LABOR'S LEADER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18865, 16 November 1935, Page 4

LABOR'S LEADER

MR. M. J. SAVAGE SPEAKS PARTY'S SCHEMES UPHELD GISBORNE RAILWAY PLANK Speaking at the Opera House last evening, the leader of the Labor Party, Mr. M. J.. Savage, dealt extensively with the policy of his party, and criticised strongly the actions of the Coalition Government in the recent past. He gave an unequivocal pledge, on behalf of his party, that the GLsborne railway would be carried to completion if a Labor Government was returned, and intimated that the money would be found for this and other public works, not from loans, but from the development of public credit in the Dominion. Labor's taxation policy would be based upon the individual income, he stated, and its general effect would be to transfer a portion of the present burden from the shoulders of people with small incomes, and place it on those of the wealthy. The Labor leader was accorded a warm reception from an audience which filled the Opera House to capacity, and overflowed into the street, where Mr. Savage's speech was heard by many electors through the. medium of a public-address system. The gathering was presided over by the deputy-Mayor, Mr. Henry Holmes, and on the platform with Mr. Savage were Messrs D. W. Coleman, M.P., anfj Gordon Hultquist, candidates undef the banner of the Labor Party. I TRIBUTE TO THE VISITOR J

Formally introducing the speaker of the evening, the deputy-Mayor commented that the large attendance must be very encouraging to the organisation responsible for the gathing, and that the district was complimented by this visit of one who might be the next Prime Minister of New Zealand. (Applause.) Mr. Savage could not be insensible to the importance of the duties that might devolve upon him, and his words would merit the keenest attention.

Greeted with warm applause, Mr. Savage remarked that he had lately visited Gisborne, and had had a warm welcome even from his opponents. Mr. Savage dealt with a .number of questions, first touching on the Coalition agreement, and then referring to' currency and credit. He assured the audience that Labor proposed to control currency and credit in New Zealand, through the Central Reserve Bank. , It would not matter to him, he said, who owned a butcher cart, so long as he owned the meat in it. (Applause and laughter.) There would be no stopping the policy. Those who got in the way would be swept aside, but the sweeping would not commence until some one got in the way. If the Reserve Bank did its job, there would not be any trouble about control of currency and credit. 4 ' UNEQUIVOCAL PLEDGE "

On the subject of the railway to Gisborne, Mr. Savage stated that if Labor was returned to power, the Gisborne line would be completed. That was an unequivocal pledge, he said, and, moreover, the Labor .Government would not leave the- men and women of the railway camps to sweat'in the valleys along the route after the job was done.

The method of completing the line, he said, would not be to borrow money for tho purpose. That would be the course of the present Government, for such a work. But that would not be Labor's plan. Labor, with its majority in the House, would carry a resolution to finish the line, and pass the credit for the job. When the work was done, there would be no loan to pay off. He did not see anyparticular reason, for that matter, why there should not be interest paid on tho money spent, for money paid to oneself was better than interest paid to someone else. (Laughter.)

It had been asked what would become of the small investor if Labor came into power, said Mr. Savage. The small investors were on. relief, and had lost their savings because they could not get relief while they had any savings. Men who had put their own savings into homes had lo?t their investments when the economic biazzard, which the critics of. Labor had helped to create, had hit the country. The Government had pulled down everything it could—wages first, of course—and then had turned over to Labor the job of explaining what it would do when it got into power.

Touching on Mr. Coates' statement (luil, Labor conkl not arrange contracts for reciprocal trade with overseas countries., Mr. Savage said he thought Mr. Coates had tried to do something on that line at P'l-tawa. fie now, said it, could not be done, but if Mr. Coates said a thing could not be done, it- was about a million to one that it could be done, he added amidst laughter.

