MR. HOLLAND'S WARNING

Chronicle (Levin), 5 March 1949, Page 5

MR. HOLLAND'S WARNING

Press Association)

Socialist Government Must Be Turned Out

(Per

AUCKLAND, March 4. An uhequivocal declaration that the National Barty, on becomin,g -the Government, would restore to private insurance Companies the xight to transacc •workers' compensation • msurance, wus made by the Leader of the OppOSition, Mr. Holiand, in an address :to the Auckland Insurance Institute. He said the Barty would "retain the State office anc try to run it on an .efficient basis. Mr. Holiand, whose statement was warmly applauded 'by the 200 members! present, chided private -enterprise toi allowing various industries to b.e "picked off " -one by one instead of presenting a solld front to socialism. In less than a month workers1 com-" pensation insurance would become a .State raonopoly, said Mr. Holiand. From that.moment there would be no compe tition .and no alternative to a State •cover and no appeal. The Bill had been' passed by Parliament not because of weight of argument but because of weight of numbers. What had happened in the insuianct world was part of a well .prepar-ed and clearly refined plan described, for want of a better expression, as ultimate socialism. "We try to serve the interest of private enterprise and the capitalist system," he continued, "I believe in a system of private enterprise which can giv-e to the people of this country a'far higher and more satisfactory standard of living through eompetition amoug the great- mass of small farmers, manufacturers and professional people, than is possible under State enterprise. "When our Socialist enemies gobble us up, they take us one at a time and capitalism is very ready to allow itselt to be dealt with in this way. I do not remember a queue of insurance people at my door -when the doctors were being socialised nor is there a queue of doctors when you are being socialised. ' ' After itemising the industries that nail bet-n taken over by the Government, Mr. Holiand said that not a single word was said in the House of Representatives to justify the 'socialisation of vvorkers' compensation. The difficulty was that once an industry wa* taken over, it was hard to restore it to. private enterprise. It could be antieipated with absolute certainty that' other branches of insurance would be taken over unless the Government was turned out of office. Fire, life, acci dent and third party risk insurance would folloWj If, as he believed, thjrd party risk was next, the greater part of insurance companies' income would dis appear. He understood that in some cases workers' compensation represented more than 50 per cent of the inconiel "Every one of us before the end of this year, has to make a very vital decision," said Mr. Holiand. "Are we going to vote for a Government which will continue to march toward its objective of ultimate socialism or do we want r, Government that will return to the principle of private epterprise, the principle of serving the people and not oossing them?" Mr. Holiand suggested that stock an-J station agents, freezing works, wholesale grocers, cheniists and newspapers might be next to be socialised. ii " '