LABOUR PHILOSOPHY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 254, 26 October 1937, Page 10

LABOUR PHILOSOPHY

MR. J. A. LEE’S EXPOSITION THE THREAT TO CAPITALISM The economic and ffiui’i'z’.al phl'osophy of the Government was expounded at some length by Mr. J. A. Lee, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, during the financial debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. “The overwhelming bulk of the people have benefited as a result of Labour’s policy,” said Mr. Lee, “but it is also a truism that Socialists can run a capitalist economy better than it can be run by capitalists themselves. The capitalist is only concerned with one factor, the production of profits, and he seeks the multiplication of productive instruments so as to add to his own investment surplus. “The Socialist says that the productive scheme must come to a halt unless it supplies the requisite quantity of consumers’ goods. We have the position now where every action which we take reacts to the advantage of the capitalist state, but at the same time there is the necessity for those further incursions into the sphere of social services which threaten the very existence of capitalism.’’ The guaranteed price system, Mr. Lee continued, was attacked bitterly by opponents of the Government. It was attacked because it struck at the roots of capitalism. It gave on a piecework basis value for both quantity and quality in production. It. enabled the national economy to be adjusted on a definite basis, so that in times of slump the New Zealand pound would still have its definltb purchasing power. It was a pity that the guaranteed price system could not be extended immediately to all forms of production. Mr. Lee added. The system represented the best form of piecework, and provided the resulting production was distributed by a Stateconcerned with the welfare of the masses, the result could only be an appreciating standard of living.