“JUDGE LABOUR ON PERFORMANCE”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 243, 14 October 1938, Page 8

“JUDGE LABOUR ON PERFORMANCE”

ASURANCE BY MR. SAVAGE DEMOCRACY NOT SHACKLED PEOPLE URGED TO VOTE [ Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, Oct. 13. “The first point I desire to emphasise in my message to the people on the eve of the general election is the fact that there are no shackles on democracy in New Zealand under the Labour Government,” said the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage), in a pre-election statement handed to the Press. “Political liberty is complete. To-morrow the electors will have absolute freedom to select their representatives in Parliament and thus choose the Government they want for the next three years. There is no restraint upon their choice. European and Maori electors alike have full freedom in a . ecret ballot to record their opinions for or against the Government.

“It should also be emphasised that to-morrow’s poll represents a return to three-year Parliaments. Instead of taking another year in office without consulting the people, as our predecessors did, the Labour Government repealed the Coalition or Nationalist Government’s law, which interfered with the right of the people to elect a new Parliament every three years, We believe in maintaining the rights of democracy, and are not afraid of the will of the people. If the work of any Government or party has not been satisfactory and for the good of the country as a whole, the consequences should be accepted as inevitable justice.

Record Poll Indicated “Everything indicates a record poll to-morrow. The number of electors is approximately one million for the first time in New Zealand. I strongly urge all electors to accept their responsibility as free cititzens and go to the polls. In some countries voting is compulsory. Here it is a free right, but this freedom should be the greatest incentive to vote. We desire a full test of the people’s own opinions about the services of the Government and the merits and results of its legislation during its first three years of office. It is for the electors themselves to compare our record of achievements with that of the previous National Government, whose leading members are leaders in the present Nationalist Party. No one reasonably could expect the people to forget or condone the widespread hardship which the National Government inflicted upon the community with undue severity during the depression years. Nor is it reasonable for anyone to believe the Nationalists would not act in precisely the same way if faced again with similar circumstances. Their manifesto does not disclose any vital change in their attitude toward social welfare or any adjustment of their outlook upon a changing world. Election Issue is One of Principle “The issue of the general election is one of principle. It is simply a question as to whether the future policy of the nation, which, after all, means the Government of the day, is to promote the welfare of the many or the interests of the few. Is selfish wealth again to predominate over the common weal? There is nothing more than that in the whole argument. I claim that the Labour Government has fulfilled all its pre-election pledges three years ago, and has discharged all its obligations to Great Britain, both as regards finance and trade and in respect of defence. We maintained the liberty of the individual and extended freedom to the people. No one has suffered hardship or social misery. The Government can well afford to be judged on its record. The full account of our stewardship is an outstanding list of economic and social records. Let every man and woman contrast their own experiences under the Labour Government against their experiences under the National Government and register their honest answer at the polls to-morrow. Need Be No Misgivings About Labour “There need be no doubt or misgivings about the Government’s objective. It is to utilise fully the great resources of New Zealand with no reversion to the stilted development and deprivation that marked and marred progress under the previous Governments. We stand for high rates of 'wages as a key to prosperity. We arc

I pledged to maintain and improve the i standards of living which have reI habilitated the whole country during I the past three years. We guaranteed I to put into successful operation the i best system of social security in the (whole world, with an unsurpassed I range and scale of benefits for sickness, accident unemployment and old i age. A free universal medical and I health service will be provided as : from the beginning of next April. The j mother, the child, the orphan, the inI valid, the widow, and the deserted ! wife will be cared for in a manner I that has never been equalled in this ior any other country. These are not i electioneering promises, they are part i and parcel of the new laws of the Labour Government. It is only necessary to renew the overwhelming mandate which the electors gave us in November, 1935, and all those things, and more, will be provided. “Against that certainty, the Nationalists are pledged to tear the Social Security Act out of the Statute Book, thus depriving all the present recipients of the pensions and the benefits of increases guaranteed by the present Government. A Final Appeal “As a final word, I also urge the electors to give their decision to-mor-row on the principles and actual performances of the Government and not '

on propaganda. The welfare of the people is safe with a Labour Government. We are not going to rob them of their possessions or inheritances. We want to help everybody obtain and enjoy full life with social security from the cradle to the grave. I leave it to the electors to say what they prefer, and I have complete confidence in their common sense to prefer substance to shadow.”