THE LABOUR PARTY.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18256, 18 February 1931, Page 9

THE LABOUR PARTY.

V ' MR PARRY AT TE AROHA. ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT. WAGES CUT CONDEMNED. (Special to Times.) TE AROHA, Tuesday. A fairly large audience at the Theatre Royal last evening paid attentive interest to an address by Mr W. E. Parry, M.P., given under the auspices of the local branch of the Labour Party. The Mayor, Mr RCoulter, presided. Commencing with a reference to the prevailing economic depression, Mr Parry said, that if ever there was a time in the history of New Zealand, or of the world generally, when people should get together and discuss national affairs and politics, that time surely had arrived. Discussing economio questions, such as wages, he said most people were , \ inclined 10 approach the question from the individual point of view, and it was this viewpoint, in the aggregate, that reflected the real opinion of the country. The latest proposal of the Government to reduce wages would, if carried into effect, increase the country’s difficulties, rather than minimise them. Civil Service Cut. He specially emphasised that civil servants were 'to be' subjected to a 10 per cent, cut, and also that the ArNitration Court would bo directed^ to review existing award rates. The Prime Minister, however,_ was not nearly so emphatic when it came to cutting the income of some other people. Wages must come down, said the Prime Minister, who in the next breath made what he called an earnest appeal to mortgagees and others interested, to review each individual mortgage. Further, what did the Prime .Minister propose to do about reducing the cost living? His proposals included nothing vbeyond an indefinite statement to the effect that this would be carefully watched, in the hope that something would happen i to offset the lowered purchasing power of the worker. The prosperity or any country depended on purchasing power of its people. If wages and ' the cost of living were lowered, the people were simply moved from a higher to a lower plane of living, the result being the same in either case, lie (the speaker) knew, .with the rest of New Zealand, that nothing would happen as the result of the Prime Minister’s “earnest appeal” to mortgagees, bankers and others. There was no guarantee that the cost of living would Tali. It was all very fine for Sir Otto Niemeycr to corns to Australia and New Zealand to tell the people how to run their countries, but the eminent finan-. cicr was unable 'to tell the Australians .. how they could meet 1914 obligations with 1930 incomes. It was time the Dominion freed itself from the clutches of financial institutions who could influence legislation inimical to the interests of thrifty workers. The United Party. The policy enumerated by 'the United Party was a continuation of the Reform Party’s policy of 1921-1922, j when severe and drastic inroads were made on the wages of workers to | enrich the -wealthy. A sum of £1,000,000 alone was cut off the Y wages of civil servants, • followed by j remissions of income tax amounting i 1o a like figure— a pure case of taking from one .class to* give to another. After trying for years to obtain a certain report on the real position of the Dominion’s finances, he had at last obtained it from the Prime Minister. The report revealed that a comparison of exports and imports, together with their attendant debts and other considerations, proved that for the period 1920-1930 New Zealand was nearly £60,000,000 on the wrong • side of the ledger. Instead of tackling the problem in the years of plenty, ’ tiie Government, in its wasteful'way had squandered money on various ambitious schemes such as the building of railway workshops, in which machinery was rusting before it could be installed. , It was well for New Zealand to realise her hopeless position in regard to competing with a country such as Russia, which had repudiated her war debt. France, Germany and other European countries were now, as the result of the issue of internal bonds, able to face the world with a clean slate as far as the national honour was concerned. He desired to emphasise that his refrence to Russia was in no way to be read that he approved of the repudiation of war debts. Britain to-day was not the Britain of -old; no longer was she pre-eminent' in the world’s markets. It was still true 'that the purchasing power of one industry was the purchasing power : of another. No longer could Britain boast of her industrial supremacy. It was gone. Under-consumption. He agreed heartily with the statement of His Excllency the GovernorGeneral, Lord Bledisloe, that the world was suffering ‘‘not from overproduction, but under-consumption.” Where was the sense in statements about over-production when there were people starving for food in such a bountifully blessed country as New Y Zealand, where there was now more unemployment than ever previously. What was to he done, therefore, to remedy the distressing position? The only solution was the scientific investigation of methods best calculated to increase the wages of the worker in ratio to his power to produce the things of life. It would be said that the farmers were whole-heartedly in favour of wage reductions. They would, no doubt, be delighted to hear of wage increases in England. They would mean increased purchasing power to the worker. Yet, curiously New Zealand farmers had no objection to decreasing the purchasing power of the workers of their own country. Banking Systems. Mr. Parry went on to review the banking systems of the world, remarking that the inauguration of the return to the gold standard was “one of the greatest knob-spinning propositions of all time.” As a result of this “financial juggling” the worker and the farmer, to the same degree, were now forced to pay £l, for yesterday’s loan of 10s. This point led Mr Parry io an earnest advocacy of State banks. His hearers would be interested to know that the Post Office Savings Bank—the people's .bank —possessed £50,000,000 out of which £49,000.000 had been loaned to the Government. Altogether, the Post Office Savings Bank, State Advances Department, State Fire Insurance had . contributed £56,000.000 >' to the internal development of New Zealand. The £50,000,000 ‘in the Post Office Savings Bank was at call, (Continued in next column.)