NINE YEARS OF POWER

Southland Times, Issue 25504, 26 October 1944, Page 4

NINE YEARS OF POWER

Mr Nash Defends Labour Record CONTROL OF MONETARY SYSTEM The record of the Labour Government was outlined and defended by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, at two meetings which he addressed last night, the first at the Roslyn Bush School and the second at the Kennington Hall. There were 30 persons present at the first meeting and about 90 at the second. At both Mr Nash was given an attentive hearing. Mr W. J. Caldwell presided at the meeting at Roslyn Bush. Mr Nash, said that the Labour Government came into power at one of the most difficult periods that New Zealand had ever known. The Government succeeded to a very bad unemployment position and it took some time to overcome that. One of the first things that the Labour Government did on coming to power was to take control of the, Reserve Bank. That meant that since 1935 the Government had been in control of the monetary system of the country. Therefore, anything wrong with the system was due to the Government, but any improvements that had been made were also due to the Government. Mr Nash then dealt with steps that the Labour Government had taken in the marketing of the Dominion’s primary produce such as meat, cheese and butter. The Government introduced the system of guaranteed prices. Since the. outbreak of war the increased cost ,of producing butter had been met by increased prices for butter fat. The latest increase was 2.12 d per lb and representatives of the dairy industry agreed that this would meet the increased costs.

Tlie prices which New Zealand received from Britain for her primary produce had not gone up much, whereas there had been a big increase in the prices which Britain charged New Zealand for her goods. - He did not think that New Zealand should take advantage of the British people by charging high prices for her primary products. We should remember all that Britain had done to defend us and the freedom of the world. Besides the Government was determined not to go back to the position that obtained in the last war when prices soared and subsequently slumped after the war. New Zealand had, therefore, decided to keep down the prices of her primary products and Britain had ‘agreed to pay New Zealand £12,000,000 (sterling) to cover the past three years and £4,000,000 a year for the next four years. These sums were a compensation for the disparity between the prices of New Zealand goods to Britain and those of British goods to New Zealand..

“I don’t think that anyone can argue that the guaranteed prices for our primary products should be abolished,” Mr Nash said. “The system ensures stability for our primary producers, instead of boom prices one year and slump prices the next year. There is no better system to ensure that producers get an even price which will cover their costs and give them a reasonable return for themselves.” MEAT AND BUTTER CONTRACTS Britain had agreed to take, all the meat and butter which New Zealand could produce in the next four years. A similar agreement had not been made for wool because Britain had already two years’ supply of wool on hand. However, steps were being taken to see if the wool surplus could be dealt with. Increased prices, which he thought would be announced shortly, had been arranged for lamb, mutton and beef. The four years’ contract for meat and butter might be amended after two years, and it also provided that New Zealand could send smalt quantities of these products to other, countries in order to retain certain of her prewar markets. Referring to social security Mr Nash said. “The first charge on all the wealth of a country should be the care of the aged, the young and the ailing. We should care for the aged because what we have today we owe to them; for the young because without them there is no future for the country; and for the ailing because that is a plain Christian duty. The Social Security Act is the best piece of legislation of its kind. There is nothing in history like it. Mr Churchill, Mr Eden and Sir William Beveridge have praised it. America and Canada are taking an interest in it. The Act provides for every disability that the ordinary person is likely to suffer.”

Mr Nash added that he sometimes felt that the benefits under social security were not sufficient, but it had to be remembered that it was possible to distribute only what, was produced. No one in the world could distribute what was not produced. “Nothing causes me more worry as Minister in charge of State Advances than the allocation of State houses. The problem is not easy when you have 32,000 applicants and only 40 or 50 houses. Because of the war we have lost the chance of building 20,745 houses. I give this exact figure because the amount of material used in buildings camps and for other military requirements would have built that number of houses.” Referring to taxation, Mr Nash said that the othex- day a man said to him, “You are ruining the country.” But another man, who overheard the remark, said, “The Government has been doing it for nine years now, but the incomes of the people are greater than ever.” This was true in spite of the high taxation as a result of the war. At present the average person had a net income greater than at any other period in the history of the country. The national income was twice what it was in 1935. At March 31, 1943, the national income was £260,000,000. Wages and salaries had gone up by 137 per cent. DOMINION’S WAR RECORD Mr Nash said New Zealand had an excellent record in the war. It was a record that had aroused the admiration of the world. In Moscow the other day M. Stalin had said that everyone knew of the gallantry of the New Zealand Division. In this war New Zealand had lost only half as marly men as she lost in the last war. In this war, 8500 New Zealanders had been killed in action compared with 16,300 in the last war. This had been achieved by spending money on machines to save men. The war had already cost New Zealand £400,000,000. This was an immense sum for a small country like New Zealand, but all the money had been found in the country by taxation and loans. Cer-tain sums were paid by Britain under the Memorandum of Security to provide food and equipment for our men overseas. New Zealand had already paid £27,000,000 for that service and another £18,000,000 was being held in “cold storage” for settlement by agreement after the war.

Since the Labour Government took office the overseas debt of New Zealand had been reduced by £10,000,000. It was true that the Government owed a lot of money inside the country and that would be repaid. The war had caused extra taxation and he admitted that taxation in New Zealand was high. However, the test was what was left after taxation had been paid and he did not know of any country where the mass of the people were better off than they were in New Zealand. No soldiers were

better cared for or better paid than the New Zealand soldiers. New Zealand also had made better provision for the rehabilitation of the returned servicemen than any other country. The aim of rehabilitation was to put the returned servicemen and women back into positions as good as they would have had if they had not gone away. All the resources of the country should be used for this end. It was impossible to compensate some men for their sacrifices, such as the loss of sight or the loss of a limb, but the Government would do what it could. It was not just a question of granting such a man an adequate pension. It was necessary also to do something to make these men feel that they were still wanted and were still of some use to the community. The Government had established training centres and would pay the men £5/5/- a week during their period of training of six months, which might be extended to 12 months.

Discussing international affairs, Mi’ Nash said that New Zealand could not live to herself alone. She had the highest standard of living in the world and she had a responsibility tp other countries in the world to help them to raise their standards of living. A low standard of living in one country was a menace to a high standard in another country. Poverty anywhere endangered prosperity everywhere. After Mr Nash had answered a number of questions, a vote of thanks, moved by Mr J. McGovern and seconded by Mr F. Tomlinson, was carried by acclamation.

Mr A. E. Farrant presided at the meeting which Mr Nash addressed at Kennington. At the conclusion of his address Mr Nash answered a large number of questions. A vote of thanks to Mr Nash and confidence in the Labour Government, moved by Mr T. Lawrie and seconded by Mr D. McQueen, was carried by acclamation.