MINISTER DEFENDS BILL

Taranaki Daily News, 6 April 1932, Page 9

MINISTER DEFENDS BILL

NO CONSOLIDATED FUND HELP REASONS FOR EXTRA TAXES LOAN OF LAND. TO BE ASKED By Telegraph.—Press‘Association. Wellington, Last Night. The second'reading of the Unemployment Amendment Bill was moved in the House of Representatives this afternoon by the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates (Minister in charge of unemployment). New Zealand was faced with the difficulty, Mr. Coates said, of providing, all the money necessary to keep as many unemployed as possible in work. It was impossible to give work to everyone; the best that the country could expect was that the Unemployment Board should provide sufficient to enable the unemployed to keep body and soul together. . - In order that' ’immediate'distress should be alleviated as far as possible Mr. Coates was Still convinced that, if the dole was to be avoided (that was giving something for nothing), the men would have to be diverted into industry. The whole, of the unemployment problem was wrapped up closely with the budgetary 'difficulties and until the Government was able to square the national accounts the problem of giving relief would •be acute. It had to. be pointed out that the industries into which unemployed'could be placed were restricted and* that they themselves were suffering from depression. His main reason for mentioning the relation of the unemployment problem to budgeting, Mr. Coates said, was that this year it would be impossible to call upon the Consolidated Fund to .the. same extent as in the pqst. Every effort was necessary to balance the national accounts and to see that the country met its obligations.INCOMES TO BEAR BURDEN. Thus,, as the Consolidated Fund would not be in a position to afford assistance, those receiving incomes would have to be called upon to provide the necessary money for relief. Mr. Coates said they would be asked to make a special effort to pay the additional taxation that the Government proposed to impose. It had been suggested, the incometaxpayer could contribute more for unemployment relief. The Government was convinced this was not so. The shilling in. the pound which wage-earn-ers and income-taxpayers of all descriptions would be asked to pay would realise approximately £3,000,000 to £3,500,00tJ. It. was difficult to assess the exact amount because incomes had fallen' considerably. Because the threepence in the pound imposed by way of unemployment tax last year. had realised about £900,000 it did not. necessarily follow that the same ‘ amount would be realised this year; for each .threepence in the pound, in fact, it was doubtful whether more than - £BOO,OOO woiild be secured. Even on this basis the total yield from the shilling in the pound wages tax would not be more than about £3,200,000. INCREASE IN INCOME TAX. The income taxation per pound had Increased greatly since 1914 and the following comparisons between the rate per pound then and in 1931 upon the assessable incomes mentioned was of

If the' whole of- the unemployment taxation were placed on the shoulders <Bf the income,taxpayers and if . the amount raised were £3,000,000, Mr. Coates said, it would mean the tax on incomes would be about 13s 4d in the pound.. Income-taxpayers could not possibly carry that burden and its application would, be the surest way to lead to stagnation. The Minister said it was easy for people to criticise, but it was difficult to carry into effect the many suggestions made. It was believed by the Government, however, that the programme to be adopted would give the necessary relief for which the unemployed. were looking. As far as the absorption of men in local manufacturing industries was concerned, Mr. Coates said, the saturation point had bei»n ; almost reached, at least in the.mean;and most hope was to be had. iio# men in industries

with an exportable surplus of P? tion, namely the primary industries. It was intended that the board in cooperation with the Minister of Lands should place families on Crown land areas ; The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holland) asked how many. Mr. Coates said .600 or 700 families would be assisted this way, but it had to be remembered that the greater part of the Crown lands were of poor class and-had first to be subjected to preliminary work, extending over perhaps three years, before real settlement could take place. . It was also proposed to place men and families on rural allotments. They would be given the option of accepting this opportunity and there would be no compulsion. These men would receive assistance from the board. There was a prospect that farmers would offer five or ten acres at a pepper-corn rental with a lease for not less than ten years, and a running -option over another 40 or 50 acres. DRAINAGE PROPOSALS. . ■ It was also proposed to carry out drainage work in the Dargaville district and already farmers had offered, areas up to 200 acres of low-lying, land for this purpose. It was anticipated that land - won' byrfhis means would be-'.exr cellent for settlement. It had been stated that the board was doing nothing for unemployed women, Mr. Coates said. Many women’s organisations, however, had been; working quietly in relieving, unemployment for some time. . One body alone had placed 760 girls in work and not one had displaced anyone in regular employment. The, board was in close touch with these organisations aud it was willing and' anxious to receive advice and recommendations from them. It was entirely wrong to say women were not benefiting from the unemployment funds, Mr. Coates said in conclusion, as grants had been made to these organisations for continuing their work. "VERY TEMPORARY PLAN” Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour, Auckland Central) said many suggestions had been made to the Government, but they had received very little consideration. The country was in a mood to support a bold move on the part of the Government, but it was being gtyen a very temporary plan indeed. “I do not believe,” Mr. Parry said, "that the Minister in charge of unemployment or the Minister of Lands (the Hon, E. A. Ransom) knows what Crown lands are available for the unemployed.” Mr. Parry was of opinion that thousands of acres were available, but the Government was down on its knees asking land-owners to give 10 or 12 acres for men to settle on. The Lands Department should map out the land available and the Government should raise money internally to put the unemployed on it. The scheme proposed would help the mortgagee because it would make his security good. Was it a fair thing, Mr. Parry asked, to tax the wage-earner a shilling in the pound to keep the mortgagee in a safe position? •Mr. A. J. Stallworthy: What about the national gain? Mr. Parry: The gain will be the mortgagee’s! Thousands of acres of Crown land, Mr. Parry said, could be brought under cultivation and if the unemployed knew they were to receive the land after it was brought in they would work on it with much better spirit.

