THE ROAD TO PROSPERITY

Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1932, Page 7

THE ROAD TO PROSPERITY

POLICY OF GOVERNMENT

FARMERS URGED TO BE LOYAL.

PROSPECT OF FREE EXCHANGE.

MR, W. J. POLSON AT INGLEWOOD.

The policy of the Coalition Government was stoutly defended by Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., in the course of an address to the members of the Inglewood branch of the Farmers’ Union on Saturday night. He emphasised the points that th© steps th© Government was taking, though they might bo distasteful to many, in spreading the sacrifice afforded the only means of bringing the country back to prosperity.

As the result of th© .onomies effected j in endeavouring to balance the Budget, said. Mr. Polson, public servants must J realise that the Government was saving { their jobs. He deprecated the Opposi- ■ tion’s policy of inflation. He paid a trib- ■ ute to the assistance that the banks , had rendered the Government, but indicated that exchange would be allowed to go free at au early date. ll© also ■ stated that busines men had intimated that they had been compelled by threats to sign the petition urging th© Government not to reduce wages any further. The Government had a very difficult task to bring the country back to prosperity in the face of determined opposition, and ho urged farmers to be loyal to th© Government they had helped to create. Though the Farmers’ Union worked on non-party lines, said Air. Polson, he made no apology for talking politics a» the present crisis demanded that every man worth his salt should show his appreciation of the seriousness of the position. The Farmers’ Union, too, was responsible to a great extent for the form-' ation of the Coalition Government that was now in power. Two years ago the Farmers’ Union, recognising that the country was drifting to disaster because of the split in the ranks of politicians, demanded that that must cease and that the mor© reasonable elements must get together. That demand had been taken up by other sections of the community, with the result that the Coalition Government had been formed. He had just returned after a strenuous week in Wellington, not having gone to bed from the time he left on Monday morning until Friday night, so they could realise the severe fight that they had been up against. He would endeavour to explain what had necessitated such strenuous work and also what was ahead of th© country, as well as what h© and those at the head of th© Farmers’ Union considered was the duty ot every man during the crisis. POLICY OF SCALING DOWN. The Government had been trying to implement a definite policy, which might not, perhaps, be a perfect one, and had arrived at something in order to save the Dominion from serious disaster. It had been a policy of scaling down, that had unfortunately been forced on them by world conditions; scaling down wages, the cost of government, administration costs, etc. Now they would have to face another side, viz., the imposition of heavy taxation on those able to bear it. Even to nearly balance th© Budget would require every effort. He asked farmers to continue to trust the Government. If every measure the Government had in view was carried into operation there would still be a deficit of £2,000,000, and if the Government had not set to work to find a solution, no matter how unwelcome it might be to some, there would have been a deficit of £8,000,000 or £10,000,000 to face. He realised that, unfortunately, there wer© some who were not prepared to make a sacrifice to assist the Government in its efforts, but such a huge deficit would mean that New Zealand would have to make default and bo bankrupt. It that position was reached what would happen to the Public Service? There would be a complete crash, and New Zealand would not be able to carry on, so that in a short time there would be a. position amounting to anarchy. The Government was actuated by a desire to save their jobs for the public servants. The Government was trying by economising to enable the State to carry on, just as a business man did, and so enable them to keep their jobs. It was impossible, however, to get some men to realise the seriousness of the position. They were constantly told by the Opposition that the Government was doing everything to impose unnecessary suffering and that the correct solution was to inflate the currency and circulate paper bonds within the country, which they enticed people io believe would restore prosperity. No greater mistake had ever been made. Inflation, which was very alluring, had been proved a failure again and again. It had proved a tremendous failure in Germany as well as in numerous other countries. The worker was affected more by inflation than any other section of the community because immediately money was made less valuable, the worker who was paid in notes would find that he could not buy as much. If they carried inflation far enough they would get to the position, that had arrived in Germany, when a barrow load of notes would not buy a packet of cigarettes. “SAVING WORKING MAN.” Th© Government's policy, he affirmea, was to try to save th© working man, and when trying to do things that they knew to be unpopular they had to put up with a terrible tirade of abuse from men who did not think. Then again, they found in Parliament some weaklings who had got in on the skirts of the Coalition Government and, well knowing that their votes would not put the Government out of office, they slipped into the Opposition lobby to vote. Directly they got on the hustings they would pose as heroes. Endeavouring to curry favour with both sides, however, they would not get far, as voters could quickly sum up the position. If those weaklings had not known that the Government had a majority they would have hesitated before casting their votes as they did. Turning to the question of free exchange, Mr. Polson said that an attempt bad been made to create the impression that the farmer in seeking free exchange was advocating inflation. Free exchange did not mean inflation, but was the economic method employed throughout, the whole world to maintain financial equilibrium. Free exchange would certainly help th© farmers, and they were somewhat restive at not having succeeded in obtaining free exchange. There were, however, great issues at stake. He had been doing his best and the Government had been doing its best in that direction, but New Zealand owed so much money and had such enormous obligations to meet that the Government could not find the money without the utmost assistance the banks could provide, and he must admit that the banks were straining every nerve to assist the Government, but there was even a. limit to what they could do. Ho knew there was a clamour against the banks and he

