TREASURY'S TASK

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25288, 23 August 1945, Page 5

TREASURY'S TASK

RESTORING INDUSTRY GOVERNMENT ENDEAVOUR SOME CRITICISM OF SPEECH (Kecd. 8.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Aug. 21 The Chancellor of the Exchequer's ( speech on Britain's financial and economic policy attracts the main J interest of London newspapers today. The News Chronicle says it is pleased the Government is tackling ' the stupendous tasks before it with a sense of high responsibility. "The part the Treasury must play 1 in getting industry on its feet, especially in reviving our export trade, is of j supreme importance," the newspaper says. "Prices must bo kept on an even keel and national savings must be maintained. At the same time capital must 1 be made available as freely and quickly as possible." 1 The writer says manufacturers anxious to play a part in post-war industry will not be able to formulate plans : until they know whether some sort of national investment board is to be set up, what its machinery will be and by what principles it will be actuated. "The Government's intention is a sound one," lie added, "hut the machinery set up must work expeditiously and be guided by intelligible principles." Sensible as Sir John Anderson The Daily Telegraph takes the view that Dr Dalton's speech did not throw much light on the Government's intentions. It says:* "They evidently either have not yet made up their minds, or thov find it inconvenient at present to say what they think. On the maintenance of credit and cheap money and on keeping in the middle patch between inflation and deflation Dr Dalton talked the same sound sense as we were wont to hear from his predecessor, Sir John Anderson." The Daily Herald points out that there seems to be little agreement between Mr Churchill and Mr Lyttelton on the subject of the nationalisation of the Bank of England. "Mr Churchill, last week," the newspaper states, "was suggesting that nationalisation of the bank was a project of such negligible importance that it was not worth undertaking. To prove that the idea was certainly not revolutionary he cited the example of other countries where the central bank was already under public I ownership. Mr Lyttelton, a Tory finj ancial expert, based his attack on the lack of wisdom and the perils of the new measure. National Interests First "The Chancellor of the Exchequer was able to enlighten Mr Churchill on the permanent nature of the plans which Labour proposed to introduce for the cintrol of investment," the newspaper jadded. " 'New investment,' Dr Dalton said, 'must continue tp be guided in peace as in war by considerations of national interest. The Government could not be sure this would be so if there were a return to the disorderly scramble for mpney which took place before the war and drove up rates of interest to a height very disadvantageous to those who had to' borrow money.' " The Daily Express directs criticism at Dr Dalton's pessimism about tax relief. "There ought to be and can be tax relief," it says. "The war against Japan has come to an end months before anybody could have reasonably expected. The March Budget gave hopes of relief, even although the Government was facing a whole year at least of war expenditure. Now the nation has the good fortune to be encompassed by peace before five months of the financial year have elapsed, yet we are warned not to expect too much—if anything." Not Sufficiently Specific The Daily Mail urges the voting of a substantial sum for the development and exploitation of atomic energy in Britain, in full co-operation with the United States and Canada, to ensure that it is used for the benefit of humanity. The Times points out that Dr Dalton's intentions regarding the Bank of England were more in the nature of a precautionary measure, but says it feels that on the subject of the Control of investment the Chancellor was less specific and less reassuring. "Dr Dalton seemed to suggest that Labour opinion is still far too much concerned with the prevention of 'wasteful' investment projects," it says, "and far too little with the provision of incentives and opportunities for fruitful ventures." The Times also says there will be no protest against Labour's plans if they are aimed at finding work for the millions, re-equipping the whole of the British industry, and setting the national standard of life on new foundations in a changed world. It is the absence of plans that would cause complaint.