BETTER OUTLOOK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21905, 14 September 1934, Page 13

BETTER OUTLOOK

CONCESSIONS DESERVED

CIVIL SERVANTS' LOYALTY

READY CO-OPERATION GIVEN REPLY TO BUDGET DEBATE [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON. Thursday "It looks as if we have arrested the downhill rush that set in three or four years ago," said the Minister of Finance, Mr. Coates, in speaking generally about the financial situation when concluding the Budget debate in the House of Representatives to-day.

Mr. Coates said he had received messages from all parts of the country expressing appreciation of the work of the Government and congratulating it on the better outlook as indicated by the Budget. Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour —Auckland Central): Does that include relief workers ?

Mr. P. Fraser (Labour —Wellington Central): Some people are fairly easy to please.

Work of Public Service

Continuing, Mr. Coates said the Government had reached a stage wherw it could make economic adjustments, and it felt in the first place that it should recognise the part played by the Public Service. Any other policy than that which had been adopted by the Government to meet the emergency would have piled up debts and liabilities and would have frightened the most courageous of critics. Officers of the State, high and low, had played their part well. The Government had received nothing but willing co-opera-tion from them in spite of the fact that their remuneration had been reduced and they had been called on to work tedious hours.

Mr. F. Langstone (Labour —Waimarino): They would have got the sack if they hadn't. Mr. Speaker: I warn the honourable gentleman at the outset that I will not tolerate such interjections. The honourable gentleman is interjecting most unreasonably. Mr. Coates said it had been decided to increase all Public Service salaries by 5 per cent. It sounded all right to say that only the salaries of lower-paid servants should be increased, but that would immediately create anomalies which would take years to overcome Outside Employers

Some comment had been made regarding the position of those outside the service. It had been urged that the Government should have appealed to outside employers to increase wages. Mr. C'oates felt that such a declaration would have been definitely unfair, because private employers had not called on their employees to anything like the same extent' as far as reductions in wages were concerned. Mr. R. Semple (Labour —Wellington East): In some cases they have been cut 60 per cent. Mr. Coates: An industry can only itself determine what it can pay.

Mr. Eraser: Why didn't you take up the same attitude when the general order was made reducing wages'f

Mr. Coates: I don't want to shirk my responsibility, but as a matter of strict fact, I don't think I was in the Government then. However, I accept my full responsibility for that. Regarding the hope expressed by the Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands, that the year would end with a surplus of £1,000,000, Mr. Coates said some of the newspapers reported the Minister as saying definitely that there would be that surplus.

Mr. Parrv: That is what he said

Mr. Coates thought the Minister had merely expressed the hope that that would be so.

Working for the Surplus

Much hard work had been put into the preparation of the Estimates in an endeavour to get the figures as correctly as possible. "It may be that we will exceed the £BOOO surplus estimated," said Mr. Coates. "On the other hand, it will require the strictest economy on the part of Ministers and departments if we are to finish this year with the surplus of £BOOO. It is true that windfalls come to us from time to time; one occurred the other day since the Budget was made up. Reverting to the position of the Public Service, Mr. Coates said there were loan funds in the Post Office from which officers from time to time got advances to help them over any little difficulties. Those loan funds were all used up, showing that some of the men in the service were "well up against it."

Mr. Coates said that regarding the taxpayers' position, he had noticed a cartoon in which the Hon. W. Downie Stewart and himself had figured. Mr. Stewart was apparently regarded bv the cartoonist as the champion of the taxpayer, while Mr. Coates said lie himself was supposed to be responsible for all taxation, and this he denied.

RUAWARO MURDER CASE SPECIAL WORK OF POLICE [BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION^ WELLINGTON, Thursday A reference to the Kuawaro murder rase was made by Mr. A. J. Stallworthy (Independent—Eden) in the House to-day, when he asked the Minister of Justice whether he had yet given effect to representations made by Auckland citizens that some tangible acknowledgment should bo made to those members of the police force whose special services in the case were deserving of recognition. The Hon. J. G. Cobbe replied that no representations had been made, but the department had not overlooked the matter, which was receiving attention.