IMPORT CONTROL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 288, 6 December 1939, Page 5

IMPORT CONTROL

REPLY TO CRITICS | ADDRESS BY MR. SAVAGE I ( j There appears to be an unholy aliiI ance between the farmers, the retailers and their employees to bring | pressure to bear upon the GovernJ ment to relax the import restrict ions," sa i the Prime Minister, Mi. Savage 1 in the second of a series of broadcast 1 addresses on Sunday night. “I woni der how many know what iht-y are • doing? There is only one substantial : alternative; the reduction of i.’ie pur- • chasing power of the people of New I Zealand. "The reduction of purchasing power was done on a previous occas.on. ’ Mr. Savage said, "and everyone knows, what the result was, and not man\ people would like a second helping, s lops < ouid be seen tvervw here. The Rate of Exc laiige "Somi people have suggested k.av- , ing the rate of exchange to find its I own level, but that would be similar to reducing wages. Reducing purchasing power seems to be a curious way of helping importers, shopkeepers and their employees. ' "If such a method wer? adopted, it should he applied ill round’’ the Prime Minister continued. "Wages, guaranteed prices, pensions, everything should be reduced, excepting, of our liability. That would < uloniatically control imports. Do the shop assistants realise they are asking for a reduction of the-r own anef everyone else’s wages and pensions? If that is carried into effect, huv/ will th y help their employe.a? Are fairness aware they are asking for a redo • lion in incomes? "The farmers’ prosperity cannot be separated from the prosperity of everyone else in New Zealand. The whole oversea trade of New Zealand depends upon the buying power of New Zealand people. That applies to farmers as it applies to all other people. Theii experience of depression methods a few years ago should remind them that they gain nothing when a large section of the pu.tiic is reduced to poverty." Preservation of Funds .Mi. Savage said that "miles of humbug’ had been written about the subject of import restrictions, and that "one could drive a coach and four’’ thi High the opinions expressed. Similar things could be said of the inter- \ iews published in the Press, saying that New Zealand money was valueless overseas, “simply because they < ould not have a lot of small change to ride on trams or pay their way to see a fighting kangaroo." He added that if anyone could go abroad with large qauntities of Reserve Bank notes, it would be useless to attempt to preserve the country’s funds. New Zealand did not, and never did, meet her oversea commitments with New Zealand currency. The currency of any country did not at any lime circulate freely outside the country of origin, and, like all other countries. New Zealand balanced its oversea commitments with oversea money derived from the sale of its products and services oversea. There was no other way in which payment could be made.

"Dangerous Possibilities" "For many years," Mr. Savagt said, "the final liquidation of he; oversea obligations has borne a strik ing resemblance to Tennyson’s brook From time to time New Zealand borrowed oversea to meet part o£ thi commitments falling overdue. Thi: became necessary because our oversea balances lor products were no sufficient to meet our oversea obliga tions. We cannot go on forever bor rowing to pay our debts; that wouk 'he postponing the evil day. ft wouk certainly not be paying our debts. "If people were allowed to borrow - oversea without interference, it wouk bring dangerous possibilities at all limes, unless the Government of the day was prepared to resort to wages and pensions reductions, which would j automatically put a brake on imI ports, or result in more borrowing tc ! pay our debts. That was what other I Governments did for decades." Democracy on Trial A good deal of nonsense had been talked about the alleged danger oi Socialism, Mr. Savage said, and frorr time to time one might think the country was in the midst of an election campaign, or that there was no war. People should not be misled with subversive propaganda, whether it came from the Right or the Left, be added. It should be remembered the people were fighting for their lives, as well as for the lives of the generations to come. The democratic system was on trial, and only by unanimity on the part of those who wished to survive, could the people be saved.