too had not been satisfied, but he recognised that it was not possible for the Government to force the banks to change their attitude regarding exchange and at the same time expect enormous supplies of money. He recognised that the banks dominated the position and drove a hard bargain. They must manage the banks, not destroy them, and the Government’s policy would be disclosed in due and proper course. He therefore asked the farming community; to be patient and trust the leaders in a position of much greater difficulty than tney realised. He could hold out a sure hope that exchange would go free in the near future, at the earliest possible moment. He could not tell the exaet date, but it certainly would go free if the Government was allowed to carry out its policy. He urged their loyal support in seeing that nothing was done to wreck th© future of the Coalition Government, “INFLAMING THE COUNTRY.” He asserted that the Labour Party was deliberately inflaming the country from one end to the other. They had seen the results in Auckland, and he hoped they would not in other parts, but if they did not it would not be the fault of the agitators. That, however, was a policy of madness, and it was only a sane policy of equal sacrifice that could pull New Zealand through this crisis. Th© Labour policy certainly could not.

Parliament had received numerous petitions signed by business people asking that there should be no further reductions in wages and salaries. A good many men who had signed those petitions had since written to Parliament stating that they had been forced to sign the petitions through threats oi boycott. It was essential to get costs down, and all costs would fall if the Government’s policy was completed. The wage-earner’s sacrifice would then be less thau it apcared now. The farmer would get immediate relief from the Mortgagors and Tenants Relief Act, while it was proposed to reduce interest. Industry too would benefit from lower costs, and labour would benefit by the greatly reduced costs of living. The Government Statistician’s figures showed that the cost of living, including rents, had come down 12J per cent, during the past few months, and was still coming down steadily, thus recompensing the worker to some extent for the sacrifice that lie is called on to make.

There were indications that the British Empire might achieve results irrespective of the rest of the world, and might be able to lead the rest of the world back to prosperity. A commencement towards that end might be made shortly at Ottawa. AVheu sending delegates to the Ottawa Conference it would be necessary to be sure that they thoroughly appreciated the importance of the export industries. He felt that th© success of the conference would be the most important thing that could happen in building up the prosperity ot th© Dominion and th© British Empire. He was therefore anxious that representatives should be appointed who would appreciate fully the point of view of the farming community. Merely asking for preference would not help New Zealand much. Quotas were more important; indeed, unless the two were welded together they would not get far. If the amount of foreign produce forwarded to Great Britain could be substantially reduced, the demand for New Zealand produce would be greater and the price obtained would be greater. It was most important that the farming community should pull together in such a time of stress, and he urged farmers as representing a very important section of the community to loyally trust their leaders, who were resolved to build up the country once more.