THE RANGITIKEI SEAT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19442, 30 October 1925, Page 2

THE RANGITIKEI SEAT

THE LABOUR CAMPAIGN. MR. DUGGAN AT TAIHAPE. Mr C. J. Duggan, tho Labour candidate for the Rangitikei seat, addressed a large meeting at Taihape last evening, and was given a good hearing. Mr. Duggan opened his address by stating that in entering into the present contest the Labour Party had no apology to offer. Tho Liberal Party of old had passed away, and the present Liberals were one in. principle and deals with tho present Government. There were two other candidates, one representing Reform and tho other tho National Party. With them ho had no quarrel, but was opposed to the malad-

ministration of the Government, and strongly supported the better policy of the Labour Party. They were prepared to stand or fall by "the Labour platform, win or lose. Taxation. The Government had made remissions of taxation to the wealthy totalling £8,000,000 in income tax" in three years. The Labour Party was opposed to that remission because it benefited only those who were best able to pay. The Liberals were now saying that if they got back to power they would reimpose that taxation. The Labour Party held that taxation should be on the shoulders of those best able to bear it. The remissions of taxation made by the Government simply meant that the greater the amount of income the greater the amount of the reduction. The liability of the country was £238,500,000, and this was being increased at the rate of about £10,000,000 per annum. If taxation was remitted to the wealthy it would have to be made up from another source to enable the country to meet its indebtedness.

The loss had been made up by increasing Customs taxation, remissions of which had only benefitted the wealthy. More Profit Less Tax. The Bank of New Zealand in 1922 paid £577,839 in rates and taxes, and made a nett profit of £703,242. In 1923 it paid £445,671 in rates and taxes and made a profit of £594,838. In 1924 the rates and taxes paid totalled £389.661, and the profit was £1,089,609. In 1925 the Bank paid £367,343 in rates and taxes and made a profit of £840,485. This meant that while the Bank made £137,243 more profit it paid £210,496 less in taxes. The Pukemiro Colleries made a profit of £44,649 8/11 in 1922 and provided £16,000 for taxation. In 1925 the company made £3OOO more profit and paid £5500 less in taxation. That showed how the Government was actuated and dominated by the trusts

and combines of New Zealand and by the squattocracy, and how they legislated in their interests. The electors had the opportunity of putting into the position of the direct opposition the Labour Party which stood in opposition to the class interests of the Reform Party. Land Policy. The capital value of the occupied lands in New Zealand had increased by 60 per cent, since 1913, and registered mortgages had increased by 175 per cent, in the same period. Seeing what the position is to-day, could anyone honestly say that Reform had gven the farmers the freehold? The Labour Party hold that a reduction of the cost of mortgages would benefit the farmers a great deal more that remission of taxation.

The richest land was devoted to dairying, which industry produced about £16,000,000 a year, or a million less than the sum required to pay interest on the mortgages on the land. It was not the taxation that was bowing down the farmers, but high interest on mortgages. If they could relieve the farmer of that load they would do much to bring the land back to its proper productive value. It had been suggested that Labour’s land policy is confiscation, but Labour had absolutely no intention of confiscating the land. Surely they must give the Labour Party credit for knowing full well that if they confiscated one-quarter of an acre they would be flung from ofiiee immediately.

