THE ELECTION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXL, Issue 20261, 9 November 1935, Page 6

THE ELECTION

MR M. J. SAVAGE AT OAMARU MONETARY POLICY By Telegraph —Press Association OAMARU, November 8. In the Opera House to-night, Mr M. J. Savage, Leader of the Opposition, addressed an audience of 700 electors. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks to Mr Savage and confidence in the Labour Party was carried with enthusiasm. The main question facing the Dominion at present, said Mr Savage, was one of monetary reform. While it would be wrong to suggest that the control of currency and credit was the only issue before the electors, it would be wrong for people in responsible positions to try to hide the fact that the present monetary system had outlived its usefulness. With the aid of science and invention the Dominion was in a position to raise the standard of living of its people far above anything that had ever been dreamed of in the most prosperous periods of the country’s history, provided that the purchasing power of the rank and file of the people was sufficient to enable them to purchase the equivalent of their production. Unless the increasing production was reflected in the homes of the people in the form of increased leisure, education and general welfare, there was little inducement to greater effort to increase the country’s wealth. The power of money was the greatest influence wielded to-day, and the time had come for thinking people to face up to the problem of the control of credit and currency in order to make the medium of exchange serve the needs of the people. Vested interests would spend thousands during the present campaign in order to mislead the people and to maintain their power, but with a majority in Parliament, Labour would face the issue and saleguard the people’s rights and savings.