SOCIALISATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 September 1938, Page 2

SOCIALISATION

MR J. F. THOMPSON ATTACKS LABOUR’S PLATFORM ELECTED ON A MINORITY VOTE ADDRESS AT UPPER HUTT That return to power of the Labour Government would mean complete socialisation of New Zealand and dangerously prodigal expenditure, whereas the National Party would preserve individual freedom and conduct the finances of the country on sound lines was the scheme of a political address delivered by Mr J. F. Thompson, National candidate for Wairarapa, in the Majestic Theatre, Upper Hutt, last night. The candidate was received with cheers and prolonged applause when he appeared on the platform, and there were similar demonstrations in his favour as he made points from time to time in his speech. Toward the end of the meeting there were repeated interjections from a small section at the back of ’the hall, but the speaker was not seriously interrupted. Mr J. M. Fleming presided, and there were about 200 present. Mr Thompson said that the National Party stood four square for the protection of opportunity for the people of New Zealand, for the freedom of the individual, and his family. They had come out in the open to oppose Socialism being implemented in this country. “I stand for no particular class or interest,” he said, “but with my party for the benefit of the' people of this Dominion as a whole.” When the Forbes-Coates Government went out of office in 1935 they left NewZealand a model country which stood high in the regard of countries overseas. Before the 1929 slump the standard of living in the Dominion was as high as in any part of the world. Mr Savage came into power in wonderful circumstances. The country had come through the worst financial blizzard in history. The budget was balanced, the finances were sound, and prosperity was in sight. LABOUR’S OBJECTIVE The speaker claimed that the majority of the people of the Dominion did not deliberately elect the present Government to power. The appearance of the Democratic Party split the vote, and as a result Mr Savage and ,his party came into power with only 47 per cent of the votes cast. When the Labour Government came into power they had Socialism clearly in their minds, and Socialism was still the object of the executive of the party. The speaker declared that any suggestion that Socialism was not the issue at the forthcoming election was not true, and he quoted statements made by Mr Langstone and Mr Nash indicating that the Labour Government aimed at socialisation of the country. Since the Government had come into office they had slowly moved toward that objective. Eighty per cent of the income taxpayers of the Dominion were of the middle section of the community, and the Labour Government had never legislated for that middle section. ELECTION PROMISES At the last election the votes of many farmers were gained by the promise that farmers’ prices would be guaranteed but. what the farmer eventually "received was very different from what he was promised. The farmers did not know then that their produce was to be regimented and commandeered. The Labour Government had also failed to carry out its election promise to remove the sales tax. They had also undertaken to reduce the cost of living, but every housewife knew just to what extent that had been done. Taxation had increased to an annual imposition of £37,000,000, which was out of all propostion in a young country such as this. It amounted to £23 a head for every man, woman and child in the Dominion. Companies, too, seemed to be fair game for the Government. Companies in New Zealand could hardly bear- the heavy burden that had been placed on them, and any further increase must cause them to crash. It had to be remembered that the great bulk of the companies in this country consisted of shareholders with small holdings.

Mr Thompson referred to one New Zealand woollen company which he said had in face of strong competition paid a dividend of 4 per cent, but if the social security scheme came into force would have to reduce its dividend to 3 per cent. That state of things would not encourage small capitalists in the Dominion to invest their money in companies. In conclusion the candidate referred to the use of broadcasting for political purposes, and protested against what he described as the unfair allocation of the broadcasting system between the various political interests. At the conclusion of the address the speaker was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence on the motion of Mr A. E. Scholes, seconded by Mr W. Clifford. The motion was carried with acclamation and cheers.