PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 4, 7 September 1943, Page 5

PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS

WHAKATANE ELECTORS

ADDRESSED

LABOUR'S POLICY REVIEWED

AN A TTEX'JTVK HEARING

The Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Peter Fraser, addressed some 350 electors in the Grand Theatre last Saturday evening when he traversed the whole of Labour's legislation from the time the party was elected to -office in 1935 to the four years of war and sought to show by comparative figures the rise in the Dominion's prosperity as a result of eight years administration. Mr Fraser was accordcd an attentive hearing and at. tfye ■ conclusion a vote of thanks and ' •confidence in the Labour* party. : -' The Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, presided. Many of the points made by the speaker, particularly Avith regard to -war disability pensions and rehabilitation Averc. covered by Mr A. G. Osborne in his address in the King Street Hall last Wednesday but live general outline of the address Avas a new forceful review which- in many opinions surpassed the broadcast by Mr Fraser at the opening of the campaign. He claimed that in the I'our years of peace and four years of war which marked Labour's term of office, the Government had completed a good job which was worthy of the confidence of the people of New Zealand. He dealt with the circumstances which dictated the postponement of the elections in 1941 ami In 19-12. Avhen he said it Avas gen-vei-ally agreed that the grave .situation demanded that they should not lie hold. He had actually been in touch with Mi" Churchill about tbc matter and an examination of, the military position at the time made such a thought as the election 1111Jliinkable.

War Cabinet Break Mr Fraser strongly criticised tho break in the War Cabinet which ha<l left Messrs Coates and Hamilton isolated from the National Party because they chose, to put their country above party interests. He was away at the tiime and had been bitterly disappointed to learn of the manner in which Mr Holland had marched out. and caused the rift. He. did not seek to defend for one moment the coa'l strike in the Waikato. There were possibly faults on both sides but in ma'king the mines State property for the war duration, the. Government had merely followed out the precedent .set by both Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt. The coal owners, miners and properties were taken over for three years and the whole tiling guaranteed. They would lose nothing and as a result coal production was maintained on a basis of co-opera-tion and-friendliness. Such a compromise, however in .spite of the War Cabinet's decision failed to meet with Mr Holland's approval and the coalition came to an end. Yet the same man in his manifesto to the electors deciare.d to-day that upon election to oil ice he would take steps to form a National Government after smashing the attempt made by Labour to cooperate. Labour held a slight majority it was true but under the democratic system the majority must rule otherwise the whole concept ol democracy was undone. But if a member declares that he will walk out if he does not get his own way, there was no chance of doing anything else but to appeal to the electors. Election. Inevitable That was why he was there to address the. audience in Wliakatane, though he could- not think of anybody who would not support, the beneficial enactments made by the Labour Government. The crop of independents which had. arisen was really of little account. The fight was clear-cut between National and Labour and in opening his address he would challenge the Opposition to show a period of eight years i'n their administration which could 'Compare with what Labour .had achieved. Labour said that in the event of •another world-wide depression occurring. it would not hesitate to impropriate, and ust; the credit of the State to; maintai'n a living standard and to keep the purchasing power in the homes of the people. Comparative Figures Never again, if Labour could help It would there bo a curtailment of

