MANY CRITICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22388, 7 April 1936, Page 13

MANY CRITICS

BATTLE OF TACTICS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ATTACK BY MR. BROADFOOT DIFFICULTIES PREDICTED [BY TELEGRAPH SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Monday After the speech of the Leader of the Opposition, Rt. Hon. G. AY. Forbes, the second reading debate on the Reserve Bank Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives to-day took the form of a battle of tactics. In order to voice their protest at the speed with which the bill was being put through the House members of the Opposition had to adopt the course that members of the Labour Party frequently followed before they gained the Treasury benches. Speaker after speaker rose from the Opposition benches, but not one Government member raised his voice in reply. The only support of the bill came from an occasional Independent. " I am surprised at this socialistic Government appealing so often to the country for its co-operation and goodwill," said Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (Opposition—Waitomo). "I think that it is merely to lull the country to sleep while this vital legislation is put through. It seems that success has gone to the heads of the Government and by the way that they are bullocking this bill through that they are drunk with power.

" Fear and Expectation " " On the original bill every section of the community was given opportunity of expressing its views. The wav the present measure is being rushed through is reducing Parliament to an absurdity. The Prime Minister has said that there is no fear in the country and no fear about the results of this legislation. Therefore, why not give the country the opportunity of examining it."

The bill could put the Minister of Finance in the position of being a virtual dictator, said Mr. Broadfoot. The people would wake up and find that there was something behind all the soft words of the Government. On pne hand there was expectation—the expectation of those who hoped to get something for nothing. On the other side there was fear—the fear of those who were going to have to pay for it. Mr. Broadfoot prophesied that one of the difficulties the Government would have to face would be losses on the sale of some of the country's primary produce overseas. Those losses, he claimed, would have to be met out of taxation.

Support for Proposals The provisions of the bill were supported generally by Mr. A. C. A. Sexton (Independent—Franklin). Mr, J. Hargest (Opposition—Awarua), he said, had been disturbed to know where the money was coming from to buy goods which had to be imported. The return published by the Beserve Bank last week showed among its assets £24,830,000 sterling reserves in London. When the bill was passed and the shares had been bought out, that sterling reserve would belong to a State corporation. Even after the interests of the State and trading banks had been taken into consideration, there would still be left a sum sufficient to meet requirements for public works operations for many years. There was no fear of a shortage of funds in London. Discussing the viewpoint of members of the Opposition, Mr. Sexton said the existing financial system which they attempted to defend had failed, because under it the people had never had the money to purchase' tlie goods they produced. There was an urgent necessity of balancing purchasing power with production and the bill, if it worked toward that end, would be a blessing to the whole country. Problem of Stopping Machine

Fears that the Government in amending the Reserve Bank Act was starting a machine that it would not he able to stop were expressed by Mr. 11. A. Wright (Independent Wellington Suburbs). He said ho would assume that £1,500.000 was required for the completion of the East Coast railway line. He took it that the idea of the Minister of Finance was to issue notes to that amount from the Reserve Bank When completed the line/ would, start in operation, presumably free of capital charges. The revenue from the line would be kept separate in the railway accounts. Whatever profits it made would bo used to redeem the £1,500,000. "What will happen if the line does not show a profit?" asked Mr. Wright. "What will become of the issue from the bank? Will it be met out of taxation?" , The silence of Government members on the proposals in the bill was questioned by Mr. S. G. Smith (Opposition —New Plymouth). The Government, he said, was forcing upon the people something that the members of its own partv were unable to get up and defend. "Hip bill is being bludgeoned through the House, and not one of the rank and

file of the Government is able to defend it," Mr. Smith said. "Hansard teems with protests from the former Opposition because minor bills were not sent to committees.

"The bill is nothing more than a gamble. Apparently the Prime Minister will not allow his supporters to speak, for they might spoil the arguments put forward by the Minister of Finance." The opinion that the bill would not realise to the full the aspirations of the Prime Minister was expressed bv Mr. H. Atmore (Independent—Nelson). However, if it could challenge the power of the "unseen hand" that had dictated to the last Government it would have served a valuable purpose. Members of the Opposition had stated that a measure of such importance had never been rushed through in such a short time. That was not so, because the Bank of New Zealand Act had been framed and put through all stages in one night. He was supporting the bill, and if it went through right away it would not be too soon to relieve much of the misery that existed in the Dominion. . . The prediction that the Prime Minister and his Government would lead the Dominion into bankruptcy through their policy of costless credit and currency control was made by Mr. \V. P. Endean (Opposition—Parnell). Sweden under a Socialist Government had refused to'depart from the principles of sound banking, and had held to those of the Rank of England. It appeared that the functions of the trading banks in New Zealand would be limited merely to the granting of overdrafts to persons who could produce security. The Hon. J. G. Cobbe (Opposition— Oroua) said that if the bill had been sent to a committee it would have come back with substantial amendments. Many people believed that the Government was making a grave blunder. The Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple: You ought to be a good judge of blunders. It appeared that the Government had not invited evidence on the bill, Mr. Cobbe continued, because it was afraid of what might happen. There was not the slightest necessity for the amendments, and the Government's proposals would inevitably result in inflation.

FEELING IN BRITAIN NO APPREHENSION CAUSED ADVICE FROM SIR J. PARR [by TELEGRAPH —SrF.CIAI reporter] .WELLINGTON', Monday Details of the Government's financial proposals as outlined in the Reserve Bank Amendment Bill have not caused any apprehension in Great Britain, according to advice received by the Gov ernnient from the High Commissioner in London, Sir James Parr. Sir James has stated that so far there have been-no editorial references to the proposals in the London newspapers, but that New Zealand Government stocks in London are not affected. It is learned that before the bill appeared in the House the Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Nash, communicated to the High Commissioner's office in London a full resume of the Government's financial proposals. These were given prominence in the Daily Herald, the Labour paper in London, being released after the bill had been introduced in the House. Other newspapers also printed fairly lengthy articles on the new financial provisions.

AMUSING INTERLUDE MR. McDOUGALL'S SPEECH THE SPEAKER INTERVENES [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Monday A bright interlude during the second reading debate on the Beserve Bank Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives to-night was provided by Mr. D. McDougall (Independent— Mataura). His was a characteristic speech in which personalities were amusingly frequent. Mr. McDougall referred to the "blank cheque" which, he said, had been demanded by the last Government. "When the people saw what was in the blank cheque," he continued, "they said, 'Get behind me, Satan,' and out you went in a heap." The various titles of the late Government were then described by Mr. McDougall. He added that every time an evildoer came out of gaol in Scotland after serving a term of imprisonment for sheep stealing he changed his name to Forbes. If he was imprisoned for bank robbery and came out again he changed his name to Coates. "Will the honourable gentleman sit down," ordered the Speaker. Mr. McDougall complied. "I do not think references should be made in this way," said the Speaker. "The words may have been used as an illustration, but i do not think they were in the best of taste." Mr. McDougall: I did not intend to cast any reflection on the honourable members, On resuming his speech, Air. McDougall said a clan called Forbes had been driven out of Scotland. Mr. S. G. Smith (Opposition—New Plymouth): The McDougalls were driven out. Mr. McDougall: Wo don't allow any Smiths there. We sent them to the North of Ireland. Finally Mr. McDougall announced that ho would have more to say on the land question. "I can talk better on that," ho said. Opposition Voices: Hear, hear.