GOODS IN ABUNDANCE

Waikato Independent, Volume XLIII, Issue 6036, 23 October 1946, Page 8

GOODS IN ABUNDANCE

NATIONAL PARTY'S OBJECTIVE

"VARIETY AND COMPETITION"

"Surely we are not always to have clothing, stockings, sugar, tea, and other essential gccds handed out as if we were all in the Army," said Mr S. G. Holland in a reference to rationing during his speech at .Christchurch on Monday night. The election was not merely a contest between the Government and the Opposition, or between the leaders of the two parties, but was a contest between two different political systems, the Labour Party standing for ultimate socialism, which meant regimentation and State control, while the National Party stood for private ownership, freedom, competition and independence. So long as Britain was short of necessities New Zealand would submit cheerfully to rationing, but the National Party's objective was to have goods in abundance so that there would be no need for controls, coupons, and permits. He did not subscribe to the idea that the Government could spend the people's money better than those who earned it. People were entitled to variety and competition. Their tastes, appetites, and reouirements were different, and they did not want to be all dressed alike. "We much prefer a lot of little capitalists," he said, "with small farmers, shopkeepers, and traders all striving to obtain the people's trade in preference to huge State monopolies whose motto is 'take it or leave it.' If people prefer fresh milk to bottled milk, they should be free to have what they want."