LABOUR'S ACHIEVEMENTS

Chronicle (Levin), 30 May 1946, Page 7

LABOUR'S ACHIEVEMENTS

Mr. James Thorn Speaks In Levin OPPOSITION TAKEN TO TASK The first shots of the Labour Party's election campaign in this district were fired last night, when Mr. James Thorn, M.P. for Thames, spoke to an audience of more than 100 in the Ccntury jplall. Mr. L. G. Lowry, M.P., who 'had been seheduled to speak, was unabie to appear, being confined to his bed. Mr. F. E. Parker was in the chair, an apology being received from His Worship the Mayor (Mr. H. B. Burdekin), who is at present attending the N.Z.R.S.A. Conference in Wellington. Mr. Thorn commenced his adclress by reminding those present v/lio were tempted to be cri'tical of the present Governnient to bear in mind the circumstances that nad prevailed during its term of offiee. in 1935, on election, they were confronted with the resuits of iour or hve years of siump, which had thrown New Zealand economy into the greatest possible disturbance. Within a year oi its re-elec-tion in 1938 the country was involved m war; now mere was peace, marked by loss, disorder and rain produced by war. The point was that for practically tne whole oi the period in which the Governnient had been in power it had been faced with situations bristling with difficuities. To be fair in their judgment they were morally bound to keep this fact in mind. It was inconceivable that more than a few people in this country would vote for the Tory Party if they understood the present economic system, that of competition for private interests. History had proved that where such a system had oeen operated unchecked thcre had been booms and slumps, class distmction, unemployment and the situation of numbers of people enjoying wealth while others sulfered privation. It had happened in New Zealand under previous Governments of tnis nature. No matter who they were, the result had been the same— widespread unemployment, wage cuts, soup kitchens, doss-houses. degradation and thousands oi' semi-bankrupt farmers. Slumps, poverty and destitution were inherent in the system of society which the Opposition believed in. The speaker went 011 to show that the National Party believed that a slump was something that was unavoidable. He reminded his audience that Mr. R. M. Algie had recently tried to prove that to them, and quoted the report of his address, when he said that nobody could stop the slump because the causes were climatic. This was "ridiculous nonsense and ex-pro-fessorial twaddle," said Mr. Thorn. The cause of the slump between 1930 and 1935 was not the climate, but was the result of the work of tricky financiers in a stupid capitalist organisation of society. At the end of 1935 there were 60,000 adult rnales uneinployed and on relief work throughout the country r while their wives and children were

suffering poverty and destitution. At that time a committee set up by the Labour Government reported that fifty per cent. of New Zealand dairy farmers were not in a position to meet their commitments or were bankrupt. In 1930 there were 6500 apprentices in manufacturing industries in Ncw Z6ala-nd, and by 1935 the number had fallen to 3200. Parents all over the country were desperate in their efforts to find decent work for their children when they left school. Primary and secondary industry had collapsed and poverty stalked the land. It was the task of the Labour Government to restore the farmers to a position where they could meet their obligations, and to find work for over 30,000 men. Whatever the failmgs of 'the Government, in the last ten years it had achieved those ends and transformed living conditions lOI* thousands and thousands of people in the Dominion. The Guaranteed Price The first act was to nationalise the Reserve Bank, which had been set up in 1934 by the Forbes-Coates Government, and which had allowed its friends to take up £500,000 111 shares, so that in a few years the principal shareholders would have dominated the control of the bank. The nationalisation enabled it to be made into an instrument of public policy ; it was the means of actuating another policy, that of paying the farmer a guaranteed price for his produce, a system which replaced a lack of system marked by constant price fluctuations. These fluctuations' meant nothing but uncertainty for the farmer as to his income for the next week, and booms and slumps in land. There was widespread bankruptc> among farmers. At times when the price of butterfat was high large numbers of people bought farms on the assumption that the price would remain at that level. When the price fell in 1921 to 16.5d from 33d in 1920, many farmers became oankrupfc. Setwcen i922 and 1934 no less than 2000 farmers shared this fate. This was what a system of free marketing, no guaranteed price, no regulations and 110 order had brought the country to. As an example of the success of this legislation, it was pointed out that in 1944 only five farmers were bankrupt. If any farmer in his right senses was ready to go back to uh€ old system, it would be evidence that our primary education system h?d failed. and they were unabie t; think. Between 1924 and 1934 the production of butter was doubled ■ and yet the farmers were paid less ; for the total amount than the*y were in 1924, with half the production. Mr. Tiiorn went 011 to explain the basis of the calculation of the guaranteed price; how from the ■ whole Is 81 d, the farmer received 11 >d as a "labour reward. As 8C per cent. of New Zealand farmers i employed no labour they received the whole of this reward, and those f^-mers who employed labour were phjn to give +heir men vasth; improved conditions. Leaders of the farmers organisations approyed of the scheme; they admitted that the Labour Government had suc•reedcd where others had failed. The only complaint from the farmers related to the bulk payment--made by the British Governmen' to New Zealand for her produce.