credit to meet slump conditions. He illustrated his point by reciting comparative figure's of wages and salaries £(50,000,000 (198.")), £155,000000 (194:{) ;1 production £9(5 000,000 (1935), £133,(MM),000 (1939) and £1(31,000,000 (1921),. Aggregate incomes £100,000,000 (1931), .£185.000,000 (1939) and £200,000,000 (1943). These would, indi'cate, he said the rise in purchasing power since Labour had been in office. Even with war taxation deducted the people were still left with double as much as they had before. Labour took control. In the Post Oll'ice Savings Hank and trust banks the peoples savings had likewise shown a great increase illustrated as under:—■ 1935 £(50.000,000 1939 £71.000,000 1913 £113,000,000 In the latter instance the National Savings, as representing a special effort would have to be deducted. Education Touching on education he claimed that the 400 new schools which Labour had built sincc it came into office indicated very clearly the Government's desire to do its utmost for* the children who would be the future citizens of the State. Something of the 1 expenditure in this direction could be guaged from the following grants for education purposes:—1934 £2,700,000 1935-3(5 £3,300,000 1939 £5,000,000 Over the total Labour term no less than £31,000,000 had been spent on education. Milk in schools and apples in schools had been instituted and of the 282,000 school children in the Dominion no less than 234,000 received the daily milk ration. Housing Dealing with housing he mentioned the 1(5,000 State houses which had been constructed also the great military hospitals which were being built three of which were to eater for more patients than the whole of the Auckland hospital. Though temporarily held up on account of defence construction Labour's housing scheme would hold its own with anything he had seen in the. British Isles or America. An indication that the industrialist fe't the fullest confidence in Labour's regime was also instanced by the fact that in factories and manufacturing units the total capital invested, in 1935 was £(57,000,000 against £87,000,000 in 1912. On. the Land Farming produce had likewise risen to an amazkig degree. In 1935 it totalled £59,000,000 and in 1913 £8(5,000.000. Likewise in dairying the output had risen from 409' million pounds of butterfat to 422 million in 1943. Fertilisers had also shown'a great increase despite the shortage occasioned by the Avar. There were 8000 more milking plants now in use and no less than 13 000 tractors as against the 5000 when Labour took office. The suggestion of Mr Holland that farmers should be allowed to fix their own price was as economically unsound as it. was to allow any great industry to inonopo'lise the prices of its commodities. He sketched briefly the guaranteed price policy which the Government had introduced in order to offset the great .surplus stocks which were being threatened with destruction on account of shipping short-? ages and claimed that such a policy was every bit as much Avar expenditure as the equipping of men to fight. During the war however in spite of the gravest difficulties the country had sent £172,000.000 worth of produce to Great Britain. Control of Currency Speaking of the control of cur-, reney he said that when it was. necessary to raise the Reserve Bank credit, the Government would not hesitate to do so. To-day however the thing to do Avas to save as much as possible for the post-war period when with the. manufacture of peace time industry and the advancing of production everywhere it Avill be necessary to have an expanding purchasing market for goods of every description. When that time came credit xtfould be made carefully and after full investigation. lie paid a warm tribute to the Minister of finance who he said was recognised as one of the outstanding economists of the world. Labour's budget he said had never once shown a deficit, due mainiy to the frankness and honesty which characterised, its taxation policy. Social Security Mr Eraser said that Sir Win. Beveridge was in close contact with (Continued in next column)

New Zealand all the time he was formulating the celebrated 'Beveridge plan' for post-war England. Large sections of New Zealand's .scheme were embodied in it, but not all. It had been universally praised! and the National Party though at first opposed to it most strongly, dare not. take it, or hint of taking it from the. Statute Book. lie traversed at some length the benefits under Social Security details of which 'were published in connection with Mr Osborne's address last "Wednesday. The cost he said of the hospitals had gone up from two millions t«> eleven millions, but this great sum had paid. its assets in the human happiness and welfare it had engendered. War Pensionsi and Settlement He dealt also A\ith the soldiers war pensions and the Soldiers Settlement and Land Sales Act, stating that as the late Prime. Minister (Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) had "pledged the whole, of the resources of the country —until victory was achieved" so it. Avas up to the people of the -country to see to it that the men who had defended this country should receive the best treatment possible Avhen they returned. The. full scale of pensi'ons benefits were outlined as by Mr Osborne after which Mr Fraser vigorously defended the Sales Act contending that the sole reason for its drafting Avas to prevent the men returning after the; Avar from being exploited by land and property speculators. Any Government which was prepared to allow its soldiers to be expolited de.serA'ed to be dri\*en from the treasury benches. The policy of the. Labour Government in the post-Avar period was to implement to the full the articles of the Atlantic Charter, that great Bi'H of Rights Avhich made for the emancipation of the human race. As the A'oice of New Zealand had been heard clearly and defiantly protesting against aggression at Geneva so it Avould seek to carry out the great aims of the new charter assuring all men of freedom from fear and freedom from Avant.