WAR PROPOSALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24244, 9 April 1942, Page 8

WAR PROPOSALS

LABOUR FEDERATION MILITARY AND ECONOMIC Proposals "designed to ensure a 100 per cent war effort in New Zealand" were unanimously adopted- by the annual conference of the New Zealand Federation of Labour last week, on the recommendation of the national executive, says the Labour paper, the Standard. The plans relate to both economic and military matters. | The paper quotes the following proposals: —Economic: (1) Fullest possible Government control of essential industries; (2) extension of,.prfl(luction councils and committees; (3),/ph,eck-up of all Government war contracts;, (4) strict limitation of profits; (5) heavier taxation of the higher incomes; (6) the stabilisation plan to be put into full operation. Military: (1) The New Zealand Government to adopt a more critical attitude toward the British Government's war policy; (2) international Labour to press for a statement of democratic peace aims; (3) the British Government to be asked, as an indication of its democratic intentions, to grant Dominion self-government to India; (4) army training to be drastically revised. More training in the tise of weapons as weapons. Less forming; fours, saluting and "spit-and-polish." The Home Guard to be specially trained in making the most of naturai defensive features of their respective districts. Men in the forces to be assigned to the jobs for which their civil training and natural aptitudes best fit them. Survey of the higher ranks for the purpose of rooting out inefficiency. The national president, Mr. A. McLagan, in moving the adoption of part of the report dealing with the war, said that two justifiable , criticisms could be made of the Government. The first was that it too much criticism of what it did without making the adequate reply' that could be made to that criticism, and the second was that it had not criticised the people who had fallen down in the conduct of the war. Mr. McLagan said he thought the reason why there was not more criticism of the war situation _ was because the Government was afraid that if it said it was not satisfied with everything the Churchill Government had done Goebbels might have made use of it. "Wo have got the example of Australia, which we could very well follow." he added. "There the Labour Government is in office with the vote of an Independent, but it is standing on its own legs. Here in New Zealand our Labour Government has a big majority, but it is refraining from criticism where criticism is not only justified, but absolutely necessary."