FINANCIAL DEBATE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 251, 22 October 1937, Page 8

FINANCIAL DEBATE

BUDGET BEFORE HOUSE LABOUR’S POLICY DEFENDED MINISTER OF LABOUR SPEAKS [ Per Press Association. I WELLINGTON, Oct. 21. The debate on the Financial Statement was continued in the House this afternoon by the Minister for Mines (Hon. P. C. Webb), who said that the Opposition was doing the country a great disservice in denouncing Government expenditure on public roads. There was not one member of the Opposition who would vote for the elimination of one item of the road programmes. He referred to the work which the Government had done in connection with irrigation projects in mid-Canterbury and said that the Government was pushing on with big Public Works policy throughout the Dominion.

The Hon. Adam Hamilton (Leader of the Opposition): Are you not competing with farm labour in your Public Works scheme? The Hon. P. C. Webb: As far as Southland is concerned there has not been a single request for farm labour which has not been met. The Government is meeting the farmers’ requirements for labour in a way no other Government has ever met them. Mr. Webb, continuing, said that it was his opinion that they were not doing enough in the direction of expenditure on Public Works even yet, in view of the ever-increasing appeals from country electorates. lie appealed to the Opposition to cooperate with the Government in placing every unemployed man who was able to work in employment, and he said that never before in the history of the country had the workers been* so well off as they were to-day. Less Real Poverty Than Ever Before There was less real poverty than ever before in any epoch of J.e country’s history, Mr. Webb asserted. The greatest political crime ever committed in this country had been perpetuated in the last seven or eight years, when young men of the country had been denied the opportunity of learning trades. “Let us continue in a co-operative spirit,” he said in conclusion, “to build up this young country of ours, and let the Opposition give the Government credit for the happiness which has been created among the people.” Mr. H. E. Herring (Government, Mid-Canterbury) said that New Zealand was naturally a wealthy country and did not have to depend on the value of exports for maintenance of prosperity. The Government was spending the people’s money wisely in the creation of national assets and the country had vast resources upon which to draw in the development of secondary industries. It was possible that New Zealanders, by using their own resources, could support themselves in a state of prosperity and happiness. Referring to the national debt, Mr. Herring said that its reduction overseas was to the nation's interest while here there was little to complain of in a slight increase in debt within the Dominion, since this meant a redistribution of assets. Mr. H. T. Ratana (Government, Western Maori) expressed appreciation of the Government's policy in its application to the Maori people, and stated that conditions existing for Public Works employees were such that if the Maoris had their own way every one of them would be an employee of the Public Works Department. He had every confidence that the Labour Government would lead the country into the paths of righteousness. His First Speech When Mr. Ratana concluded his speech, which was his initial address in the House, he was greeted with a round of applause. Mr. J. Ro certs (Government, Masterton), discussing external trade, said that it had been proved in New Zealand that increasing exports did not necessarily mean internal prosperity. During the ten years before the slump exports had been on the increase, but unemployment also increased until 1929, when exports reached a record up to that date. There were then 16,0UU adult male workers out of employment. Those in authority should have . realised that something was wrong and that an investigation was neeued. Even to-day it was obvious that the late Government had not learned a lesson from those ten years, or from the disastrous years of the slump. During the ten years before 1930 £54,250,uuu had been raised in London, althougn omy £51,50(),()0U haci actually been received. During the same period £54,892,000 had been pam m interest, on existing debt, so ihat the money to pay interest had almost all been borrowed, and any Government that operated a policy of that sort had no right to call the Labour Government a spendthrift Administration. He criticised the taxation policy of the Opposition. Government taxation had dropped to thirty million pounds. The total drop in export income was just under £8 per annum per head of population, or three shillings per head per week.* He congratulated the Minister of Finance on the Budget and said that he believed the country would go forward still better and the standard of life would improve to an even greater extent as the resources of the country were further developed. Tne debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 5.30 p.m. The debate was resumed at 7.30 p.m. The Minister of Labour (Hon. H. T. Armstrong) admitted that the expenditure of the Labour Department had certainly increased because the department was now a live one instead of a dead one. If they increased the wages paid to unemployed from 30s a week to £4 5s a week the expenditure of the department must, of necessity, be increased. While he was Minister he said he would insist on having an efficient department whatever it cost. He attacked the Chamber of Commerce for its attitude towards secondary industries. It said that the Government must help secondary industries by abolishing the 40-hour week, but tariffs must not be increased. The manufacturers, he contended, were receiving quite satisfactory returns, but they would be grateful for protection through tariffs. The Chambers of Commerce had misrepresented the position in New Zealand to mislead people over-

seas concerning the legislation of the present Government. Farm Labour Problem. Speaking of farm labour, the Minister stated that no Government had ever catered so well for the farming community as had the present Administration. It had been stated that the Government’s policy was going to be detrimental to the industry because it would prevent the employment of young people as apprentices through the operation of the Shops and Offices Act and the basic w’age. The Government, however, was encouraging the employment of young people in industry, especially in building trades. When the Government had come into office 3300 apprentices had been in employment in the Dominion. To-day there were 7135 apprentices. lie also referred to increased employment generally, and said that the Government’s legislation was apparently not proving as disastrous to the country as had beeni stated.