The total payments wcrc £28,000,000, which the Opposition ,immedia,tely accused the Government of robbing from tne farmers. Over 20,000 State Houses The nationalisation of the bank had made finance avaiiable foi another great scheme, that of State housing. When the Government came to power it set up a committee which had reported that therwas a shortage of 40,000 houses in New Zealand, and there was over crowding and slums.in every town There were people" who had the insolence and impertinence to denounce the present Government for the existing housing shortage. Tn t Labour Government had ' buih 20,500 houses, giVing homes tc 100,000 men, women and children, for a rent which was less than they would be paying for a worse private house. In Levin alone £85,000 had been spent on State housing, a considerable solution to the housing problem in a town of its size When he had conducted an Empire Parliamentary Delegation through the Dominion they had been amazed at the State houses, said Mr. Thorn. There was nothing like it in the world to-day. This year it had been estimated that New Zealand's building capacity was £19,000,000. Building to thc value of £37,000,000 was required. What was the use of issuing permits to that extent when only building to the amount estimated was possible"? In addition to the 20,500 1 houses built by the Government 25 000 had been built with loant from the State Advances Corporation, so that the Government coulc claim to have been responsible for the erection of 45,000 homes, a wonderful achievement. Social Security Benefits "The greatest piece of humanitarian legislation in the world,'"' was how Mr. Thorn described the Scciai Securiiy Act. In spite of tne irigiitiul diiliculties created by the wa the oeneflts had bu-en improved, n said. Last year a revolutionar> oeiiefit was introduced, the uni/eisal family benefit of 10s a weeu iand scenme, a scheme of which tn-. oocial Security in New Zealand wa,. a great achievement, and was t hc jiivy of enligntened people tnworld over. bir William Beveridgc had based his plan on the New Zea land scheme, a scheme of which thc New Zealand Labour Pai^y wa. prcud. "Are women gcing to vote agams. us for doing these things?" *asket the speaker. "While the Act wai being put on tht Statute Book all the Opposition was vigorouslj denouncing it. Mr. S. G. Holland at that time not a leader but a caikative member, had called it 'applied lunacy.' A Parliamentary Seiect Committee, of which Mr. Holland had been a member, naa made a thorough investigation oi the Bill before it was brought tc the House, and the majority of it. members were convinced that the money to pay for the scheme was assured by the people of the coun try. Mr. Holland knew this, biu continued to attack the Bill. Th' day before the 1938 general election Mr. Adam Hamilton issued a mani festo, which said that the 'Socialist Labour Government produced an election stunt in Social Security' and referred to it as the 'Social Security extravaganza That was what they nad tried tc mpke the people of New Zealand believe. Which party can be better depended on to administer social security fairly? National or Labour?" The National Party was the Tory Party, he continued; they were the old gang with a new name. They were continually raising the cry oi controls — "hideous interferenc with the liberties of tht people.' The fatuity of the Tory mind as f mass of contradictions had prompted Mr. Semple to suggest a Roya1 Commission to be set up to see whether the Tories -were coming o1' going. Now that the war was ovei and controls had been lifted every where, the Tories were objecting. Only recently the coupon system o' petrol rationing had been abolished and already the Tory newspaper and the chairman of the Automo bile Association were crying ou againstit. The private interest anc lack of social conception whic1 guided the Tory policv resulted h a conflict of private interests in th National Party.

