New Zealand Ideas Of Economics Hazy And Crazy

Wanganui Chronicle, 25 May 1948, Page 5

New Zealand Ideas Of Economics Hazy And Crazy

COSMETICS PREFERRED TO CLOTHES; HORSE RACING TO HOUSING ; (Press Association) INVERCARGILL, May 24 “It is my belief that we arc being incredibly stupid in New Zealand today. Our ideas of economics are both hazy and crazy. It seems to me that we are like people going to a race meeting and putting our money on a station hack in a race in which Golden Souvenir is running. Also, it may be that we have something of the attitude of people off to the races and not thinking about tomorrow.”

Thc.,c statements were made by Mr. A. P. O’Shea, general secretary of Federated Farmers, in the course of remarks he made as guest speaker at the Southland Provincial Conference of Federated Farmers today.

“Let us examine our firmly held belief that with less work we can produce more goods (han we did when we exerted ourselves more strenuously, and that this can be done witn less manhours a' week and with a smaller working population,” Mr. O’Shea added. “We are now doing nearly 10 per cent, less as far as hours of work are concerned, and we are retiring men from the Civil Service ten years earlier than we used to retire them. At the same time we have made it possible for other people to retire on Social Security at 60 years of age and we have increased pensions and benefits. I am not against giving pensioners all the leisure and all the money we can afford, but I do suggest that it Is stupid to believe we can do this and cut down the effort put forth by our highly efficient manufacturing people as a whole and expect the result will be greater production and, therefore, greater wealth for everyone. Likewise, when we are encouraging people to go into secondary industries and produce 33 1-3 per cent. less than could be produced if they were farming, I fail to see that we car, increase our total production of wealth by this course." Mr. O'Shea added that by encouraging secondary industries we were making it much more difficult for the Old Country. The problem should be looked at from the Empire standpoint

and the resources of the Empire should be developed in the most advantageous way for the benefit of all people in the Empire. There were one or two highly efficient manufacturing industries in New Zealand, but some industries here being encouraged could not be justified. New Zealand was making lipstick and leather ornaments, and in doing so was using labour and power vitally necessary to and in short supply In worthwhile industries. One of flie industries that should be built up was the woollen industry. It was highly efficient and there were comments from all over New Zealand about the shortage of woollen garments. “But,” Mr. O’Shea added, "the plain fact is that the people of New Zealand appear to prefer cosmetics to clothes, horse-racing to housing, and fancy goods to fuel and food. At the present time edible food is being destroyed in freezing works because we, as a peopl.e are too lazy to put forward extra effort to save it. Edible offals are going into digesters instead ot into lhe stomachs of starving people in other parts of the world, and we are making appeals for money to assist these people when their crying need is for food.”

Because of the encouragement of unprofitable activity farming was short of most of the things it required to increase production. At the recent conference of the Labour Party in Dunedin it was suggested that there should be examination of the question of primary production and Its decrease or lack of Increase, but the reason was that farming was short ot the things it required to step up production and of the labour necessary to do the job,