LABOUR’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 54, Issue 3898, 7 May 1937, Page 5

LABOUR’S ACHIEVEMENTS

MR J. G. BARCLAY’S ADDRESS. THE FARMERS AND WAGES MEN. A very well attended public meeting was held on Thursday evening, at the Town Hall, to hear Mr J. G. Barclay, M.P. for Marsden, and co-opted member for the Minister ot Agriculture, speak on current problems. His Worship the Mayor, Mr Geo. Spinley, presided, and briefly but cordially extended a welcome to Mr Bar. clay, and introduced him to the burgesses, as a man of long experience in public life, holding quite a number ot olfices on local and public bodies. Mr Barclay expressed his regrets that it was incumbent upon him to deliver a public address in Waitomo electorate in the absence of Mr Broadfoot, the sitting member, but he proposed to answer principally the views expressed by another Nationalist, Colonel Hargest, who visited Te Awamutu recently. The Labour Party had been criticised for its lack ot performance, according to its platform promises, but he wanted to say that the party had done many things of benefit to the Dominion and would definitely do many similar things.

Colonel Hargest had said at Warkworth that it was calamitous that the Labour Party attained to office at the general elections. It was certainly not calamitous to the Dominion or to the Labour .Party. The Post Office Savings Bank was a fine barometer, and increased deposits were £5,149,000 for a year. That surely was an indication of welfare and public good. The totalisator turnover, another barometer, was increasing hand over hand. It had been said the farmers and workers were worse off than previously. The increases in totalisator and savings bank deposits were surpluses over the spending needs of the people. Surely that was a good augury. HIGHER PENSIONS. Dealing with pensions, the speaker claimed that last session’s legislation had been very beneficial. The estimated increases aggregated £1,800,000, and this commitment was not entered into lightly. The Government secured this huge sum, not through crippling taxation (as maintained by the metropolitan press) but through the income tax increases and the re-im-position of the graduated land tax. The first represented £1,000,000, and the second accounted for the balance. Nobody paid any income tax on earnings up to £2lO, and there were allowances for children up to £3OO for a man with a wife and two children. It was the larger earnings that were taxed more heavily. A man earning £7OO increases from £2B to £33. He still had plenty of money for his needs. A man earning £lOOO a year used to pay £67, and now he pays £7O. The £5OOO a year man now pays £1539, an increase of a little over £2OO a year. The money thus raised was being used to increase pensions for old age, permanent invalids, and widows. He would justify this action on any platform in the Dominion. The provision for permanent invalids was an innovation, but splendid in every aspect. The increased cost of living was criticised, but it was not as high as in 1928-29, when pensions were appreciably lower. Old age pensions were based on a property qualification. There were pensions for deserted wives—also an innovation.

As to the graduated land tax, Mr Barclay said the legislation was introduced by the Seddon regime, and remained until 1931, when it was withdrawn by tire Coalition Government, on the pretext that it was to assist the struggling farmer. Really the biggest payers of graduated land tax were the Bank of New Zealand and the larger property owners in the cities. The repeal ot the tax provisions only penalised that section of the community. No farmer has to pay income tax unless he has £3OOO of unimproved value of his land. This should not be confused with the unemployment tax. Only the big farmers have to pay income tax. The small farmer is exempt. Graduated land tax only ap plies on land over £5OOO unimproved value, and if there is a mortgage it is £7500 limit. The flat land tax is a diiferent thing altogether, and should not be confused with the income taxor graduated land tax. UNEMPLOYMENT REDUCED. Referring to the Nationalist Party, the speaker asked for information about its aims and objects. He had been unable to ascertain precise details. It was very nebulous. The Labour Party’s aims in respect to unemployment had resulted in a decrease from 54,000 to 34,000 unemployed men. That was surely- a benefit to the Dominion. The position ot the unemployed had been greatly improved, and at least 20,090 of them are now on full standard wages. Instead of waiting for a world war to make the country prosperous, the Labour Government decided to institute a plan for nouse building. There was a verypressing need for more and better houses, and about £5,000,000 of the people's credit was being used for house building. But there was now a shortage of materials and skilled art isans. The money for building was coming from the Reserve Bank—a plan that should have been introduced five years ago. But the Coalition Government would not use the people’s credit in the three darkest years of the depression. Sawmills were idle, and the carpenters and other artisans were in relief camps. Was that sound business? Also in the Reserve Bank was over £6,000,000 overdraft in the dairy industry account. The Govern ment has a tremendous power, by us ing this huge credit, but it was not going to break the country. It was trying to equate purchasing power with earning power, and he was confident the endeavour would be achieved. Shopkeepers and merchants were experiencing difficulty in procuring some goods; there was little difficulty in seljing them. The speaker went on to quote fig ures concerning the cost of living in the past/tiecade to show that it is 17 per cent higher than at the lowest point of the depression, but it is still 17 per cent lower than in the boom years after the Great War. People nowadays are living at a higher standard than for a number of years. There was more liberty of the subject now than ever before. The Civil Servants were on a different footing than formerly, and this resulted in far better conditions all round. He went on to refer to dairy paycuts, and said he would be very much surprised if the local dairy companies

do not pay out Is Id per lb this year. Some companies would pay actually Is 2d per lb, and this he contrasted with dismal statements as to the increased costs of production, which some "experts” declared would be 2d per lb butter fat. When challenged, the 2d was reduced to Id, and then to jd and even Id per lb. Actually, in some factories there would be no increased cost of production. Farm costs were also referred to, the speaker roundly criticising the leader of the Farmers’ Union, Mr Polson. FARMERS BETTER OFF.