State Banking. i The Labour Party also advocated a I State Bank. At the present time thu • only State Bank in the British Empire was the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which started wirnvut a peu"v of capital under a Government guarantee. That Bank had made a profit of £4,500,000 and had paid £2,000,000 off I the national debt. It also loaned money ; to the Government at ± x?r cent, less j than it could be obtained elsewht* ■ During the war the banks in England i refused to function until the Gove'* 1 - | inent put the credit of the State behind them. The Bank of New Zealand was controlled by a Board of Directors of which four were appointed by the Government and two by the shareholders. The Bank recently advanced to the Government £1,125,000. It had a reserv e fund, but raised the money by ; giving to its shareholders the right to . take up one share for every four shares i held. 750,000 shares were thus distri- , bated to the Bank’s own shareholders. I When the loan matures the people will I have paid to the Bank £1,395,375, and • still owe the bank the £1,125,000 which ' the Bank loaned to the Government. “Does the Government dominate the; i Bank, or does the Bank dominate the i Government?’ * he asked. The welfare of tho people must come before the question of whether the shareholders got a profit on their shares, and such a financial octopus would be dealt with. Motherhood Endowment. The Labour Party stood for a Motherhood Endowment Bill which it proposed to meet out of the Consolidated Fund. The Arbitration Court had fixed £3 17/2 as the basic wage for a man, his wife, and two children; but no provision had been made for a third child. The Labour Party would apply the endowment scheme to the third and ! each subsequent child. Rather than remit taxes to the wealthy the Labour i Party would give the money to the mother who went down into the Valley of the Shadow of Death in the perfor- ■ mancc of the most useful social service. The Labour Party would give the i people decent homes and would demand : that all houses erected under the Advances Scheme be insured in the State; office. At present only Public Works, ■ buildings were required to be insured I in the State Office. There were 35 ini surance companies operating in New Zealand, and between 1913 and 1922 they collected £4,542,653 in premiums and paid £2,179,471 in claims and £2,363,182 in commission, profit, etc. Out of each £lOO the claims represent

£lB and expenses and profits £52. The victim of an accident got threepence out of every sixpence collected in premiums; yet the New Zealand Insurance Co., with capital paid up to 4/- a share paid a dividend of 3/7 a share, or 90 per cent.; and the South British, with capital paid up to 1/4 a share paid a dividend of 2/1 a share, or 156 per cent. In Queensland the Labour Government has made a monopoly of insurance, and out of every £lOO received in premiums it gave back £B2 in benefits. The Labour Party would take over the insurance busness and increase the benefits without raising the premiums. (Applause). Legislative Council. Mr. Dugg-an referred to the cost of the Legislative Council to the country, and to tho concessions granted the members. When Parliament was at top pressure in August, the Council sat for 5 hours and 4.3 minutes for tho mouth. (Laughter). That was what the people were paying £30,500 a year for. There was only one man in the Council who was useful, and that was tho AttorneyGeneral. Tho Labour Party would abolish the Council and augment the office of the Attorney-General— not with defeated politicians, but with efficient men who would give better service at a lower cost. (Applause). The Shipping Strike. The “Farmers’ Weekly” had said that the Labour Party had not dared to make any mention o fthe shipping strike. He wished to refute that statement and to say that he had mentioned it from every platform. It was claimed that the Reform Party was a strong party, but it failed to settle the strike and turned to the Labour Party and said: “Why don’t you settle it?” The wages of tho seamen had been reduced to £9 a month, and the seaman’s wife was allowed £4 10/of that per month to keep herself and her family. It was on occasions like that that any man would rebel. The seamen were only proving that the manliness which they displayed in the war was in them to-day. The Economist of July 18th. last stated that an analysis of the balance-sheets of the shipping companies for tho last quarter showed that profits totalled £5,984,577, an increase of £795,879 compared with the corresponding quarter Last year. The companies made bigger profits, and yet they claimed that they were compelled to reduce wages. He agreed that the strike should not have taken place in New Zealand, but should have been taken Home to where it belonged. The candidate referred to the Union Company, which he contended was controlled by Lord Inchcape. The Poverty Bay Meat Co. bought the Admiral Codrington, and in spite of the vessel having to return empty she made a profit of £14,000. The National Bank, which is Lloyd’s Bank, of which Lord Inchcape is a director, closed on the Poverty Bay Meat Company. W’hy? Because Lord Inchcape knew that it would not be long before every freezing company ran its own ships. Mr. Holland asked the Minister of Mines how much was paid in freight on coal from th# State mine, and had been told by the Minister that the information could not be supplied without the consent of tho Union Company. Labour’s remedy for the extortion of the shipping companies was a State shipping I service.