LABOUR ACCUSED OF BAD FAITH

Southland Times, Issue 23307, 17 September 1937, Page 8

LABOUR ACCUSED OF BAD FAITH

ELECTION PLEDGES RECALLED PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND ENDEAVOUR UPHELD (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, September 16. “They have left undone those things which they have promised to do, and they have done many things which they ought not to have done.” In these words the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton) attacked the Government in moving his amendment of no-confidence during the Ad-dress-in-Reply in the House of Representatives tonight. Mr Hamilton formally congratulated the mover and seconder of the Ad-dress-in-Reply motion, and stated that they did their best under very difficult circumstances. However, the mover, Mr J. Thom (Lab., Thames), had hardly made a single mention of any point from the Governor-Generals Speech, which ‘after all was the subject of the debate. Something of the history of the Government’s administration was in order, but the House was entitled to a forecast for the future and an outline of the programme ahead. “The mover was too busy defending the Government to give us any in-

formation about future proposals,” Mr Hamilton continued. “He claimed that the Government has faced a problem of great magnitude, but I think I am right in claiming that no Government ever took office under more fortunate circumstances. The slump and four years of world-wide depression had passed; the Budget was balanced; every department of State was in credit; and there has been no trouble over money ever since.” LABOUR—AND SLUMPS If the Government had had to tackle a period of depression, Mr Hamilton said, there would have been a different story. Other parts of the world had experienced the efforts of Labour governments in attempting to handle depression conditions, and in Great Britain and Australia Labour Governments had been rejected. “The member for Thames talked about misery and chaos, and made it appear that the country is on the verge of ruin,” continued Mr Hamilton. “It is about time we got away from that croaking idea and gave at least some credit to the people who built up conditions in New Zealand to what they are today. Some Government members have been decrying the country—a country which has been mightly good to most of us and which for 50 years has been one of the finest countries in the world. I see that the Minister of Finance nods his head; he has been around the world, and he knows.” Mr Hamilton complained that Mr Thorn, in giving comparative figures of the economic state of the country, had compared present-day conditions with those of the depression years. That was not a fair comparison, he said. Mention had been made of the fact that exports last year had reached the record figure of £64,000,000, but apparently the Government was claiming the credit for that and giving none to the producer. In the depression years the value of exports had averaged £37,000,000, and that gave the measure of the Government’s good fortune.

“That’s where the money comes from in New Zealand,” Mr Hamilton added. “It comes from our exports, and the member for Thames did not give the producers a word of credit for the state in which the country is today. The greatest achievement of the Government is its broken promises. It certainly does not make the mistake of being modest. It is claiming credit for everything good that happens, and is blaming the previous government for everything that is wrong.” Discussing the first point in his noconfidence amendment —charging the Government with stealing private enterprise—Mr Hamilton said that for the past 30 to 40 years no country in the world had had a higher standard of living than New Zealand. Those conditions had been built up under the system of private enterprise and endeavour. “The Prime Minister promised to reduce taxation and no doubt earned a lot of votes that way,” Mr Hamilton said. “He said further taxation was out of the question, and that borrowing meant debt in perpetuity. Yet the taxation receipts for the year ended last June were the highest ever recorded in New Zealand, being nearly £5,700,000 greater than those for the previous year, which had been a record. That is the way the Government has brought down taxation.” FARMERS AND COSTS The Government had promised that the dairy farmer would be placed on an equal standard with the rest of the community, said Mr Hamilton. Compared with the position in 1913 wages had gone up by 74 per cent, and the cost of living had risen by 57 per cent. Sheep farmers’ receipts had increased by 58 per cent., but the returns of dairy farmers for last year—the first year of the guaranteed price—were up by only 7 per cent. That was why the farmers were advocating the compensated price. “The Minister of Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) promised to keep the cost of living down,” Mr Hamilton said, “and with that object in view he introduced the Prevention of Profiteering Act last year. I wonder how it is getting on? He was going to fix all prices and impose a penalty on anyone who exceeded them.” Mr Sullivan: The Act permitted traders to increase their prices up to a point equal to increased costs. “The Act does not say that,” Mr Hamilton replied. “A man must appeal and receive a permit before he can put his prices up.” Mr Sullivan: That is quite wrong. That had been the Minister’s effort to keep costs down, Mr Hamilton continued, but he did not think it had been successful. The Minister might just as well have tried to keep the tide back; a famous king had once tried that, and had got pretty wet, and there was no doubt that the Labour GovemLment was getting pretty wet today.