A BORROWED MANTLE

Chronicle (Levin), 15 November 1949, Page 4

A BORROWED MANTLE

'(jod's Own Countff Rflt Of Labour's Makinf

..^The Labour Patty, Miild have hfe youngef geriferation believe that the hi§tpry of New Zealand feegari in 1935 when it carrie iritb power, said Mr. F. W. Doidge, M;P. for ^Taurarigtu.whferi hfe spdke 4ri the Regent Hall, -Levili, ldst 'riight to an audience of some 200. What wds riece§safy tb fferiifeiiiber was that thfe phrasfe "Gpd's Qwn uduntry," as applied to New Zealahd, had been created "riot sinCe 193.5 biit ih thfe. days bf Richarri jbrin Seddon. Labour Jiad .draped dtseif with the riiaritlfe of, Ricliard i John Seddon, but iike ali second,hand clothing it did not fit Those werfe the • days, said the speaker, wheii tfie £5 was real jhbney. They were the days , of Mr. Algie's "honest tjiiid." Tbuay there was pp such thing as honest riibney. "The Government waters this cbuntty's Cttfrfehcy jbSt as a dishonest inilkriiari Watfers ifiilk." The people were better - off in those days, said Mr. Doidge. Thrift was encouraged and from savings bank investments the money was of true wbfth. . Tbday.'it Was iibt i as gbod when withdrawin as it was wheii invested. "Iri those early dayfe this". Was really God's own country. There was an abundance of everything. , if ybu wanted a caf ybu ebilld gb down the strfefei arid bky . bnfe, riot wait. for years, and there was no Mr. Nasfi to Worry about. NfeWly-

Weds did not have to go from the aliar tb a single rooiii coStirig £2 a Week or a bach. Thfe^e Wfeffe plenty of houses and such a vari-; fety bf choice in goods. There .were rib fehottdgfeS atiti fib pfbhibitipris feri radiators. It Was briiy Whfefl Labour came that We Wferfe Back to candles and, feariip oVferife." The Labour Party Was, pairitirig lurid pi'ctures of hoW tlife pebplfe liyed before it came into power. "Thpse old clothes ahd sdup ki,tcheris. Oh, hbw thfey. ffevfel ifi therh," said- Mr. Doidg'e. Wliferi MB. Semple's statertiferit that thfeffe were no soup kitchens in New Zealand tod&y was chailerigfe'd, he had become quite excited arid fervently denied their existenee, yet trie Auckland Star in a recfent edition had taken up thfe .challenge and given facts 'and figures showing that day after day good piping hot soup was being handed out to hundreds of people in Auckland by charitabie ^organisations. Ambitiferi XJrireWardea. "I canriot believe that the ybung people of today want What the socialists offer them — subservience to the State. The .race in this World is for the swift. It is not the sluggard that mrikes thfe pace; Ambition is the driving force in life.' What .use is ambition without rewards and., under a socialist Government there are no rewards. The people of today are tired of looking into the past. They" want to look into thfe future. The choice this election is between freedom and soeialism." The eoming electioh wouM not just be a domestic business. Its effect would be far Teaching. New Zealand had been held up as a successful socialist Utopia and this fact had influenced the British people in their own elections. Now Britaih WaS ih thfe thrbes 0f ari feconomic crisis. Britain's plight must in turn affect New Zfeaiahd, said the speaker. ihe situation could not be moire sferibus. "We must sfet ah example tb -thfe British people on November ^ 30 by turning out the Labbtiir Govferrimeht here."

Importance Of Faianing. Commenting on the iriipoftahee of primary industry ih this cbiiritry, the speaker said that every mah, woman and child ih NeW Zealand was depen'dent bh the produce of the farmers. It was the DominiOn's primary produfetion whidh built up sterling funds in Eriglahd bh Which Wdfe dfdWri the finance for the imporfcation of machinery 1 for -secondary industri^s - It had td bfe . fenfeur ed that the primary iridristrifes .. bf this cbtiritry prosperedo but; it had tp be remembered that it wafe vrilriferable from. three poiiits.. The first was triat it had to be- acknowledge'd that thfe peak pficfes bii the London market had b.een teached. Certainly contracts had been made, but- even then jfchfe position was serious enough. The second fact was tliat thefe had Befen a serious dfecline in production over the "last 10 yfeafs-. The third point was that thfe British Government} in ordfer to keep prites ■ down, was subsidisirig its foodstuffs. Biitairi Wfes ribW fE'ciiii pahkruptcy and would sqpn find thdt it cbuld riot ebhtiriufe rnfe Subfeidies. This would nieari that butter alone wbuld go up I3ds a pound ih KBtfeiri, aria fehefe£fe 7!d.'

The answer wais to increase production, but this could not be done while the Government pursued a policy that kept the farmer on his back, declared the speaker. Costs had gone up to a terrific level. Eencing, which once cost £80 a mile, was now costing £500 a mile. How could the farmer stand up to costs like those • The uubaiance between prices and costs hacl got to be removed. The Government was driving the farmers off the land, as could be seen by the fact that 20,000 workers had gone to the fcity froih farming areas Encouraglng Young- Farmers. The Natibnal Party was out to encpurage the young men to own their own farms, particularly those young experienced farmers' sbris Who had been only too keen to sefve their country during the war,. but had been refused permisSibn tb go overseas and were serit back to their farms. "We will guarantee them 90 per cent. bf .the finance they require, he said. The National Party would opfeh tip CrOWh lahds wherfever they were available and split up land suitable for subdivision. They would also deal with that "nasty pifece of legislatibri, thfe Larid Saies Abtj" overhduling it and perhaps ge.t rid of it within twelve months. Wrifen' the pfeopie h'eard Mr. Skinner tell of the number of returhed irieri ,he had settled on fafms, thfey should rfeinembfer that under the Massey Government folldwirig the first war lOjQOO men Werg «settlfed on the land at a cost of £18,006,000. The Labour Govefririietnt had settled 6,000 at a cost of £30,000,000. Many of those settlfed uridfer thfe Massey schfeme represented today some bf thfe finest, farmers in the country. The speaker, who was accorded ari atteritive hfearirig, was iritroduced by the Maybt, Mr. H. B. -Biirdeldri. At the coneliision of thfe meeting . he was accorded a vote of ihanks on the moriori of m. D. P. Tbdd.