(PROSPECTING SCHEME OUTLINED.

Referring to prospecting, Mr. Parry said the gold-bearing zones of New Zealand should be cut up into districts and a practical miner placed in charge of each. Then the unemployed could go to him and he could make the necessary arrangements to place the men on claims.

Mr. Coates: That is quite sound. Has it not been done?

Mr. Parry: I don’t know about that. I have sent men to Thames—good men —and they have had to walk back to Auckland.

Unemployed women, Mr. Parry said, •were being treated in a disgraceful way by the Unemployment Board. They had to pay the levy and they should receive some direct benefit from the board. Mr. J. A. Lee (Labour, Grey Lynn) said the Minister had based the Bill on the assumption that there was no future for the secondary industries. Mr. Lee considered it was in the power of New Zealand to manufacture practically all that had been imported in the past. All that was needed was the capital to put the industries into operation. The unemployed had been reduced to the level, Mr. Lee said, where they could buy rice, but they could not afford to buy the produce of the Dominion. This was leading to discontent throughout the country and might easily lead to violence. He ventured to predict that before the winter was passed the Government would be forced to take action to improve the position of the unemployed. Approximately 2,250,000 acres of Crown

.lands were available for settlement, said •Mr. A. S. Richards (Labour, Roskill). He knew of blocks available —not waste •lands but lands that could be developed —and his advice to the Government was: "Do not spend money on building huts on a few acres, but spend your last penny on developing the Crown lands.” ■ . xt There were 300 individuals m New .Zealand who owned from.lo,ooo to 30,000 acres of land, Mr. Richards said, and these individuals should be made to give land for the unemployed when it was needed. The way to restore prosperity in New Zealand, Mr. Richards declared, was to increase wages and not to reduce them. If the ten per cent, cut were restored and the earning power of the unemployed reinstated, several •millions per year would immediately be returned to circulation. Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour, Manukau) enumerated a list of secondary industries iii which he believed men could be profitably employed. It was incorrect to say saturation point had been reached. He urged that the land settlement plan should be accompanied by a reasonable inducement to people to take land. "100,000 IDLE SOON,”

Mr. F. Langstone (Labour, Waimarino) predicted that there would be 100,000 unemployed within a short period. He did not consider there would be any more land settlement than there had been under the 1929 legislation. The Bill should be referred to a select committee to enable all phases of the problem to be examined. _ Mr. D. McDougall (Coalition, Mataura), said he regarded the Bill as an honest attempt to solve the unemployment problem. A man placed on the land would be able to provide himself and his family with food at least. Labour members had talked a good deal about secondary industries, but he doubted whether any one of them would be prepared to invest £■> in such industries under existing conditions. He believed the Government sVOhld have to devise another scheme within six months, said Mr. F. Jones (Labour, Dunedin South), because it would not be possible under the present proposals to find work for thousands of men. MR. CONNOLLY’S LAND SCHEME. Instead of' transferring city fan ph« B . to farms, Mr. J. Connolly (United, MidCanterbury), said the Government should endeavour to settle the rural unemployed on good- land. He considered it would be better to purchase 20-acre farms for them than to,, bring inexperienced men from the cities. Five to en acre sections would not be big enough. If the land were bought at £-0 per acre interest on a 20-acre section at a per cent, would mean £2O per year, and after five years provision could be made for a sinking fund. The men assisted could become practically self-sup-porting at a charge of £2O per year. The Government should do its utmost to foster secondary industries before removing men from the cities, Mr. Connolly said. He. regretted tjie Government had not had sufficient, faith m the country to launch a bold plan. It should purchase land, paying for it in. Government bonds, and set about farming i the right way. Present conditions offered a splendid opportunity for the purchase of stock at a favourable price. Mr. H. G. R. Mason (Labour, Auckland Suburbs) said he thought the proposal to raise the unemployment tax to Is a week would'be received with more equanimity if the Bill, proposed some real means of dealing with unemployment. He described the contents of the Bill as "‘silly childish sentimentality.” The debate was continued , by Labourspeakers until 11.30 p.m., when it was adjourned on the motion of Mr. H. G. Dickie (Coalition, Patea) and the House rose till 2.3 Q p.m, to-morrow.

importance:— 1014 1031 s. d. s. d. £500 2 6 £750 4 1 4 £1000 ....... 6 1 10 £3500 1 1 3 4 £5000 ..... 1 3 5 3 ■ £8700 ; 1 ' 3 0 8