Import Controls Justifieci Mr. Thorn went on to justif* import restrictions. When th--. Labour Government had come t power New Zea.land had a credi of £35,000,000 sterling in London, 11 said, while there were 60,000 mei on relief and 50 per cent. of thc farmers were bankrupt. With thc restoration of wage cuts there wa increased purchasing power in thic country, as well as the effects o^ the guaranteed price and expanded Public Works policy. The good*. purchased with this extra monev were paid for with the New Zealand exchange in London, so that the people of New Zealand benefited to the extent of £13,000,000 the amount by wnich tlie credit had fallen. Seven weeks before the 1931 elections a certain financial group in this country, determined to fact the Government with a finaneiacrisis, took their exchange out oi England and invested it elsewhere The consequence was • that the exchange • fell to £10,000,000, aria frorii that time the Government took over control of the London credit, making it avaiiable to only those who had permits. This measure gave the Government the power to prevent raids upon the credit and to protect manufacturing industries here. The success of the exchange control had been amply shown by t-br fact that New Zealand had been able to pay off completely the debt incurred in Great Britai'n in this war, and substantially reduce the

New Zealand debt in London Previous Governments had beei | borrowing to pay off the interest oi; 'money loaned to them. j The speaker urged his audience 5 not to forget that the war had no* finished as far as our finaneiai obligations were concerned, the cos of the war would be met by geni erations to come. ' The Labour Govlernment would never apologise foi |taxing people to pay for the war I The war rates of taxation were • Ijustifled up to the hilt. This coun;try had come out of the war owing i not a penny to Great Britain. With jthe approach of the election, the 'Tories could be guaranteed to re- , sort to trickery, such as the 1933 Iwhispering campaign to the effect : that the Government would rob the people of their money in the Post Office Savings Bank. The fact was jthat in 1939 withdrawals exceeded ' deposits by £9,000,000, which could jhave had a serious effect on thc i nation's economy. No Disinheritance Bill The National Party- now said that i the people would be robbed by u i Disinheritance Bill, which hao ■ never been heard of by the Laboui Party until it was invented by thc I Tories. ' The Prime Minister, who was an jhonest man, had denied the allegations. "Anyone who affirms them ! is a brazen and cold-blooded liar," 'said Mr. Thorn. The National Party had disinherited the people | by other means. The speaker quot- ; ed a case during the depression , when a man with £87 in the bank was refused relief until he had | spent his savings. Great Policies for Future i The Labour Government had 1 ! great policies for development in ' ; the future. "We are living in an t ; unsettled world with possibilities oi j collapse," said Mr. Thorn, "and the j only assurance for workers that j their standard of living will be , | safeguarded is industrial and polii tical unity, a unity expressed in the j i Labour Party." A r'eturn of the j iTorie's'to power would 'endanger noii 'only New Zealand workers but the1! j whole world, the only way to keep power from exploiters and reac1 tionaries was to unite. Out duty ; was not finished when the Gov- ! ernment had returned to power ; a i sense of public responsibility was I needed, supported and maintained tby a people working honestly ana j increasing the country's producj'tion. There was nothing to prevent iour progress to a really just social 1 system, where every person renderi ed a useful service to the commun- : ity. "If this is done," concluded the {speaker, "our children will rise up I and call us blessed." ! Several questions were asked ana I answered by the speaker. He said in reply to one he was uncertain of the exact purchasing power of a Reserve Bank £1 note, but thought it was about 50 per cent. The meeting closed with vot.es of thanks to the speaker and to the chair.