlidcntly affirms with Mr. Philip Snowden that a reduction in wages is no panacea for the trade depression. On the contrary, it aggravates the position by lessening still further effective demand. What is wanted when trade is bad is to increase the volume of the purchasing power. This is the philosophy of Mr. Henry Ford and other leading industrialists. This meeting emphatically protests -against the insidious and sustained propaganda by Chambers of Commerce, and others against tlio Arbitration Court. This propaganda has already had most detrimental effects on trade and industry, as every retailer and manufacturer can testify.”