DISTURBING TRENDS

Chronicle (Levin), 6 November 1946, Page 2

DISTURBING TRENDS

High Taxalion Deplored MR. .F. W. DOIDGE IN OTAKI A large audience was present in the Civic, Otaki, on Monday evening, when Mr. F. W. Doidge, M.P. for Tauranga, gave a politicai address. The Mayor, Mr. C. F. Atmore, occupied the chair. Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Maher were also upon the stage, which had been tastefully decorated. Mrs. Maher was presented with a beautiiui bunch of flowers by. Miss B. Whetren- , In introducing the speaker, the chairman said that it gave him great pleasure to be chairman for Mr. Doidge, who had ably and efficiently represented Tauranga for seven ye&rs. Hg was a, m&n of wide experience. After the 1914-18 war, Mr. Doidge had remained in Eng;land, and associated himself with Lord Beaverbrook in his campaign for Empire free trade. Lord Beaverbrook had said that it was goo.d men, not many men, that were required to bring matters before the public. Mr. Doidge was one of those chosen. He was pleased to meet Mr. Doidge after a lapse of nearly thirty years. They had been

in the same remtorcemenr. • ivir. Doidge had been a platoon sergeant in the same company in which he (Mr. Atmore) had held a commisuon. Mr. Doidge was the best sergeant he had met. On rising to speak, Mr. Doidge was greeted. with applause. He said that it gave him great pleasure to again meet his commanding officer, Mr. Atmore and Mr. Monk. We were now only a short time from the date faced for the general election, and all regretted that Mr. L. G. Lowry was unable to contest a seat, for he was held in high isteem by all the members of the House. Mr. 'Fraser, in his policy speech, had told thcm how vital money matters were, "yet Mr. Fraser's :peech had been the most barren >f all. Mr. Hill, the present candidate of the Labour Party for the Tauranga seat, had given the best ^xplanation when he said we knew Miat the Prime Minister had not a reading personality. How disappointing was Mr. Fraser's speech when compared with the magnificent one given by Mr. S. G. Holland. He referred to a carlooo, which showed Mr. Frascr looking backward and Mr. Holland for ward. What did the Labour party intend to do if again returned? Would they prolong their term of office for ten years? They had said that they would not do so, but Mr. Fraser had said that they would not abolish the country quota, yet it had been done. He was justified in saying that those who pulled the strings behind the Labour Party were out for socialism. Mr. Fraser and Mr. Nash had said no. Socialism and further control would come if the present Government got another term of office. When the housewife went to purchase food, she found not only the shopkeeper behind the counter waiting to be paid but also the tax collector. On each glass~oi* beer 5id was' paid in tax. There was high taxation on tobacco and other lines. A motor car that cost £200 in America had another £2£6 added to its cost by taxes, The cost of living was too high. The super-tax on overtime should be removed, .as men refused to work overtime because it uily brought them into debt. Mr. Barnes, the president of the Waterude Union, had said to Mr. Nash. when talking of wages, "Yes, half for ourselves and half for you, Waifeer Nash." The National Party now had 17 farmers in its list of candidates, many. of them were young men, said Mr. Doidge. Just as farming was the backbone of the country, these men would be the backbone of farming. Their first plank would be freehold. "Talk freehold to Mr. Nash, and see how he hates freehold. They have got the farmer flat on his back. Put this Government back once more, and goodbye to our freehold." In the 1944 Finance Bill, Mr. Nash had a

clause that gave him arbitrar'y power to„ use the funds. The Opposition tried to get an amend-^ ment that he could only do So with the consent of the farmers. The increase in the prices of o.ur products had resulted In the city ' man, who worked 40 hours a week, being subsidised by the farmer who worked 70 'hours a week. The Government had not had a land policy, and could not provide ex-service-men with land fertilisers or homes." With a National Government in power a plan would be put into operation that would give these men an opportunity to bring land in to a state of cultivation, and receive fair wages and gain knowledge while so employed., and afterwards acquire the freehold of a farm for themselves. The National Party knew that a measure in the nature of the Land Saies Act was required to prevent a state of speculation such as that which had taken place after the last war, but they would make big alterations to the present Act. They would remove the Land Saies Committee from politicai control.- As to the question of marketing, they would restore to the farmers the right to manage their own business thtough an independent tribunal. 1 So far the loss to dairy farmers through the present system had been equal to £40 per year on a farm' of average size, and over the past seven years £280 to each farmer, with a

cotal loss of £9,000,000 m eight years out of ten. Butterfat payments to the farmer were less than if their produce had been sold on the open market. 'The position was also not satisfactory to the fruit erowers.

Secondary industry would be ■ helped, but the National Party would not support artificial industry. It would do all in its power to foster harmony between aii classes of workers and employers. The markets of Britain were necessary to New Zealand, and all encouragement would be given for an interchange of trade with her. A Board ! of Trade would be set up that would i put a stop to„ wire pulling. They did not object to a five-day working week, but that it should not come into force until the present shortage of houses and other buildings had been overcome. Mr. Doidge said the National Party was in favour of atsystem of iprofit sharing, one-third to the worker, one-uhird to the employer and one-third to the consumer. New Zealand was facing vitally important problems at home arid abroad, said Mr. Doidg'.e. The Gpvern'rrient ' ha'r'no hdffi'e "policy 'to present to the electors, nor seemingly had it any desire to take Ihe people into its confidence. As lo the part New Zealand was to play in the commitments we were to under&ake in wider spheres, Mr. Fraser, Mr. Nash and Mr. Mason had spent rnany months aoroad attending conferences in London, Paris and San Francisco. We knew .that vital decisions had been taken at these conferences effecting the ultimate lives of every person in New Zealand, and commitments had been entered into on oqr part. Not all of these, perhaps, could be disclosed, but surely a general election was a time when a Govern-. ment should inform the country of its policy upon such an important matter as the Bretton Woods agreement, and on issues as vital as those of Pacific defence. We in New Zealand would be expected to commit ourselves to a defence policy more comprehensive j and costly than anything we had; yet known. The world cried out! despairingly for peace,- and the{ conference in Paris was to havel planned peace, yet it was' like al Tower of Baoel. We knew that the organisation set up by the "United Nations provided our only hope of finding a way to peace. At the same time we who lived in the Pacific realised that for pur own j protection we had to prepare for j any eventuality. In the past Britain j had carried the burden of defence, but the war had left Britain weakened. Yet in the present year shel was spending £1,200,000,000 for Empire defence, and at such a time had a right to expect our help. According o Mr. Chifley, a combined Australian-New Zealand ' force was planned to extend far beyond the main lands. Mr. Fraser,

at the United Nations conference in London, pleaded that the Pacific should be" given representation on the Security Council, and Aus.tralla was given such representation. Surely now was the time when Mr. Fraser should give some information as to defence policy. The National Party had repeatedly demanded this information, but io. Parliament had never been able to get from the Prime Minister anything beyond generalisations"! Until the National ParLy was in power, and had access to the aixhives which hid our commitments, a policy could not be defined for the Pacific. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance were guilty of a preposterous statement when tliey declared that Bretton Woods was not a subjeoi.fpr politicai discussion during the election, but for a Parliamentary discussion when all people could hear the discussion by means of radio broadcast. At the end of the speech by Mr. Doidge, which had been well received throughout and frequently applauded, Mr. Maher said a few words. The mceting closed- with v vot.e of thanks to the sueakers and confidence in the National .Party, and also a vote of thanks fco the chairman.