LABOUR HOLDS THE BALANCE OF POWER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 290, 7 December 1928, Page 7

LABOUR HOLDS THE BALANCE OF POWER

SUPPORT FOR UNITEDS TO TURN REFORM OUT MR HOLLAND S ATTITUDE TO NEXT GOVERNMENT After discussion that lasted from early afternoon till late in the evening, the House of Representatives rose last night without completing the debate on the AddressflnReply. The outstanding feature of the debate was Mr ,H, E. Holland’s statement that the Labour Party will assist we accession of Sir Joseph Ward to the Treasury Benches, and will support him so long as his policy meets with Labour's approval. The debate will be continued this mornin O'.

[ I‘cr l'tg>.s Association I WELLINGTON, Dec. 6. Mr A. E.Ansell (Chalmers) moved in the House of Representatives this afternoon that a respectful address be presented to his Excellency, the GovernorGeneral in reply to h:s Excellency’s speech. Mr Ansell paid a high tribute to the services rendered to the Dominion by i Sir Charles and Lady- Alice Fergusson, appreciative evidence »of which was to be found in their great popularity in every part of the country. Sympathetic reference w*as made to the* illness of the King and the hope was expressed that within the next few days better news would be received regarding the crisis through which hi* Majesty was passing. New Zealand was probably as loyal as any other part of the Empire, and one of the ways in which Now Zealand could loyally serve the Empire was to work for universal peace and bo proud of the attitude taken up by New Zealand towards the League of Nations. Another way to help the Empire was to absorb as many as possible of Britain’s surplus population and to give her industries reasonable preference. The government had. in the tariff, aimed at this, as it had aimed at assisting secondary industries. He, however, considered the Government could go further in this direction by the appointment of a tariff board to discover how more could be done in this direction. Mr Ansell approved of the efforts of the Government to bring together the representatives of capital and labour, and to promote industrial peace. Capital and labour were partners in industry, and in bringing them together he considered the Government had gone a long way to help the secondary industries. He also approved of the sliding scale of wheat duties. The farmer could not be expected to grow wheat for patriotic reasons only, but he felt that the system of a sliding scale of duties would amply meet all the farmers’ requirements and would result in sufficient wheat being grown for the needs of the country. Mr Ansell urged the reinstatement of a regular steamer service between the, southern portion of the Dominion and Australia, not only for trade purposes, but for the encouragement of the tourist traffic, which should be enormous if adequately encouraged by reasonable travel facilities. He felt sure the Australian states would be prepared to cooperate with New Zealand in this quesRoading Problems Thu solution of the roading problem was a matter of great interest to the people of this country, and he congratulated the Government on introducing a fair system of motor taxation, based, as it was, on the use of cars. Motorists were ever ready to bear their share of taxation, and it was to their credit that in this they had met the Government so readily. In the matter of solving the roading problem, no one had rendered greater service than Mr Coates. His policy had not been one of political expediency, but one of laying down sound foundations for future yea rs. Mr A. W. Hall (Hauraki), seconding the motion, said he associated himself with the loyal sentiments expressed.by Mr Ansell. It was 16 years since the Government came into power, and he thought all must admit that no government in the past had had to contend with one quarter of the difficulties which had faced the Reform Government. It had endeavoured to legislate for all sections of the community and not for any one class. Land Settlement. Tht prosperity of New Zealand depended first and foremost on its primary industries. Farmers had in the past been fared with serious difficulties. Last year, however, there was a favourable trade balance, and there were already indications of the beneficial effects of this circumstance. No government had done more for the settlers than the present one. and one advantage of its scheme was that money had been borrowed locally. The unfortunate shyness of city people in the past to invest in rural securities had had a bad effect on the farmers, but there was now evidence of a change of attitude and there was plenty of money available, not only for this purpose, but also for public works. lie considered it advantageous that at any rate thp interest on money borrowed should not go out of the country. In regard to lam! valuations, Mr Hail said it had been essential in tb<» past, when valuing property for lending purposes, to take the utmost care, but now that conditions had improved he believed there was need for a revaluation of properties on a more favourable basis. He paid a tribute to tht* work of the Agricultural Department in reducing the price of fertilisers and fostering exports of what might properly bo called secondary products. In regard to the Customs, he said the policy of the Government had been to give decided preference to goods of British manufacture, and protection to goods which cou»'l be produced in this country. In reference to British preference, he said if the country could realise the importance of this, it would not only tern] to relieve unemployment at home, but. would ultimately work out to New Zealand’s own advantage. If free trade were introduced, practically all New Zealand ’s secondary industries would have to close down ami New Zealand would not only have to increase its imports, but unempoyment would increase out of all comparison. Referring to returned soldier poultry farmers, he said it seemed there was not enough protect .un for eggs. When

