VINDICATED BY RESULTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22708, 22 October 1935, Page 10

VINDICATED BY RESULTS

POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT READJUSTMENT WELL ADVANCED STABILITY OF NATIONAL FINANCES (Per United Press Association) MASTERTON, October 21. The Minister of Finance, Mr Coates, addressed a meeting in the largest available hall in Masterton to-night. The building was crowded to the doors, and hundreds were unable to gain admission. The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, presided. There w;as at times a fair amount of interjection and noisy interruption, but it came from a small minority. The Minister turned the interruptions to good account in pleasant exchanges and in driving home his points. On concluding his address, he answered many questions, and was then accorded a hearty vote of thanks with loud applause and no indication of dissent, A CLEAR-CUT PLAN Dealing with the problems of the past four years, Mr Coates said the plans ami methods adopted by the Government were not hastily conceived, but were clear-cut and defined. As a result of the enforcement of the Government’s plan, they were now getting the equilibrium that was recessary to balance expenditure and revenue. No enterprise, public or private, could continue for long if the expenditure exceeded the income. A serious fall in prices had brought about an unstable economic position, and had resulted in a large number of men and women losing their employment. Unemployment was a social concern, and as such had received different treatment from the other problems facing the Government. One of the first things the Government did in an endeavour to increase the revenue was to raise the exchange rate on London to 25 per cent. That had effected an increased income for' products both internally and externally and had also brought about an adjustment of costs and prices. Discussing who paid the raising of the exchange, Mr Coates said the farmer and the city man—everyone paid for it. The Government had figured it out that costs would not rise with an increased exchange. Subsequent events proved that it had figured correctly. CRITICISM OF DEMOCRATS

Aspirants for political honours, Mr Coates went on, had described the financial experts as the “ brain trust.” “ Call them what you like,” he said. “ they are the men who have given their time and ability whole-heartedly to the difficult task of sorting out the data to ensure that any pitfalls that might have been in the Government’s proposals might be fully understood and appreciated before any definite action was taken.” He knew nothing of the politics of the “ Brain Trust” and questioned the decorum of Mr Hislop accusing them of being Socialists. They were men who had given their time and ability ungrudgingly and often had worked the whole clock round in eliminating weaknesses that otherwise might have entered into the Government’s proposals. Mr Coates said the Government's fouryear plan had worked out to the satisfaction and credit of the country. Sacrifices had been made by all classes, and conditions were now improving. It had been said that the Final Adjustment Act involved a breaking of contracts. That might be so, but he held that in times of stress the people and the country must come first. They would not let human beings suffer to the point where they became depressed and lost hope in the future. The worst of the storm was past. They had balanced the Budget, and the credit of the country in London stood as high as ever it did, as was evidenced by the ease with which the last New Zealand loan was floated. The present indications of reviving confidence and recovery made it clear that the people of the Dominion had confidence in the Government that had pulled them through.

Mr Coates criticised the Democrat Party’s proposals at length, reiterating his charge that these proposals would entail an expenditure of £22,000,000 a year over and above the present Budget. He could not understand people being gulled by the kind of “guff” the Democrats had submitted. Mr Coates also asked what had caused Mr Hislop to change his opinion, expressed only a few months ago, that the Mayor of Wellington had not time to engage in general politics.

APPEAL TO COMMON SENSE The Minister claimed that the Government had carried out the only policy that had made recovery possible with good results that could be expected to continue short of any international upheaval. He reviewed the meat negotiations at length and denounced as most unfair and inaccurate the allegation that New Zealand had failed to honour the Ottawa agreement. He touched on the Government’s proposals relating to national superannuation, health insurance, housing, and other matters. The Government, he said, just asked for fair consideration, taking account of the manner in which the difficulties of the country had been dealt with and its programme of a steady forward movement in the development of the country.