More Money Needed

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 671, 24 May 1929, Page 8

More Money Needed

Government Policy Outlined Press Association NELSON, Today. TAXATION adjustment, plenty of money for advances to settlers, no more short-distance railways, and the cutting up of landed estates, are the main points of the Government’s policy as outlined by the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, in a speech at a banquet given in his honour at Motueka last evening. The Government, he said, would have to find what sections of the community were not bearing a fair share of the taxation. Land had to be made available for those who needed it, together with cheap money.

The advantages the district would possess in being attached to the Main Trunk railway system of the South Island were obvious, said Sir Joseph. It was idle to build up a system of short-distance railways, for shortdistance railways had in the past proved themselves absolutely useless in serving the country. They had drained the life blood of the main systems. Last year £498,000 had to be paid out of ordinary revenue to meet the shortage on the working of the railways system. Short-distance railways were weakening the whole system. The time had come for the Government to attack the present system of railway finance and to submit to Parliament some system for doing away with short sections and making the main systems pay interest on the money invested in them. People living in districts where there were short-distance lines w'ould have to be educated to understand that the lines could not compete with motor transport. That was one of the problems that would engage the attention of the next Parliament. FACING DEFICIT There were other problems, 100, continued Sir Joseph. They could not have a deficit of £579,000, as there was last year, without doing something to make it up. They would have to go into the question of this shortage, and he was sure it could be put right satisfactorily, but not without an adjustment of taxation. They must deal with the problem as ordinary, sensible men in charge of the affairs of the country. The Government would have to examine the whole position carefully and eliminate those taxes bearing unduly on some sections of the community. It would have to look-around to discover what sections were not bearing a fair share. They would have to take every member of Parliament, no matter of what political opinion, into their confidence, and put the finances of the country on a sound basis.

Giving a brief outline of the policy of the Government, Sir Joseph said it consisted, first of all, of obtaining money in quantities and letting it out at a cheap rate to workers and settlers. He was very glad to be able

to tell his hearers that at. present, in the advances to settlers and advances to workers’ funds, the Government had, since assuming office, cleared off all the arrears, and there was a substantial sum available for advances. All that those who wanted money had to do was to sendtin their valuations. If the valuation was right the money was there for this purpose. There was plenty of money in the coffers and there need be no pinching. Dealing with the Government’s land policy the Prime Minister said his party believed in obtaining land and finding people willing to go on it. There tvere some parts of New Zealand where land was held in large areas by individuals and it was the opinion of the Government that some of the land should be shared. A fair price would be given to the owner and the land cut up. The speaker pointed out that today there were 15,000 fewer men on the land in New Zealand than there were 10 or 15 years ago. ACQUIRING LAND The backbone of the country was land settlement and the amount of the exports sent out each year. Land must be provided to let other men and women get on it and add to the value of the country’s exports. Extra people must be induced to go on the land and make the balance right between the country and the towns. The Government intended to buy land and take part of the large areas. Briefly its policy was: (1) To prevent aggregation of landed estates; (2) to cut up the land it was going to purchase and induce people fo go on it; and (3) to make cheap money available. The Government was engaged at present in acquiring land, and with that end in view the Minister of Lands had been touring New Zealand from one end to the other to see what land was available. Eight or ten settlements had been acquired, and they would add materially to the number of people on the land and to exports. Reverting to railways, Sir Joseph Ward reiterated the Government’s intention to complete main lines, including the South Island Main Trunk and the Nelson-West Coast line, saying he felt sure the South Island Main Trunk would be a payable proposition.