HIGH EXCHANGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 198, 24 August 1935, Page 10

HIGH EXCHANGE

SIR .A. RANSOM’S CLAIM MR. SAVAGE IN REPLY Spending power not raised. [ Ter Press Association. 1 CAMBRIDGE, Aug. 23. The statement made by Sir A. Ransom in Dunedin that the raising of the exchange had expanded the national spending power by at least £10,000,000 was disputed by Mr. Savage (Leader of the Opposition), addressing a alrge audience at Cambridge last night. Mr. Savage said that the raising of the exchange had only transferred the existing spending power from some pockets into others. The aggregate amount of sponding power was not expanded. In the last ten years the dairy farmers had doubled their output, but the cash returns had remained about the same. It seemed right to suggest that increased production was useless unless the benefit reached the people, including the farmers, by means of increased purchasing power. Mr. Savage said that Sir A. Ransom had quite overlooked the fact thht wages and salaries were reduced by not less than £100,00.000 since 1930. It was not very difficult for even Sir A. Ransom to see that his exaggerated bill of costs could easily have been met if wages had not been reduced during the period of increasing production. Tn the opinion of the Labour Party, war debts between nations should be cancelled, and if Labour became the Government it would enter into immediate negotiations to achieve this purpose.