What’s Wrong With Our Government?

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 147, 17 March 1939, Page 11

What’s Wrong With Our Government?

Sir, —What’s wrong with the Socialist Government’s management of the Dominion? In the last year of their predecessors’ management (1934), our excess of exports over imports was sixteen millions. In the first year of the Socialists management the excess of exports over imports was twelve and a half millions. In 1938 our exports exceeded our imports by only just under three millions! Anil now the question is—Can we pay our WilV? The Socialists’ policy of shorter hours and higher wages did not result in greater production. And it was this same Minister Minister was telling us: “Everything is , all right; we are doing our jobwe will make everybody richer and happier.’ In 1939 he is telling us: “Produce more: produce more” (just like Massey did when he sensed a had time coming), and is going round factories encouraging the employees to work harder and produce more for the boss. Nearly all our Prime Minister’s colleagues are telling us in chorus, like the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways : “Unless production all round is increased and everybody contributes more to the national wealth pool than in the past, it will not be possible for the Socialist Government to achieve its objective.’ How can the people contribute more to the national wealth pool?. Only by more production. And it was this same Minister who told the housewives of the country in 1935 that, if they elected the Socialists to office, they would find that they would be able to buy 25/- worth of groceries for the hometwith 20/- under Socialism. Today every housewife knows that her xi only buys 14/- worth of the groceries that she bought in 1935. The same Minister, in the first year of his management of our railways, 'only lost £L2tffi.oW, but this year his loss will be over x2,00v,00t. What’s wrong with our Socialist Government’s management? - . Now the Hon. D. G. Sullivan is pleading for sympathy. He says: “To whatever extent we become conscious ot the fact that we have made mistakes, you can be quite sure that the Government will have the courage to rectify them. Before the last election our Prime Minister declared that taxation had been overdone: yet he has added enormously to the burdens of nil taxpayers. Not only that, but the Minister of Justice is laying tae flattering unction to his soul that our Socialist Government has, by one Act ot Parliament which is known as 'lhe Rehabilitation of Mortgagors and Mortga"ees and Lessors and Lessees Acttaken £8,000,090 of money out of the pockets of the industrious, self-denying, saving people of the country, and given that sum among many who do not know the economics of a live-pound note. That Act should have been called, as experience has proved, “The Refaeilitation ot Robbery Act.” , There must be something wrong with our Socialist Government’s management. It has used up, somehow, just over twenty millions of sterling exchange. They found it at over £24,000,000, and now it is down to four millions. And our Prime Minister has now (1939) announced that: “We are going to change the monetary system.” In 1935, the Prime Minister pledged himself, if elected, to, "The immediate control by the State of the entire banking system.” The State, he said, must be the sole authority for the issue of credit and currency. Is that what he means, after nearly four years of extravagance and increased taxation, by: Vi e are going to change the monetary system of the Dominion”? After the, election, speaking to the "Dominion,” our Prime Minister told the world that: . . . “Borrowing from the public for the purpose of spending could not be supported’ : and the Socialist manifesto declared that: “A planned economy will be of little use it the Government has not the power to carry its plan into effect.” Of course, that was over three years ago. but how often has our Prime Minister told us that, as Rome was not built in a day, is it that “now’s the day and now’s the hour” to change the monetary system, and that is the “immediate control of the entire banking system”? Momentarily, the Government does not know where it is. It has depleted our sterling funds by over twenty millions: it has burdened the people with greater taxation; many may be better off, but thousands are groaning under increased costs and are providing for taxation not out of income, but out of capital, and becoming poorer every day. The Government is borrowing millions on the country’s credit without the sanction of the taxpayers; and its expenditure of the people’s money is yielding little or nothing in return. If our experiment into Socialism were not so disastrously expensive, we could afford to laugh at the vagaries of our dominant politicians whose economics before office were limited by experience m trades union ti »’^^7j l f^| ? O i’GHT. Wellington, March 15.