FIGURES WANTED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1939, Page 15

FIGURES WANTED

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Reminding the Government that most of the humanitarian legislation on the Statute Book had been put there by past Governments, Mr. H. S. S Kyle (National, Riccarton) criticised aspects of the Social Security Act, particularly in reference to returned soldiers' pensions. The Minister of Public Works had said that there was more unemployment in New Sputh gales' than there was in New Zealand, and he had quoted figures. The Opposition and the country could not get figures relating to unemployment in New Zealand. While the New Zealand Government had spent almost £6,500,000 in the past, year on the relief of unemployment, the New South Wales Government had been remitting taxation. There had been no suggestion of that in the Dominion. Six months ago the Government had stated that 8000 men would be taken off Public Works and put into industry, but it'had not been done.

Replying to criticism of the stock and station agents of the Dominion, Mr. Kyle said that they had done more for the farmers than the Labour Government had done and today they were giving a more useful service than the Government to the farming community. The Government. would like to get rid of them, since it already had a good hold on the farmers through their produce, and once that was accomplished the farmers would be socialised completely.

The member for Grey Lynn (Mr. J. A. Lee) had demanded a purge of the Labour Party. He reminded one of the • Naasls, said Mr. Kyle. Mr. Lee had attacked Mr. Nash and so had attacked Cabinet. If the members of the Left Wing wanted to make scapegoats of Mr. Nash they should also make scapegoats of Cabinet and the Labour Party, because Cabinet was merely carrying out the dictates of the party.

Members of the Government had talked about "financial gangsters," but the majority of shares in large companies and banks were held by small shareholders. ' \

On a point of order, Mr. Lee said that he had been described by Mr. Kyle as standing for the appropriation of the people's savings in the Savings Bank and other institutions. He had always been careful, whether by spoken or written word, to say that neither he nor any other member of the Labour Party stood for such a policy. But he had claimed that he stood for the sovereign power of the people to control the issue of new credit. «■