NO SURPLUS PRODUCTION'

It had further been suggested that the result of the Labor scheme of guaranteed prices would be that some people would ba paid for producing nothing, ft would, be. hard to find anyone, except perhaps a newspaper editor, who produced nothing of value, he replied to this statement. Labor would have to plan its way out of the muddle the country had been bungled into. Production would be planned, and the fanners would be given an economic, price for what he produced. The money system would bo based upon production, and not on the imagination of some ono in a money-lending institution. A person producing 10s worth of goods must be paid the value of that produce. Itmight be said that. New Zealand could not consume its own produce; that was obvious, of course. The country exported about 80 per cent, of its produce, and that was what paid for the importations of goods from overseas. The farmer was not going to be asked or allowed to go on indefinitely producing more and more, and thus lowering the prices he could obtain for his goods. There would have to be. a. check on produce, at the point where the economic price could be maintained.

The means of financing the scheme, of guaranteed prices was explained by Mr. Savage, who stated that the Government had issued Treasury bills, at a time when it had no money in the bank, but Labor would deal direct with the producer, and not through the agency of a money-lending institution. Inflation was a. bogey raised against the Labor Party's programme, but those who raised the cry ignored the fact that during the long reign of Reform, the Government had. spent £IO,OCO,OCO a. year more than the value of the exports from New Zealand. If that was not inflation, he ashed, what was if? RESTORED BUYING POWER The Labor Government would restore the wages the late Government had taken away, said Mr. Savage, and would pay the farmer for what he produced, at- an economic price. Business men knew what would happen if buying power was increased, and with regard to what the Labor Party would pay in guaranteed prices, he held that it was impossible to say at- this stage what would be paid for produce that would not be harvested till next year. He declared, however, that the basis of guaranteed prices would be not less than the average of prices over the past eight or 10 years. That basis, lie said, was actually the basis on which the Valuation 'Department was working to-day.. .Moreover, Labor would bring down mortgage burdens until the men working on the land were, able to live on a decent) .standard. Mortgages above the production value of land could riot be sustained. The guaranteed price plan would not be in addition to the, exchange rate. said the speaker. It would he in place of the exchange rate, which was costing the country £10.000.000 in the current year, that £10,000.000 being merely in indirect tax on the tothev sections of the community, in order to subsidise the exporter. If it cost. £IO,OOOXOO to finance the. guaranteed price plan, would it injure anyone any- more than the exchange, rate? The Labor Party would not raise taxation, but would 'finance expenditure on its schemes by basing taxation on the income of the people; and with greater buying capacity crcaler by Labor, there would be a greater aggregate income to tax. WHERE IS NATIONAL PLAN? Returning briefly to the railway question, Mr Savage asked why critics of the Labor Party's plan did not ask for details of the Government's muchvaunted, long-term policy of public works. He intimated that for his part, he stood four-square with Mr Coleman in the pledges he had given regarding the Gisborno line. Mr Coleman was a prominent and trustworthy member of the Labor Party to-day, and his word was the word of the Labor Party on all matters of political importance. Mr Savage turned his attention to the subject, of the Democrat Party, and stated his conviction that that party was simply an auxiliary to the Government, organised for the purpose of defeating Labor. The Independent, on the other hand, was a man. who could agree with no one else, ami had no hopo of convincing the House on any Subject; even Mr Lysnar would not be equal to such a task! Parties were riot made in (he House, they originated outside, and it was only a group jvjiich could hang together that could be expected to do anything in the. House. Mr Savage prophesied that there would be no Independent representative in