the last tariff proposals were framed, the poultry farmer received all he asked for. but it had since been found, mainly as a result of heavy importation of Canadian eggs, that more was required, and ho hoped the Government would endeavour to make provision in that direction. Railways and Roads. Mr Hall, after congratulating the Government for providing roads to the backblocks, said he considered that in future road-making and land-settlement must go hand in hand. He praised the work of the Prime Minister in connection with the Main Highways Act. There had, however, been anomalies in the assistance different local bodies had received, and he hoped it would be possible, by an amendment of the Act. to make payments to some bodies which he considered had not had as favourable treatment as others. After praising the Public Works Department and Town Planning Act. he said the Railways Department had suffered. as a result of competition by motors. So far as light traffic was concerned. he considered that this competition would always exist, but if the public realised the damage done to roads by heavy motor traffic he considered the railways would be patronised to a greater extent for that class of work. Advancement of Education Air Hull then referred to the youth of the country, whom he described as ‘‘the best settlers of the future.” He claimed they should be given the best mental and moral training possible. The present education system was excellent, and in this respect he wished to refer to a proposal for free schoolbooks. New Zealand’s expenditure on education was, per capita, the highest in the world, and if an increase could not be borne and if the purchase of free schoolbooks meant sacrifice for other purposes, then be considered the step should not be taken. Mr Hall then mentioned dental clinics for school children, which, he said, he hoped would soon be extended to sjich an extent that they would be available to all the school-children of the Dominion. The Plunket Society was another powerful agency in the interest of the health of young people, fie congratulated the Minister of Health on his handling of the difficult problem of mental defectives, and said he would like to refer to the high reputation of Now Zealand in the fiuan i ciat market at Home, to t he work of the Forestry Department, and to work i in the interest of housing of workers, l but this was not the time for long speeches, and he concluded by congratulating the Speaker on his re-election to the chair, and thanking members generally for the consideration shown to a novice. No-Confidence Amendment Sir Joseph Ward following said, he rose to move a luotiou of which ho had given notice, namely:— lu conclusion, we deem it our duty to represent to your Excellency that your Excellency's advisers do not possess the confidence of this House. ’ ’ On behalf of the United Party, he expressed regret at the illness which has overtaken the King, who was one of the greatest monarchs the British Empire nad ever had. He hoped they would speedily hear that he was ou the way to recovery and would soon bo rebuored to his normal health. He congratulated the mover and seconder of the motion before the House- As young members, they had acquitted themselves exceedingly well. He then proceeded to twit his opponents with deprecating the prospects ol the United Party at the last election, borne of those critics were not present | with them, and he wondered what they thougi i of the United Party now. He criticised the financial statement laid on the table by the Minister ol Finance, which he said, showed that the expenditure in seven months was £2,UUU,uUU greater than the revenue, and anyone reading it would at on„e conclude that the couniiy was rapidl/ going to the bad. This should not nave been allowed tu go out without some explanation, and 1 he document should u-.it l ave been subnit. ted until it had been certified by the AuditorGeneral. The Policy The Prime Minister had criticised his policy as “borrow, boom anu [ burst,” nut what had been the liisiu.y of ins own Government/ It had borrowed, in three years, over £29,000,iJUU, but because H had paid £6,000,000 of the war debt, the Finance Minister claimed the Government had borrowed i only £23,000.000. Even if that were so, it still left the borrowed money at over £29,000,000 and no one who underi stood the English language could make anything else out of it. Sir Joseph complained that his election financial policy had been unfairly misrepresented by the Prime Minister, who had repeated the newspaper mistake, that he was proposing to bor row £70,000,000 in one year. That was not playing cricket, because only one paper made the mistake, and the Press Association report which appeared in all the other papers was a good report and accurate. Such a statement was absurd, because even if he proposed to borrow £70,000.000 in one year could not have lent it out, and the Prime Minister ought to have known • it. To base his criticism on one inacI curate report was unfair He ah crii ticised the action of the Prime Minis- | ter in*declaring that United candidates j had taken fright at his borrowing proposals. That was not so, but Reform influence was observable in one or two

