DRASTIC METHODS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 188, 11 August 1931, Page 7

DRASTIC METHODS

AUSTRALIAN RECOVERY GREAT EFFORT BEING MADE EVERY CLASS ASSISTING '' LABOUR AND EXTREMISM [ Per Preu* Aiw>oeiatlon. ] WELLINGTON, Aug. 10. A review of Australia’s economil position was made by Professor D. B. 1 Copland, M.A., D.Sc., Professor of Com* niercc at Melbourne University, in an interview to-day. Professor Copland, who is a New Zealander by birth, was educated at the Wainiate District High School, Teachers’ 'Training College, Christchurch, and Canterbury College, and graduated Master of Arts wi r h first-class honours in economics in 1915, and Doctor of Science for research into currency and finance in Australia m 1925. He is widely known as the author of many publications on cconoinie subjects. He arrived by tho Makura to-day on a short visit to New Zealand.*

“Australia’s position is no different from that of any other primary producing country, except in respect of the severity of the loss of the national income,” said Professor Copland. “Three commodities—wool, wheat, and metals—make up nearly thrcoquartora of Australia’s export trade, and they have all suffered severely in tho prie® collapse. In fact, it would be difficult to find any other country whose exports have been so badly affected. They have fallen from over 140 millions to 80 millions in spite of a greatly increased quantity of wheat and butter production. f “Unsound financial methods and extravagant borrowing are in part responsible for the present depression, which has boon deepened by the unwillingness of some political parties to face tho situation. Not the Only Country “But. Australia is not the only courti try suffi ring from these very same diffl- • cultics. It. is always necessary to emphasise that the present economic crisis is not mere trade depression from which recovery will automatically flow; it is a larger economic adjustment to an entirely now set of conditions and a lower price level. Ordinary methods are of little avail; drastic reconstruction is tho only way of bringing about recov‘No one can question that Australia is on the road to such drastic reconstruction. The burd cis she is assuming are not always appreciated, but thej| an* very real, and probably as acavy as those of any country. For instance, I all Government expenditure is to be’cur, 20 per cent.; wages and salaries of the • Public Service are cut 20 per cent.; new taxation to the extent of no loss than seven and a half millions is to be levied on a falling national income, and the interest on the Public Debt, through the conversion loan, will, it is hoped, be reduced by 22A per cent. Similarly, cuts are being made in private wages. In fact the basis wage under tho f’ommonwealth Arbitration Cort has fallen in the past 18 months by no less than 23 per cent. The cost of living is falling, and costs in industry are also coming down. It is true that unemploy- . ment is still high ami profits low, hut this, unfortunately, is one of the conditions of reconstruction, and when costs have fallen it is hoped that industry will expand and the unemployed be absorbed. (Josts have fallen through i overhauling the management and overhead costs in industry, the drop in ' wages, and the fall in the price of cer- , tain materials, due to the general fall in world prices. “In this, as in other matters, tha i Australian reconstruction is proceedi ing on the plan of every class in tho community making a contribution. This, the only equitable solution, is being accomplished in spite of the high ex* ( change rate of 3o p t cent.; indeed, ona might say that the process of readjustment is being expedited by the exchange rate, which is approximately the natural rate.” Australian Politics. “Australian politics arc a favourite theme of criticism,” said Professor Copland, “but they arc by no means always understood. At tho present ' tunc, excluding New South Wales, there are three Labour Government and three Nationalist Governments. They are all working solidly for the financial reconstruction plan, and the Labour Governments have had to incur considerable , hostility from certain sections of their followers. [ “Mr Lang, in New South Wales, is in a class apart. He has an extraordinary ascendancy over his big party, and is supported by the extreme section of the industrial movement in New South Wales, but he does not represent ( the majority view of Labour in politics ( in Australia. ( ‘‘The fairness of tho present pli nof reconstruction, and the stand bcinx , taken by other sections of the Labour movement will ultimately lead to the defeat of extremism. Meanwhile, there . will be political difficulties, especially in New South Wales, but Australia will ! overcome these difficulties when the people begin to obtain the full benefiti of the present sacrifices they are mak- • ing-’ 1 Professor Copland is to visit his home town, Timaru. “I was fortunate.” ho said, "in studying economics under Dr, J. Hight at Canterbury College in 191213, at a time when he was the only expert teacher of economics in Australia or New Zealand.” Professor Copland is to return to Aus- ' tralia on Friday week.