Gisborno in the next parliament. (Applause). "COALITION IN TUEI DOCK''/

"Labor is nol. in the dock," declared the speaker. "It., is (lie. Coalition Government, that has to answer for its sins of the recent past., among which was the extension of the term of Parliament, and the appointment of commissions to govern, the. country. On the subject of commissions be stated that if a Government was charged with maladministration, it was right, that a Royal Commission should be set up; and it was the Supreme Court that should appoint the commission. The Government, however, had taken the course of appointing its own commissions to produce its policies. The railways were being managed by a board, which was appointed at the recommendation of a Royal Commission. Mr Savage promised the electors that if the Labor Party was returned to power, the members of the Railways Board were going to bo on the lookout for another job. (Applause.) The farmers of the country, on their part, were being ruled by the Executive Council of Agriculture, and apparently they had forgotten that the farmers had doubled their production in 10 years, without increasing their incomes. ASSISTANCE FOR. MINISTERS Labor would provide its own Parliamentary membera to do what the Gov eminent now entrusted to Royal Commissions arid boards, by means of cooperation between' the members of the Cabinet and rank and file members ol the party who' had, or would acquire, special knowledge of the jobs of the individual Ministers they were attached to. Ministers would divide with their colleagues under this plan, their Ministerial salaries, so that-'there would be equality of service and' remuneration. When Mr Savage discussed the plan of Labor for financing' public works, he stated that the public credit would be used for this purpose. A voice: Taxation ! Mr Savage: Go and put your head in a bag with your taxation! The speaker continued with the observation that the public credit was 'in pledge already, as a result of the policy of the Coalition Government. The speaker outlined Labor's indictment of the Coalition Government on lines similar to previous addresses. Mr. Savage commented oh''it'number of the points lie raised, and incidentally gave an undertaking" that ■it Labor was returned, the B-class stations would live. (Applause.) It was said by the newspapers that people did n,ot want to hear advertising over the air, and he wondered if that attitude was dictated b'y the' advertising interests of the newspapers themselves. It was essential, he said, that the full resources of science should be placed at the disposal of the people, and he looked forwarl to the time when there would bo a receiving set in every home, and when it would be possible for the listeners to hear Parliamentary proceedings and judge for themselves the value of what was said in the House. THE GOVERNMENT'S PROMISES. On the subject of restoration of wages and salaries, Air. Savage stated that the Coalition Government whs promising the restoration of the cuts, and improved pensions, "as soon as national finances would permit." It was Labor's policy to make the national income fit the necessities of the nation. Wage-paying capacity must bo based upon the value of production, in the Labor plan. The Coalition Government proposed to institute a long-term public works policy, related to unemployment relief. That meant, he held, that the public works would all be carried out on a Telief basis. The Labor Party would insist on these jobs being paid for ,on a scale that would enable men and women and their children to live on a decent standard, and allow the men on the jobs to maintain their families with them. The universal superannuation scheme of the Coalition Government was another promise to be fulfilled "when the national finances permit." It was nauseating, Mr. Savage commented, to read such promises. The national health services would be further investigated, "when financial conditions permit." "Careful expert inquiry and fullest discussion would precede the launching of the Coalition housing scheme," according to the Coalition promises. Mr. Coates hall written another pamphlet, and so everything in the garden was lovely, commented Mr. Savage. INCOME THE GREAT NEED. These schemes could only be based soundly on one principle, arid that was purchasing power", which Labor would give to the working people. The great need was income, and Labor's job would be to provide the income, in relation to the value of production. The speaker referred next to the taxation policy of his party, stating that there would toe no increase, but an adjustment of the incidence of taxation, placing the burden on those best able to bear it. The abolition of indirect taxation would be a first step on the part, of Labor. "Let the people pay taxation direct, and let them see what they are paying," stated Mr. Savage. "The national incomes already bear the cost of taxation, but. people don't know what they are paying because it is taken by indirect means." (Applause.) ,He promised that indirect taxation would be wiped out when Labor took office. MEETING PLEDGES SUPPORT. The re-opening of the teachers' training colleges, and the re-employ-ment of teachers at teaching instead of navvyirig; the. restoration" of control of State lending activities to the Government; the revaluation of lands on the basis,,of average values of the past eight'or 10 years', arid the more intelligent development of New Zealand's secondary industries were also dealt, with by Mr. Savage, who discussed briefly, in addition, the exchange system and its effect on the incomes of the farmers on the one hand, and the external TOlations of New Zealand. Referring to the candidatures of Messrs Coleman and Hultquist, for the Gisborne and Ray of Plenty seats respectively, Mr. Savage stated that he trusted them implicitly, and felt that his pledge was their pledge, his word their word; that they would have too, a first-hand part in the accomplishing of the programme he had outlined as the immediate objective of the Labor Party. On the motion of the Rev. H. Daniel, Mr. Savago was accorded a v,oto of thanks and a pledge of support for his party and its candidates for the Gisborne and Bay of Plenty scats. The motion was seconded by Mr. E. Harris, and carried by acclamation. The deputy-Mayor was accorded tho thanks of the meeting for'presiding.