cases. There was another side to that question, and former prominent Relormers had stood as United candidates, but nothing was said about that. Hj at least was determined to put his policy through, and if the House would not help him, the country would. He was not going to sit there and not put his policy through. What he proposed to do was to borrow £60,000,000 at a rate of from £8,000,000 to £10,000,000 a year, to lend to settlers, and £10,000,000 to be spent on completing unfinished railways, including the South Island Main Trunk, WestlandNelson line, Taranaki-Auckland line, and East Coast line. No Coalition Sir Joseph Ward said he did not wish to pretend he was head of the House until he was actually there, but there was no reason why they should nut put into operation part, at least, of Ins policy, which was to spend £10,000,000 to finish four sections of unfinished railways at present losing money. If they were finished the revenue would pay the interest on the money he proposed to borrow to finish them. During the last three years the Government had borrowed more than he proposed to borrow under his projected policy. Reform papers, after the election were loud in their declaration that a coalition should be formed. They declared there was no difference between the borrowing policy of both parties. He did not favour a coalition, because oil and Water would not mix. He then returned to what he called umair election tactics, by which it was made to appear that the United and Labour parties were in combination against Reform. As a matter ot fact, there had been" no communication between them whatsoever, but he congratulated the Labour Party upon its union with Reform in the division lobby that day—they lent tone to the occasion. fcio far as be was personally concerned, he would on all occasions vote with Labour to put the Government out, and he. would do it like a shot. He had nothing against the members of the Government as such, but in various ways they had shown their unfitness in office. There was not sufficient money available for the farmers and there were hundreds of men in need of money, whose loans were long overdue. Men were being turned out of their properties because they could not get money and that was the position all over the country. Men wore going oil the land in all directions and the Minister of Lands had admitted that 13.000 settlers had gone off their holdings in the last two years. Sir Joseph Ward said they did not know what the House was going to do, as its subsequent action might ho influenced greatly by something that might happen in Europe, and the House might have to ;>•<(. urn for a month with a government on the benches which did not have the cor.-h-lonco of tbe country. The figures ol the last election Ji >w.ul that m fact the Reform Government !<•. i been a mincrii'. Ministry for .1/’ yni/s. He complained that the Press had favoured the Prime Minister by publishing reports of speeches on the morning of the election, when no <,cc eoul<‘ reply to them. Sir Joseph sat down amidst applause. The amendment was seconded by Mr G. W. Forbes. Mr Stewart Replies. Mr Dowuic Stewart said that while Sir Joseph Ward had made out the country was behind his party, it was by no means certain that the country was behind his borrowing policy. He did not think it was, and that opinion was supported by some outsiders, in proof of which he quoted extracts from Australian papers. Sir Joseph Ward’s speech was remarkable for the fact, that it contained no charges against the Government, cither in administration or in policy. He had listened for such charges, but he had listened in vain. Mr Stewart defended the financial policy of the Government, contending that while £29,000,000 had been borrowed, it was not true that it whs borrowed to pay off loans. The £0,000,000 paid off the public debt was paid out of revenue. The statement that the Government had abolished sinking funds and had not replaced them by anything better, was not true. What the Government were now doing was in accordance with the most modern financial system, end the practice was being followed in Australia and South Africa. Sir Joseph had stated that the Government had increased taxation in every direction, but that was not so. The Government had, as a matter of fact, reduced taxation by £3,250,000. Where the income tax had been increased it had been in cases where people with incomes of £lOOO to £l7OO were not. bearing their proper share of the bunion. Extravagant Promises. Mr Stewart said Sir Joseph Ward’s statement that the financial return laid on the table that day showed expenditure in excess of revenue was misleading, because it was for only seven months, when the bulk the revenue did not come in. The statement bore a strong resemblance to that laid on the table by Sir Joseph Ward in 1912, when the Opposition of that day was glad to receive it. Sir Joseph Ward last year had claimed that the Government had authority to borrow £30,000,000. Now he repudiated that authority, and said it did not exist. He hail also repudiated the proposal for a fusion, but three years ago he had advocated a fusion in a speech- at Invercargill, and he had done so more loudly than any other ina.’ on his side.