Mr Barclay went on to assert that the farmers are now better off than before. At a recent race meeting he had seen hundreds of farmers' motor cars—the cars were good ones, too. Then he contrasted the position of the farmer with the Public Works man, to prove that the farmer Is the better off. He cited a case in his own electorate, aggregating gross expenditure and income, and leaving the farmer £255 and a free home. Was that not better than the Public Works wage earner? He made full allowance for the fact chat the farmer works very long hours most days. It had to be remembered that the Public Works men lose time and wages through wet weather. They are not allowed to work more than 40 hours a week, and are denied home life and amenities. Many men on public works would like to get back on to the farms.

The Government, he said, was rationalising the dairy industry, and he quoted a Taranaki man’s figures given at the Dairy Council meeting in Wellington. That man had asserted he was losing money through the increased wages stipulated. The herd produced 28,000 lbs butter fat, and on a sharemilking basis (thirds), the receipts would be £575. The farmer would receive double that amount. It was a large herd and a good one. That farmer was paying wages instead of sharemilking, and the cost to him was only £460. BUTTER FAT .PRICES. The. speaker said the Government had no real objection to the compensated price, but facts had to be looked at fairly and squarely. There was no unanimity even among the Farmers’ Union. Some claimed a compensated price of Is 41 d f.o.b. That would wreck the scheme—and the Labour Party intended to preserve it. It was, instead, cutting the dead wood off his mortgages, but it was not going to take the equity off and hand it to the mortgagor. The compensated price paid by the Government would be a fair and reasonable one. Temporary improvement of London prices was not a basis. The party expected a deficit of £2,000,000 on the present guaranteed price, and was quite prepared tc provide this amount to subsidise the farmers. There was a lot of hot air from the politicians and the newspapers, but it was the first time the farmer had had stability in his dairy returns. He predicted the farmers would exercise a big silent vote for the present Government at the next election.

Another fine beneficial provision was the free milk for school children, to improve health—a project that was appreciated not only by the children, but also by the parents and doctors.

Mr Barclay said the Government was not irresponsible—members were fully aware ot their responsibilities, and were proceeding cautiously—at times, perhaps too cautiously. There was a lot of wealth in the Dominion, and it should be developed and regimented for the common good. The Labour Party was actuated by principle and not .by self advancement. Tlie old Liberal Party was revered and respected, and he quoted R. J. Seddon and W. F. Massey as men of sterling character and principle. The speaker resumed his seat amid applause. QUESTION TIME. To questions, Mr Barclay said the B radio stations, including IZB, -were under negotiation with the Government for purchase. As to Mr Scritngcour he said that gentleman was appointed for three months on a commission basis. The Opposition had previously said nobody wanted to advertise over the air, but they were again proved wrong, for in a few weeks in Auckland station there were £20,000 worth of advertisements. “Scrim”earned his pay before he got it, and fully warranted Iris payment. If anybody would provide £BO,OOO to £lOO,000 a year for the Government he

would be gladly paid £l5OO a year salary or commission. The negotiations for purchasing the B stations were progressing. The staff at the IZB were being paid out of revenue from advertisements. It was the big newspapers who were complaining. He was in favour of the dairy farmer getting a return for his labour commensurate with that earned by the Public Works employee; but the latter was by no means as well served as the farmer, who has his home life and amenities. The farmer has a better standard of living. Tire sharemilker may have got “caught” this last season, but he was not so badly off as some people claimed. Some got “a bit of a raw deal,” but he was a contractor, and it was difficult to provide for all. Conditions on farms vary so much, but the sharemilker, in making his contracts for next season, can surely protect himself, even to the extent of choosing a better producing herd. It was very hard to put a blanket clause over all sharemilking. Re the wharf labourers in Auckland, Mr Hargest had made certain comparisons, but it should be stated that there are fewer men working on those wharves, yet a greater amount of goods is handled. How did that compare with those statements of “loafing” on the wharves. Wharfies envy the farmers, and the farmer envies the wharfies. The moneyed interests profited by keeping these two classes at arm's length. As a class, the wharf worker and wage worker is no more lazy than the farmer.

Mr E. Richardson moved a vote of thanks to Mr Barclay for his address, and of confidence in the Labour Government.

Mr W. A. Gibbs seconded, and the vote was carried by acclamation. Acknowledging the vote, Mr Barclay said he had enjoyed the meeting, and asked the audience to think over what he had said. The usual vote of thanks to the chair terminated the meeting.