Budget Debate Resumed

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 175, 27 July 1938, Page 5

Budget Debate Resumed

Criticism and Defence ANOTHER ATTACK ON THE PRESS Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Last Night. The debate on the Budget was continued in the House throughout this afternoon, the first speaker being Mr. W. M. C. Denham, who stated that the Budget was giving effect to Labour’s policy of increasing the spending power of the people. He wanted to draw attention to the fact, he said, that the Press of the Dominion had attacked the Government consistently since it came into office, and was a political weapon, but he added that he thought the Press was a spent force. As far as the House was concerned it was crippled there because they had the microphone in the House. The Labour Government, he said, had completed nearly three years of the most prosperous period in the Dominion ’s history, yet the Press continued to cry the Government down. The redistribution of the nation’s income on a more equitable basis was the chief Teason for the country’s prosperity. He proceeded to deal with the achievements of the Labour Administration during its term of office and stated in connection with Public Works that Labour had done as much in three years as the Opposition had done in twenty years. Despite all that had been done, said Mr. Denham, Labour had ended the year with a surplus of £BIO,OOO. If this had occurred under the Nationalist Government it would have been hailed as a wonderful achievement by the Press of the Dominion from one end of the country to the other. Mr. Denham continued that tho Minister of Finance had produced a Budget eminently superior to tho Budgets of the last Government. No additional sums had been raised in London and the sum of £496,000 per annum was being saved to New Zealand by way of interest charges. The people could thank the Government for keeping tho interest rates low. He contended that if the previous Government had been in power the interest rates would have gone up at the demand of the financiers overseas who would not lend their money unless the interest rates were high. Mr. Denham recounted what the Government had done for the farmers and stated that the farmer been saved from exploiter time after time since tho last general election. The Compensated Price “Mystery.” Mr. T. H. McCombs suggested that in view of the fact that the Opposition was very keen on getting the farmers’ votes back at the next election the mystery of the proposed compensated price for dairy produce should be explained to them, and he contended that under the compensated price scheme as outlined by Colonel Closey, farmers in the year before last would have been getting some llid compared with 13d paid under the Government’s guaranteed price scheme. Dealing with the question of marketing Mr. McCombs said there was a surplus in the Dairy Industry Account of £113,000, and in addition the saving resulting from the new method of marketing had been £219,000, so that the farmers were hundreds of thousands ot pounds better off under the Government’s scheme than they would have been if they had marketed their produce under the old marketing procedure. The Leader of the Opposition, said Mr. McCombs, had made a statement in the course of his Budget speech that the Budget had been balanced at the taxpayers’ expense. It was a silly statement, he said, because every Budget was balanced at tho taxpayers’ expense. Mr. McCombs claimed that the only manner in which the Oppostion could reduce costs was to reduce wages, and dealing with defence matters, he said the ones who really wished to assist in tho Dominion’s defence should help in securing recruits rather than merely criticising the Government’s policy. Railway Accidents. Mr. J. B. F. Cottcrill said that during the Opposition’s period of office they had had some rainy days, but the country was enjoying some sunshine to-day and would continue to do so as long as the Labour Government remained in power. Mr. W. J. Poison: Oh, no. We would . be needing a macintosh and umbrella. Mr. Cotterill; No; a “gamp” would do for you. (Laughter.) Continuing, Mr. Cotterill said the record income from exports certainly had an important bearing on the Dominion’s present prosperity, but the Government could claim to have distributed incomes more equitably with the resulting increase in spending power generally, Referring to Mr. Hargest’s recent allegation that railway accidents had increased since Labour had come into office, Mr. Cotterill stated that the records of the Department showed that the derailments during the past 13 years averaged 30.2 and during the past two years the average had been 30. During the last year of the Railway Board’s control there had been the largest number of main line accidents in tho history

of the Department. There had been 42 passenger and 43 non-passenger derailments and 12 of the passenger derail* ments were due to defects in the rolling stock. That was a record and was double the average for the previous ten years. He had been in the employ of the railway service at that time, he said, and he knew the policy of the Board led to an extension of all overhaul periods and the rise in the number of defects of rolling stock had followed. The present Government had had to spend a lot of money to make up for the deficiencies consequent on the Railway Board’s policy.

Tho debate was continued when the House resumed at 7.30, Mr. Cotterill discussing afforestation work on sand duno country in tho vicinity of Wanganui and tho milk in schools scheme. The Government had sot out, bo said, to meet the needs of the country and had done so very satisfactorily indeed. “Furtive and Fantastic.” Mr. W. J. Poison characterised the Budget as an attempt to catch the unthinking. It was subtle to the point of furtivencss and fabulous to the point of fantasy. He criticised the Government’s expenditure on public works, in which money was being expended with the utmost lavishness and without regard to the need for the works which were being undertaken. Continuing, Mr. Poison contended that New Zealand’s public debt, instead of being decreased, had actually been increased by some £3,000,000. In addition to this they had been advised that the debt was to be increased shortly by the sum of £14,263,000. This sum was not going to be raised overseas, according to the Minister of Finance. Where, then, asked Mr. Poison, was it to come from? It was to bo borrowed internally, but from whom was it to be borrowed? Was it to be a compulsory loan or a capital levy, or was it to be raised as a continuation of the Government's present policy of inflation? That was the point on which the Government members had been singularly quiet late-

Mr. Poison criticised the Government for its failure'to remove the sales tax and exchange and also to reduce taxation. Tho reduction of taxation, he said, was one sure way of reducing the cost of living. The Budget carried on the policy of Socialism by stealth and the Government had failed to keep every major promise made by the Prime Minister prior to tho election. Every effort, said Mr. Poison, had been made by the Government to ridicule the compensated price for the dairy farmer, but now, with tho election just round the corner, the Minister of Finance seemed to agree that some compensation for the dairy farmer was advisable. The Government had contended that dairy farmers had expressed their willingness to allow the Government to fix the price of dairy produce. This was quite incorrect, he added, and tha dairy farmers demanded that their voices should be heard in the fixation of such price. Speaking on the question of defence, he stated that in 1935, when the Party now in Opposition had brought down the Sanctions Bill the then Labour Opposition had insisted on an amendment to tho Bill providing that the Bill would not entail any New Zealanders leaving tho Dominion on active service, Mr. Poison added that he was not prepared to place his trust in a Party which ignored its obligation to assist tho Empire in times of danger. Minister of Lands on Freehold. Tho Minister of Lands (Hon. F. Langstone) contended that better conditions wero being enjoyed by many sections of tho community under the present Administration and quoted figures to support his statement that the Government was not opposed to people having titles to their land. The Minister proceeded to deal with tho purchases of land by past Governments, stating that the prices paid in many cases were exborbitant. One of the reasons why the Minister of Finance could not reduce taxation to-day was because of the great burden of debt vhich remained as a result of these stupid land purchases. Mr. Langstone also outlined the writing down in the value of a number ot estates which had been effected by the Mortgage Adjustment Commissions and went on to deal with the small farms development scheme under which, he said, the Government was taking up rough marginal lands which no one else could develop economically. The Government was literally saving thousands of pounds in the development of this scheme. Air. C. L. Hunter said they had a Budget which showed that New Zeaalso that there was a surplus, and this despite the criticism that the Government was spending its money all over the place without heed to a return from it. He defended the Government’s public works policy and said Labour was not only endeavouring to improve the main arterial road system of tho Dominion but was also providing good roads for backblock settlers. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 10.30, when the House rose.