WORK FOR COMMITTEE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20959, 24 August 1931, Page 10

WORK FOR COMMITTEE.

BUDGET NOT UNDER REVIEW.

STATEMENT BY MR. FORBES.

DESIRE TO POSTPONE ELECTION. [by telegraph.—special reporter.] WELLINGTON, Sunday. For some reason tl;o sudden developments in political affairs on Friday have led to no little apprehension throughout the country as to the state of the national finances, and the opinion has gained currency in some quarters that a sudden turn for tho worse has occurred and that the Government has become faced with a crisis of the first magnitude. Regret that unfounded statements had put the position in a false light was expressed by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, in an interview to-day, when he said tho steps to be taken were more in the nature of wise anticipation of the future than hasty action to avoid panic. Discussing tho viewpoint which tho three Government members .would take to meetings of the committee which has been set up on the initiative of the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, the Prime Minister said he was not concerned about the immediate future of the national accounts, nor about the state of affairs as revealed in tho Budget. In his opinion the Government had made the state of finances as secure as they could bo made at the moment, and although it was readily admitted that tho position generally was not of the best, he believed -the committee's main work would lie in the direction of paving the way for tho future. Meeting Future Emergency. As far as he was concerned he had done all he could for tho present year, but the fact remained that an intelligent anticipation of the future was required in order that the country might be in a position to meet any future financial emergency. This in brief was the outlook of the Government upon the present situation, and tho work the committee would be called upon to do as he saw it.

The committee would not be abJo to make much headway by confining its work to consideration of State finance. The question of the moment concerned local body finance and the position in which the people generally were placed as a result of the depression. There was no doubt that experts would have to be called m and as the state of the national finances was dependent upon that of the purse of the country at large the committee would have to look further afield than the Treasury itself There was absolutely no reason for the apprehension that appeared to exist throughout the country, said Mr. Forbes. The setting up of the committee merely meant that Parliament had decided the time had come to give serious attention to the future, and it is was unfortunate that this plan to stabilise the country's financial position should be interpreted as meaning that the Government, had become faced with a sudden and almost hopeless crisis. Prolonging Life of Parliament. As the question of local body finance would have to bo tackled it was not unreasonable to suppose that some inquiry along tli© lines of that proposed to bo undertaken by the special commission would bo carried out by tho committee. It was important to realise that the scope of Government economy was limited, for the annual appropriations by Parliament were but a comparatively small part of the requirements fixed charges constituting the main liability It was perhaps unfortunate that the life of the present Parliament had almost expired and that not much time remained to carry out any effective work, continued Mr. Forbes. This led to the question of prolonging the life of Parliament and it appeared quite plain that unless this were done the committees work would be robbed of its value. Ihe main essential at the moment was the formation of a National Government in order to bring about political stability and allow of completion of any plan that might bo decided on. term of parliament. STAND AGAINST EXTENSION. MR. COATES' VIEW OF POSITION. [bx telegraph.--press ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON. Saturday. One . result ot yesterday's dramatic development of the political situation is that speculation is rife as to the possibility of the formation of a National Government and tho prolongation of the life of the present Parliament. An impression seemed to have developed that in tho event of the jnter-party committee failing to reach unanimity the consequence would be a fusion or coalition of the United and Reform Parties, and a majority decision to extend the term of Parliament. It has been made clear that Labour, under the circumstances, would not agree to the latter course. Interviewed by the Press Association this morning, the Leader of the Opposition, the EL. lion. J G. Coates, repeated his statement of yesteiday, that his motion contemplated neither fusion nor the prolongation of the life of Parliament. To him a National Government meant nothing. The position was being approached de novo, and it was the earnest hope of the Reform Party that the conference of the parties would, with tho help of outside experts, be able to devise a plan that would lead to the rehabilitation of tho Dominion and its people as rapidly as possible. Asked whether he was optimistic recarding tho possibility of the conference reaching an agreement, Mr. Coates said unless one was < ptimistic one go no where. He could not see why a confer ence of reasonable men, with all the facts placed before them, should not be able to agree to a plan for the future. It was equally important to all parties that an agreement should be reached along the lines that would, as he had stated, bring about rehabilitation as speedily as possible. The Laboui Party was as vitally concerned as anyone else. He regretted there had been any suggestion that tho Reform and t-hn United Parties might eventually line themselves up _ against Labour and forte through certain measures. Such a line of approach was destructive of the purpose of setting up the committee. The whole idea of the conference was to attain unanimity.