LABOUR'S PLATFORM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20074, 11 October 1928, Page 13

LABOUR'S PLATFORM.

OUTLINE BY MR. HOLLAND.

FINANCE AND THE LAND. BREAKING UP LARGE ESTATES. [llY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] MASTERTON, Wednesday. The Leader of tho Opposition, Mr.. H. E. Holland, opened the Labour Party's election campaign this evening in tho Masterton Town Hall, which was filled. Tho Mayor, Mr. T. Jordan, presided. Mr. Holland, who was applauded heartily as ho rose to speak, said ho realised it would be futile for tho Opposition to offer merely destructive criticism. Tho aim of an Opposition was to replace the Government of tho day. and it could only do that by offering a constructive policy. While there were threo main parties in the field, the real fight would, of course, be between tho Reform Party and the Labour Party. He did not think tho United Party would be a very serious factor.

Dealing with tho land policy, Mr. Holland said tho Reform Party had promised farmers the freehold. Ho wanted to ask any farmer whether he had got the freehold. Under the administration of the Government, an enormous record of aggregation had been built up, which left the position in the state that less than 7000 landholders held nearly 30,000,000 acres of the rural lands, while nearly 80,000 held less than 14,000,000 acros out of a total of 43,500,000 acres. What was true of aggregation in areas was also true of aggregations in values Under Reform the mortgage system had developed probably to a greater degreo j than in any other country. Mr. Holland quoted figures to support this contention, and said one of tho princpal difficulties farmers were up against was the very high interest bill they had to face year by year. Tho amounts of money borrowed at low rates of interest had progessively decreased since the accession of Reform to office, while amounts borrowed at high rates had proportionately increased. Tax Reductions. If the Government had set itself tho task of making tho prioo of money cheaper it would have served the interests of farmers to a far greater degree than could possibly be achieved by means of tho various tax reductions to which it had resorted. Ho contended that tax reductions made in past years, while they had greatly benefited the very wealthy landowners, had brought littlo relief to tho working farmer. The only real eject of tho abolition of the income tax in the case of landowners, Mr. Holland said, had been to relieve a handful of wealthy men of the obligation to pav direct taxes amounting to something'over £220,000, and even in that case 6 per cent, of those affected received 52 per cent, of tho amount of relief. No small farmer would pay income tax under tho Labour Party proposals, but the Labour Party would make landowners with largo incomes pay income tax. Tho statistical record of land transfers in New Zealand revealed the extent to which tho Government's policy had operated to drive men off the land since 1912, continued Mr. Holland, quoting figures. He then proceeded to deal with tho land agency I system, which, he said, grew out of the mortgage system and which depended for its existence upon recurring land sales. He furnished figures indicating tho uneconomic effect of tho system and declared that while the Labour Party would not forbid the land agent to put out his sign it would make State provision for effecting transfers at the cost of doing the work. Dairy Control Question. Mr. Holland said the Government carried weighty responsibility in the matter of an attempt to wreck dairy control or the marketing of New Zealand primary products. The problem of tho middleman was one that had to bo faced and co-oper-ative marketing affirmed by the dairy suppliers' emphatic vote was intended to meet this difficulty. He traced tho history of rural credits legislation from 1922 and criticised the Government's policy. Ho said neither the multiplication of boards nor tho conditions attaching to tho loans would materially improve tho position from the point of view of the farmers, whose pressing need was finance at low rates of interest.

The Government had allowed its policy in relation to the post office Baving6 bank to be influenced by the private financial interests to the detriment of both the farmers requiring rural credits and the workers requiring finance for homo building, following on attacks that wore made on the post office savings bank by bankers, contended Mr. Holland, and as the post office savings bank suffered the privatelyowned banks benefited as their figures in deposits revealed. Interest on Advances. Within one month of its 1925 victory tho Government raised the interest rates charged by the State Advances Office from to s;] per cent., he said. Tho piofit made by the State Advances Office from its inception to 1926 was certainly not less than £1,250,000, and when this profit was takcu into consideration tho tost of tho whole of the money borrowed up to that time was about £4 2s 9d per cent. There was therefore no need whatever for tho Government to raise tho interest rate on " State advances. The speaker then criticised the action of the associated banks in raising tho overdraft rate from 6£ to 7 per cent, in 1927. At the annual meeting of tho Bank of New Zealand in tho same year the chairman announced the usual dividend of 2s 8d por share and a bonus of 1 per cent, in addition. The dividend and bonus combined equalled 17 per cent, on tho actual cash invested. This fact was eloquent testimony that the bank itself was in such a position that there would have been n» need whatever to raise tho interest rate. Mr. Holland declared that the extent to which tho Government submitted to dictation by the associated banks provided a strong argument for a State bank. General Manager ol Railways. Referring to the appointment of tho General Manager of Railways Mr. Holland said that when tho Prime Minister dispensed with tho Railway Board and substituted a general manager for it he had no authority under tho law for what ho had done, and, as a matter of fact, the general manager was illegally in office until tho Amending Bill of last week had received tho Royal assent. Ho was of r opinion that £3500 was too high a salary to pay as an individual salary for the management of tho railways, and the superannuation provision which made it possible for tho general manager to retiro at the end of eight years on £2300 a year, could not be justified. Every public servant with broken service now had an unanswerable claim to have his lost time counted for superannuation purposes on tho same terms as bad been provided in the case of the Gen-

