REDUCTION IN WAGES

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1931, Page 8

REDUCTION IN WAGES

PRIME MINISTER’S VIEW.

WISE DECISION MADE.

“Taken as a whole, the decision of the Arbitration Court to allow wages to be reduced by 10 per cent, is a wise one, and it will go a long way toward rel storing prosperity in this country, declared the Prime Minister, Right Hon. G. \V. Forbes, in a recent statement. ‘lt is only by facing the facts and realising that our ideas of values were above the level at which we could carry-on, that we can get back to prosperity. Mr. Forbes said that the verdict of the court followed the lines of the Government’s action in reducing, the wages o civil servants. The court, in a very close analysis, arrived at the same conclusion as the Government in regard to the percentage to be deducted. With a reduction of labour costs it would be possible for industry to carry on arid to provide employment. If there had been no reduction the speaker believed that unemployment would have increased considerably. Mr. Forbes was quite satisfied that the cut would reduce costs, and that therefore the real value of wages would be the same. “We must do our utmost to preventan increase in unemployment,” stated the Prime’Minister. “That has been m my mind all along and with cheaper production and more men employed we will be able to carry on with a greater decree of success. The fall in the value of farm produce has been so considerable that it was bound to have had its effect on all other industries. This readjustment by wage reduction is one of the wisest steps, and 1 am sure that we will now be able to meet the conditions and overcome the difficulties that confront