Sir Joseph Ward Lad definitely pledged himself to borrow a huge sum of money, without any charge to the taxpayers, but he had failed to tell the House how he proposed to do it. He was also committed to pay all the unemployed standard rates of pay, and the House was entitled to know whether he was still prepared to do so. He also promised to reduce the income tax ami gradually abolish company taxation. Customs taxation was also to be reduced, but he had not told the House where his revenue was to come from, and how he was to subsidise secondary industries. Mr Stewart declared the Government. had gone through a period of great stress, but as a result of careful policy, signs of returning prosperity were more evident in the Do-

minion. The position was now in the hands of the House, and whatever the decision might be, he felt that the Reform Party had no i ason to bo ashamed of its long record. Labour’s Opportunity. Air H. E. Holland (Leader of tho Labour Party) was the next speaker. He said that whatever was in doubt, there could be no doubt that the country had decided against the Reform Party. Although the election did not give Labour a maority, it did leave Labour i a better position than it had been before. Labour held the key to the position until such time as the two other parties became one. How Labour would turn the key depended on circumstances. Labour i uld support legislation in line with its policy. He did not think Sir Joseph Ward would be able to make good all his promises. In any case, Sir Joseph Ward was entitled to the opportunity to put his policy into operation. If Labour had come back the second strongest i-rty, Labour would have expected to have this chance. On tho question of fusion, he said that on previous declarations by members of the Reform and United Parties, he was entitled to believe there was only one party opposed to tho Government, and that party was Labour. He claimed that no reduction in taxation made by the Reform Government had benefitted a single worker or small farmer, and in most divisions for reduc ns moved by Labour, the Liberal members had voted with the Government and against those reductions. It was clear that tbe Reform Government must go out, and whatever party came in would be supported by Labour so long as its policy was in line with Labour’s policy. They wanted closer settlement, the breaking up of large estates, and intensified farming aided by scientific research. Tho United Party was also in favour of closer settlement, but he did not know how it was proposed to do it. Labour’s method would be to increase the graduated lend tax. The Labour Policy. Labour also wanted to see, amongst other things, an invalidity pension and and extended family allowance. If there was one thing in which the Government had not kept its promise, it was in connection with family allowances, only £38,000 having been made available out of the promised £250,000 for this purpose. The revision of existing pensions would be demanded by Labour and he believed that a reciprocal arrangement with Britain and Australia was possible. Accident insurance and workers’ compensation must be revised, and full wages paid to injured workers. Unemployed insurance would be asked for, and more closely regulated immigration. Tho public servants had been told that when tho country “turned the corner” their salary cuts would be restored, and those promises must bo honoured. Improvements in the education system were demanded, including equal pay to male and female teachers doing equal work. With regard to Samoa Labou wanted to see a policy of conciliation and justice carried out, which everyone knew the Samoans were not getting. The Labour Party realised that Sir Joseph Ward should have an opportunity to place his policy before the House, and the Labour Party was prepared to give him that opportunity. When his programme was before the House, Labour would carefully consider it and support any part of it which was in line with Labour’s policy. The Independents. Air W. 1). Lysnar (Gisborne) regretted that Sir Joseph Ward had not made a more statesmanlike deliverance in support of hi s policy. Ho would support him to get the money if it could be got without cost to the taxpayers. Personally, he was an Independent, and he was prepared to give the United Party the same kind of support he had given to Reform. A voice: Then God help them! (Laughter). . Air E. Wilkinson (Eltharn) said he would vote for the amendment moved by Sir Joseph Ward, but thereafter he would view measures critically and vote accordingly. He wished to make this declaration in order to make his position as an Independent member clear. The Hon. R. A. Wright said Sir Joseph Ward had i.imitted a great tactical mistake in challenging the action of the Government that afternoon, when tbe Government was trying to give the House information. The members of the Labour Party shrewdly saw what was happening and saved themselves by voting with the Government. Again, the Minister of Finance had shown that Sir Joseph Ward was facing both ways. He had quoted Sir Joseph Ward as supporting fusion, while to-day he opposed it. The United Party’s education proposals were quite impracticable, since they would cost more than the country could afford, in the same way, Air Holland’s proposal to give teachers equal pay for equal work would cost at least £200,1)00, while free school books would (cost £BO,OOO. Where was the money to iconic from? I At this stage 'he Prime Minister moved the adjournment of the debate, and at 11.15 p.m. the House rose till 110.30 a.m. to-morrow.