eral Manager of Railways. Mr. Holland preceded to criticise the accounting system of the railways. The Government's policy had resulted in an unemployment problem unparalleled in the history of the Dominion, said Mr. Holland. It was in tho main due to tho immigration system, for which the Government was responsible. A vigorous public works policy, plus systematic endeavour to place unemployed workers in the work to which they were accustomed would substantially minimise tho difficulty, but there could be no solution of the problem while the Government's immigration policy was continued. Reterring to the policy of tho Labour Party Mr. Holland said that it pledged itself if returned to power to givo effect within three years to the specific programme ho had outlined in a pre-scssional address. It would introduce a land bill to break up large estates. Two methods would be adopted—purchase by negotiation and compulsory acquisition. Where an owner objected to tho valuation placed on his property there would bo a right of appeal, in tiio first place, to a tribunal consisting of representatives of local bodies and of landowners in the immediate district, with a representative of the Valuer-General's Department. There would lie a further light of appeal to another tribunal consisting of a Supremo Court Judge as chairman, representatives of landowners throughout the land district, and a representative of the ValuerGeneral's Department. Where the case went against tho Government before both tribunals it would purchase the. land at the price fixed by the higher, tribunal Tho Labour Party would grade the graduated land tax more steeply. To enforce the subdivision of largo estates it was better, in the party's view, that 20 owners each of a thousand sheep should occupy a given area rather than that the total area should be hold by one family owning 20.000 sheep and employing perhaps two or three men. Ihe Government should lie prepared to go further than it had in cheapening fertilisers. It. should bo prepared if necessary to incur a heavy loss for the sake of increased production. Continuing, ho said he knew some holdings were too small at present. Two thousand acres might bo too small and 200 acres might lie capable of subdivision. Land that was compulsoiily resumed would be offered for closer settlement under lease with a perpetual right of renewal with periodical revaluation and absolute protection of tho tenant's improvement. Heavily timbered land would be cleared by the State beforo it was opened for settlement. Roads to now settlements should bo made and tho streams bridged by tho timo tho settlers were on tho land.

The Labour Party would set up a State bank, which would finance public and local body works and primary production, providing cheap credits instead of benefiting privato shareholders. The Labour Party would institute a system of insurance against unemployment. It would amend tho Education Act in tho direction of providing free books and requisites. Labour would abolish the system of "boy conscription" and reorganise the national defence system. It would cast tho influence of New Zealand in favour of settling international disputes by arbitration and not by war. A vote of thanks to Mr. Holland was carried unanimously.

UNITED PARTY LEADER. AUCKLAND VISIT NEXT WEEK. POLICY SPEECH IN TOWN HALL. Tho first policy speech of the United Party will be delivered by Sir Joseph Ward, leader of tho party, in tho Auckland Town Ilall next 'luesday evening. Sir Joseph will arrive from the South on Tuesday morning, and intends to speak at various centres throughout the Dominion during the election campaign. Details of his itinerary havo yet to be finalised. POSITION IN CANTERBURY. ACTIVITIES OF PARTIES. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHRISTCnUItCH, Wednesday. It has been decided by the North Canterbury executive of the United Party to nominate candidates for every electorate under its jurisdiction. A candidate for the Avon seat has been selected, and his name will bo announced shortly. Already the party has candidates in the field for every Canterbury electorate excepting Avon, Mid-Canterbury, Timaru and Temuka. It is expected that within tho next week or two it will have nominees for every Canterbury electorate. The Reform Party will probably run candidates for every Canterbury seat excepting Christchurch East. Tho prospects are that there will bo a triangular contest for all tho Christchurch seats. OAMARU ELECTORATE. [137 TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] OAMARU, Wednesday. A definite decision to contest the Oamaru seat as tho United Party candidate was announced to-day by Mr. J. A. MacPherson, who represented Oamaru as a Nationalist from 1922 t-o 1925.