Dealing with avenues of employment which the Government had opened up and which were of assistance to farmers, Mr. Armstrong instanced the fact that 368 men were employed in the destruction of ragwort in the North Island, most of their earnings being paid by the Government. Maoris were to-day being treated better than they l?ad been for many, many years and were to-day placed on an equal footing with whites The Government was finding useful work for the Maoris to do in developing their own interests. He could go on for hours instancing the successful schemes, financed out of employment funds by the present Government, which were developing national assets.

In conclusion Mr Armstrong said that he had nothing to apologise for in spending the funds at his disposal, because he believed those funds were being spent in a good cause. Mr H. Atmore (Indept., Nelson) congratulated the Minister of Labour on what had been done towards reduction of unemployment. At present, he said, we were lighting against the leisure which the machine age was giving us. He contended that if the Opposition came into office again it would hardly eliminate on? measure which had been placed on the Statute Book by the present Government, and he deprecated the party recriminations which occurred during the debate wherein there had been very few constructive speeches. He wished to congratulate tiie Minister of Education on the provision he made for education in the Budget and the facilities which were being provided for the training of further pupil teachers. The Opposition, he said, had attempted to balance the Budget, and in doing so had unbalanced every domestic budget throughout the Dominion.

Mr Atmore contended that the Government could not carry out all the housing required in the Dominion under the present monetary state. The Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. Lee Martin) paid tribute to the late Lord Rutherford. The passing of this great scientist, he said, left the world much poorer, but others would carry on the work hehad commenced. The Minister said that the Budget was a comprehensive and intelligent review of La bout's lirst year in office, and gave a good indication of its future policy, it had refuted, all the Opposition’s predictions of Labours failure and must have been a fairly bitter pid to the members on the other side of the House. He accused , the Opposition of attempting to stampede the people into belief that the Labour Government’s financial policy i would prove disastrous to the country, and quoted the opinions of the overseas Press, which hda praised Mr Nash's Budget. He expressed surprise at the Leader of the Opposition's quotations from the Bible during his Budget speech, because in the both instances “cat, drink and be merry” appeared in the Bible it conveyed a directly opposite impression to that which Mr Hamilton had intended. The Minister also criticised the member for Awarua’s statement before the Coronation that New Zealand should only be represented at the Coronation by men who had been born in New Zealand, when he knew perfectly well neither the Prime Minister nor Mr Jordan had been born in the Dominion. Mr Massey, he said, had represented New Zealand overseas, and most of New Zealand’s leaders had not been born here. Noisy I’ukekohe Meeting. The Minister referred to the action of an Opposition member who had organised a noisy meeting at Pukekohe. Mr A. C. A. Sexton (Country Party, Franklin): The interruptions were not organised. The farmers were dissatisfied. Mr S. G. Holland (Opp., Christchurch North): Didn’t they give you a hearing? Mr Lee Martin: No; they did not. They howled down Mr Armstrong. Mr Sexton: Yes, after he called them boneheads. Mr Lee Martin said he had attempted to quote the returns from farms at the meeting but the interruptions would not let him give them. He would never have a repetition of what they had experienced at Pukekohe. The Minister went on to state that farmers were receiving better returns for their labour than ever before. The debate was interrupted bv the adjournment at 10.30. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS MINISTERS ANSW ER [ Per Press Association. ] WELLINGTON, Oct. 20. Replies to questions asked by members of the House were circulated by Ministers to-day. Petrol Prices in Taranaki. The Minister of Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan), replying to a question by Mr W. J. Polson (Opp., Stratford), concerning the price of petrol in Taranaki, said that a wholesale maximum price only had been fixed in Taranaki as a definite bargin of profit to resellers. The arrangements, therefore, admitted of adjustment in wholesale prices by oil companies. Public Works Surveys. Replying to a question by Mr J. A. Roy (Opp., Clutha), whether, he would take steps to have his surveyors instructed that before going on to private property to survey they should i notify the owners of the property, the

Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) said that surveyors already had that standing instruction and their attention was again being drawn to it.

Military Training in Schools. The Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones), replying to a question by Mr J. Hargest (Opp., Awarua), said that it was not intended that all specialist work should be eliminated from cadet training in secondary schools, but it was desirable that such training should be of general value to the cadets as future citizens. In addition it was intended to enlarge the syllabus of physical training.

Imported Butter Boxes. The Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. Lee Martin) replied to a question by Mr A. S. Richards (Govt., Roskill), asking whether it was necessary to allow the importation of 500,000 butter boxes into New Zealand, by stating that it was imperative that these boxes should be imported to meet the needs of the dairy industry. The Government, however, had arranged with sawmillers and box manufacturers to use every possible means to provide for the dairy industry’s future requirements.