THE COUNTRY’S NEED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 148, 26 June 1934, Page 4

THE COUNTRY’S NEED

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. FREE FROM PARTY STRIFE. The need for a strong national Government was stressed by Mr. W. Appleton, a member of the national executive of the New Zealand Legion, in an adresa at Otaki last week. What was needed, he said, was a national Government freed from the intrigues and petty spirit of party strife. . Mr. Appleton said that Britain had given New Zealand an excellent lead, and South Africa had recently followed suit. “What this country needs to-dav are men, not parties, men who have‘ the vision and courage to do the right thing for the good of the country,” said Mr. Appleton. ‘ln the ranks of Labour we have men whose brains and abiilty should be used for the common good. Why should these men waste their time and energy in destructive criticism at a serious stage like this!” The Coalition Government, said Mr. Appleton, had been brought into being at the instigation, to a great extent, of the business interests of the Dominion, and yet, because the authorities, by reason of the drop in national income, were forced into taking action to bridge the gap between State income and expenditure, they were vilified right and left. Business men, from one end of the Dominion to the other, had preached economy and the necessity for Government retrenchment, but immediately the Government decided to put in the axe there was a howl from some section or other not to interfere in expenditure which affected them or their interests. Salary cuts had been advocated, but when purchasing power had been decreased and sales returns had tumbled, the very same people were insistent in asking that wage reductions be restored. Business men held up their hands in holy horror at the thought of a deficit in the Budget, but the imposition of the sales tax and an increase in the income tax were most unpopular measures. Everyone agreed that something should be done for the unemployed, and that the provision of work at decent rates of pay for those unfortunates who had lost their jobs was the responsibility of the Government, but a moderate tax to enable the powers that be to give merely -1 pittance to the unemployed was regarded as a crime by many thoughtless people, who did not care a straw about the suffering and misery of their fellow-mortals so long as their own personal well-being and comfort, were not interfered with.