NATIONAL PARTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22685, 24 March 1937, Page 16

NATIONAL PARTY

CALL FOR UNITY

LEADER AT HAMILTON LABOUR FINANCE CRITICISED [[■' ROM 01*11 OWN C'OItHKSPONDKNT") HAMILTON, Tuesday The necessity for unity in opposition politics and the desirability of only two parties operating in the Dominion were stressed by the Hon. A. Hamilton, leader of the National Party, when he. addressed over 200 supporters in the Waikato Winter Show Hall this afternoon. He contended that at the last election the total votes in-favour of the Labour candidates, the two Country Party candidates and the two Independents who voted with them win: 15,000 short of a majority.

Mr. Hamilton's address was mainly on ilie lines of those he had given earlier ill his tour of Iho Auckland Province. " We want a fusion of ideas and we want to bring into our party all sections of the community," ho said. " I his country is not big enough tor us to get into sections and we must learn a certain measure of tolerance." Money for Housing Labour was a sectional Government which was legislating for a class, continued Mr. Hamilton. It had assumed office at a fortunate liuic during the Dominion's recovery Irom four years of slump conditions. He did not think that there was a department of State that was not in funds at the time.

Kxplaining that the books of the Reserve Hank and tlfe national accounts closed at the end of this month, Mr. Hamilton said he would be surprised if the £3,500.000 which it was stated would be "created" to provide for the Government housing scheme was anything more than a pure loan lrom the bank. It would have to be repaid, although he did not know the rate of interest or the term of repayment. The Reserve Hunk had been s;o constituted that other trading banks had to deposit their reserves with it and this was the money that was being used, adijed Mr. Hamilton. If the action were continued it would eventually materially weaken the strength of the Reserve Bank. It was quite a serious position. Position of the Farmer Speaking of the guaranteed price for dairv produce, Mr. Hamilton said that from Labour's outline of the policy he had expected that the scheme would lie similar to that under which the fruitgrowers had operated for some years. What had been done, however, was nothing short of a commandeer at a fixed price. To-day the fanners were discussing a compensated price which he took to mean that, while objecting to increasing costs, they thought that the farmer should be placed on a reasonably competitive basis. The farmer was entitled to equality with the rest of the community and this, he understood, was the main plank of the advocates of the compensatory price. He stressed the necessity for low farming costs in order that producers could keep on a relative basis with every other section of the community when selling in the markets of the world. Borrowing Programme Deplored " Is it not time we lived within our income?" Mr. Hamilton asked when he deplored the borrowing programme of the Government. "We shall be luckv if they do not add £20,000,000 to the national debt in their three years of office with no real assets created to earn interest." Nor, in spite of the budget surplus had any attempt been made to eliminate the sales tax which amounted to £2,000,000, and, instead, taxation had increased. Mr. Hamilton was cheered and accorded musical honours at the close of his address and a resolution was carried unanimously expressing faith and loyalty in the leader, the party and the candidate to bo selected" for Hamilton.