"THE FIRST JOB"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 54, 1 September 1943, Page 3

"THE FIRST JOB"

SCALE OF WAR WORK

MR. SEMPLE'S CAMPAIGN

Mr. R. Semple, who has held the Wellington East seat for 15 years, opened his campaign in the Seaside Theatre, Lyall Bay, last night before a \ good audience. He spoke of the "first one job" and the even greater task- of post-war reconstruction, and gave a general account of the work he had done while holding various portfolios. "We do not want a repetition of v/hat Happened after; the; last war," said Mr. Semple. "The peace must be a lasting peace, so that it will be made impossible for overlords, despots, or t gangsters to invade: any nation's territory in the years ahead. The second task is to reconstruct a new world out of the wreckage of the old. The days of the mansion on one hand and the slum on the other must vanish. Pauperism and poverty have to go. How can we do this? Not by following the old orthodox road, but by setting to work to plan now for the future." For New Zealand's part, they had the advantage of living in a country rich in all that could make life worth while—the wealthiest country per capita in the world. All that was needed were vision and courage to plan the country as 'it should be jplanned, and to harness the forces and resources of Nature and use them for the benefit of the people of the country. First among all needs he placed housing. "The new set-up of the Public, Works Department is designed to tackle this job in the way that it should be tackled. The Minister of * Works will in the future have associated with, him an Executive of Construction, composed of highly-skilled technical men, engineers, surveyors, architects, and town planners. Their job is to plan for the future, for, say, 25 years ahead, so that every undertaking will be thoroughly considered before one copper is spent on it. " ; "All- these plans will be considered in order of urgency, so that all our material and man-power will be organised and diverted to the channels where they are most urgently needed, doing first things first This method of investigation, examination, and planning will be applied to all State actiyi- , ties. This is the only way to build a nation scientifically and with maximum safety, bringing security, employment, and happiness for all. VARIOUS PORTFOLIOS. When he took control of the Public Works. Department it was in a miserable condition—l3,ooo men working under disgraceful conditions and with practically no tools. Three thousand youths and young men were in "slave camps" receiving 10s a week. They were taken out of those camps and given an opportunity to make good. The great majority volunteered- for service overseas, and many went away with the machinery they were trained to operate in the revitalised Public Works Department. • ■■•..': "In less than two years," said Mr. Semple, "the Public Works Department was transformed from one of the worst-organised institutions, with practically no equipment, and a discontented rank and file, to a versatile organisation with the best equipment in the world. The records of achievement are to be seen all over this Dominion." Similarly, Mr. Semple claimed, the transport system had, from a state where it was completely out of con-» trol, been given wide reforms; limited hours for operators and standard pay; compulsory inspection of vehicles; one set of regulations; hit-and-run and drunken. drivers had been almost driven from the roads; competent inspectors were appointed, and a Dominion-wide campaign helped to make motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, , and children road-minded. Fierce competition between road and rail was eliminated, and where transport services were in competition with the railways they were bought out and were used to feed the railways, an the interests of national economy. The steps taken ■"when Japan captured 90 per cent, of the rubber lands of the world, said Mr. Semple, resulted in saving 25,000,000 running miles a year, 2,500,000 gallons of petrol,, and 8000 heavy duty tyres. RAILWAYS PAY THEIR WAY. Mr. Semple said he had held the portfolio of Railways for over two years during a most difficult period. Dftring that time passenger train mileage had gone up over, 53,000 miles, goods tonnage up over 460,000 tons, goods train .mileage up over 1,000,000 miles, total revenue up by £2,969,000, and net revenue up by £1,132,000. All that had been done with one-quarter o£ the pre-war staff in the Armed Forces and with a staff numerically 12& per cent. less than the pre-war "For the first time in the history of New Zealand railways, we paid the full interest on the £65,000,000 invested capital last year and showed-a surplus of £200,000," said Mr. Semple, in summing up his work as Minister of Railways. "The accounts for the current year show that for the first 81 days the gross revenue increased by £485,000 • and the net revenue by £229,000 as compared with last year. The revenue has continued, buoyant through July, with a further increase of approximately £100,000 gross revenue over last year's figures. ~,-.■ As a result of the return of Major Skinner from the war, practically the whole administration of the Rehabilitation Act would be in the hands of returned men themselves. To date New Zealand was further advanced in rehabilitation than any other country in the British Commonwealth. All returning and demobilised soldiers were fully advised of the measures in force and all cases were kept under review . and. followed up until finality was reached. Even after that contact was maintained to ensure that the men were happy and satisfied. Not one case of failure to offer assistance to demobilised service men and women was on record. He gave a detailed analysis of the 24,205 cases already dealt with; Of these 13,298 had been placed in employment, or returned to ♦ their old employers. Loans had been granted to 1354, totalling £673,752. , One hundred loans had been granted in respect of farms. 269 to buy houses, 74 to buy businesses, and 823 to buy furniture. , ■■ "Defence. construction .is also under my control," said Mr. Semple. "This has been a mighty task." It had entailed building 17 "new towns of the size of Ashburton" (7000 population). Hospital accommodation for the Amen- ' cans in the Auckland Province alone had been built providing many thousands of beds, stores for perishable goods covered acres, and a million pounds' worth of prefabricated huts had been sent to the islands. Since 1939 the Government's aerodrome construction policy had given over 90 up-to-date airfields, covering 10,000 acres. "New.Zealand," said Mr. Semple, "has more modern aerodromes capable of-taking the.largest machines than any other country in the world lon a population basis. This is entirely due to the vision of the Government in making preparations before the war." Though 160,000 men had been taken out of industry, factory production had increased 36 per cent, since 1939, farm production had exceeded all records; coal production had made new records. "Our exports, to England last year reached the astounding figure or £81,000,000, 40 per cent, higher than for the year before the war. This year, in addition to increasing our exports to England, we have to find £20,000,000 worth of foodstuffs for the forces in the Pacific. All this New Zealand can do and will do." (Applause.) Mr. Semple was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks, appreciation, and confidence. Mr. J. Smith was in the chair. During the evening the Govern- . y iment housing progress film was shown. .;;