USEFUL DOCUMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24432, 18 October 1940, Page 6

USEFUL DOCUMENT

AN IMPRESSIVE SURVEY TRIBUTE TO COMMITTEE EXHAUSTIVE STUDY MADE (Peb United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Oct. 17.The Economic Stabilisation Confer* ence met in the Social Hall, Parliament Buildings, this morning. Throughout, the discussions were held in committee. The report supplied to the press says that the report of the Working Committee of the conference was read by Mr A. T. Donnelly, acting chairman.' who was seconded by Mr A. McLagan, president of the Federation of Labour and supported by Mr W. W. Mulholland. president of the Farmers’ Union. After a general discussion on the report as a whole, the recommendations were taken clause. tv clause and agreed to. The report was adopted early this afternoon without modification, with only one dissentient vote. The Minister of Finance (Mr Walter Nash), moving a motion of thanks .to the General Working Committee, explained that he had been present only on the occasion of the first meeting and once at a later date when further information was required, and the committee had done ,all its own work and had presented an mdependen. report. All the information it wanted had been made available, and the committee ha'd made the heads of departments and others tell all they knew. He questioned whether there could \ have been a more thorough committee. The contacts he had had With the members showed that they • wer o anxious to find a way in which they could help the Government and the country thrbugh the present crisis. Mr J. Roberts seconded the resolution. The whole of the people of New Zealand would be proud of, the jod they had done, he said. It was a necessary job for the people of New - Zealand. He had carefully examined the report of the committee.;and was very pleased indeed with it ... The chairman of the Associated Banks. Mr P. R. M. Hanna, said that, after the first meeting, he was a little despondent about the possibility cf the conference getting very far. but. after appearing before the committee and seeing their evident desire to pull together and achieve the object of the conference, he had changed , his mind. He congratulated them on having produced an amazingly useful document, one which he thought would be hailed from one end of New' Zealand to the other with enthusiasm. As the .committee had brought down a unanimous report, Mr Hanna asked whether it was too much to hope that; in days to come, this would be a red letter day and that round table conferences might be organised when any difficulties arose A motion—That tljis conference records its appreciation of the work of the General Committee and extends its thanks to the members for their .concise. informative,, and reasonable report”—was carried unanimously. •• Mr T. O. Bishop, on behalf of the members of the committee; thanked Mr Donnelly for the services rendered by him as chairman oyer the five weeks of the committee’s sittings. He paid tribute to Mr Donnelly’s qualities as chairman, and stated that this was no small factor in contributing to the unanimity with which the committee had brought down its findings. On behalf of the committee, Mr Bishop presented Mr Donnelly with a fountain pen. ~ Mr P. Butler moved — That all present pledge themselves to do .everything in their power to implement the report.” _ • He was supported by Mr Bishop, who expressed - the hope that the powerful organisations represented at the conference would do their part in endeavouring to .carry the recommendations into effect.

Finally, Mr McGibbon moved—“ That the Government be requested to call together the. members of. the General Working Committee if at any time the Prime Minister considered it would be advantageous to do so." This motion was also agreed to. The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser), in concluding the proceedings, extended to the delegates, on behalf of the Gov- ; eminent, the deep appreciation of the honest and painstaking work that had been put into the report. “The report is most valuable," said Mr Fraser, " and it is the result of earnest thought and research. A good many matters have been clarified, matters that are questions of perplexity to a great many people throughout the country, and this clarification will have a stabilising effect. People will realise it is not possible with the reduced output for everybody to increase their consumption of goods and that every, endeavour must be made to obtain more efficient production of goods if the standard of living is to be maintained. “ The Government will be very , materially assisted by the deliberations and findings of the committee,” Mr Fraser said, “and, personally, I wish to thank not only the delegates who are present, but also their organisations for agreeing to their being represented at this conference. I wish also to thank the members of the committee for the splendid work they have done because it meant weeks of hard work,, deep thought, and application.”