PLANNED ECONOMY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 13 December 1938, Page 3

PLANNED ECONOMY

i ! EXCHANGE CONTROL NECESSARY o I _____ 1 MR J. A. LEE’S CONTENTIONS ! -I ! (United Prette Association) d AUCKLAND. 12th December. 1 f The statement that exchange control I was absolutely necessary if the Dominion was to have a planned economy was made by the Parliamentary Under-Sec- _ retary in Charge of Housing (Mr J. A. e Lee) in a speech at the Auckland cari penlers* annual reunion. Mr Lee added that it was not right to consider ex--1 change control as a temporary measure engaged to overtake an emergency. The Labour Government aimed at distributing the maximum income that the production of New Zealand could make possible for the people of New Zealand, but it was impossible to distribute such an income in terms of money if the money income caused a demand for imports in excess of our sterling surplus. It must also be apparent to everyone, he continued, that the sterling surplus , of New Zealand was limited as tu amount each year, and was the property of the nation, and that a New Zealand economy could not be erected if a few "financial gangsters” could raid . that sterling surplus at any moment to I the extent that New Zealand would be I compelled to default in London, or to I accept a hard bargain at the hands of the British money-lender. Exchange ! control was absolutely essential to a planned economy. Mr Lee said that surely the Labour way was better than the "hit or miss" method of Labour’s opponents. who were already howling for a reduction I in public works expenditure. The in- ( terest receiver should be happy that under Labour there would be no re-' pudiation of the Government’s interest j obligations, and should stop calling out j for an increase to the so-called market j rate of money. RATES OF INTEREST ' The Labour Government had not been returned to pay the so-called market rate of money. There should be i I absolutely no increase in the interest j 1 rate. Labour was returned pledged toJ<

j use the peoples savings, and the preI scn t interest rate was reasonable inI need for a gilt-edged security guaranteed by the nation. I The Labour Party's policy, beyond the use of savings voluntarily offei*ed j for public investment. Mr Lee said, called for the maintenance and extens.on of credit and currency control, j until the State was the sole euttvority i lor the issue of credit and currency. | Public credit should be used to free local body and Governmental develop--1 ment from the burden of interest, and ; to lay the foundations of a new debtJ tree system. While there was no scarcity of goods or services, to talk in scarcity terms of market rates of money, which meant surrendering to a few people the right to hold the State to ransom, was altogether wrong. With exchange control and the interest rate held where it was money would soon find investment locally in building up New Zealand's Mr Lee said the time had arrived to reduce the nation's interest bill by the utilisation of public credit. OVERSEAS DEBT IMPRESSION CORRECTED Because of the omission of the plural a wrong impression was conveyed by a remark credited to the Prime Minister (the Rt Hon. M. J. Savage) on ! Saturday when replying to statements made by the National Party. Mr Savage was made to say that the overseas debt charges, "which form a substantial part of the present problem, u ere the creation of the preceding Government, which included the same elements as those which constitute the National Party to-day.’” What Mr Savage did say was that the debt , charges were the creation of “precedj ing Governments.”