STATE V. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 85, 7 October 1938, Page 17

STATE V. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

Although his meeting was disrupted about a third of the way through when a persistent interjector was removed by the police, and about a fifth of the audience followed him out, giving cheers for the present Go^ternment on the way, Mr. W. L. Barker, National candidate for Wel--1 lington East, was generally given a I favourable hearing when he spoke at j the Seaside Theatre, Lyall Bay, last night. The candidate held attention throughout his speech, and although there were interjections on occasions, the audience was good-tempered. Mr. Barker dealt at length with the issue of the State against private enterprise, and said that those who favour-j cd Socialism contended that the State was more capable of producing the j commodities of life than were individuals. He had found that the State made an unholy mess of most enterprises it took over. So long as individuals owned their own property, and had a sense of security and responsibility, so long would they retain their individuality and freedom, but when the means of production fell into the hands of politicians and State- j appointed bureaucrats, these people could dictate to those below them. No man, said Mr. Barker, was sufficiently angelic to be trusted with too much wealth and too much power, and he contended that they must endeavour to maintain the system of! private enterprise by which the coun- ] try could be restored to confidence and prosperity. Mr. Barker dealt at j length with the housing question, and j also discussed the Government's Social Security proposals, defence, and the control of broadcasting. At the conclusion of the meeting,