SWEDEN'S PRIME MINISTER PLANS NEW DEAL

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1948, Page 4

SWEDEN'S PRIME MINISTER PLANS NEW DEAL

| From Reuters Stockholm Correspondent] STOCKHOLM. (By Airmail). Tage Erlander, Sweden’s Prime Minister told Reuter that the Social Democrat Party’s policy would im elude maintenance of neutrality and continuation of the moderate policy hitherto pursued if the party was returned to power. Erlander in a special interview said he foresaw no departure from Sweden’s present policy of avoiding committing herself to any great power grouping. Important, parts of the Party’s domestic policy were social educational reforms and removal of economic restrictions. .

Erlander replying to opposition press reports that Social Democrats intended nationalising banks said a committee was investigating this question. Final decision would depend on its finding. “We may however in any case, ■start a State Bank to compete with Commercial Banks”, he said. “Competition between State enterprise and the private houses would be stimulating to both,” he added. Erlander said Social Democrats didn’t believe in nationalisation for the sake of nationalisation. The Party’s main objective was to make industry efficient, protect the wageearner, raise the standards of living. The Party had a committee invests gating monopolistic and other tendencies in the electric, shoe, furniture, glass and earthenware trades. “We found the furniture trade was working best in private hands so left it alone,” said Erlander. Pie continued, “The shoe trade in which seasonal unemployment was high has after pressure from the State remedied this deffect. Our experience shows that quarrels with opposition parties over nationalisation deci ease when we get down to practical concrete measures.” Most important social reforms toi the new Parliament he said included a new law for protecting workers against accidents, compulsory health insurance, insurance for mothers, three weeks holiday with pay foi all wage earners. The Mothers’ Insurance. Scneme was designed to help working iriotners s® a blow against abortions. Erlander said thousands of women were being ehbdnot because they didn t warn child ren but because they were afiaid oi losing jobs through absence foi con- “ Democrats would not object to entering into coalition with other parties if it should lose heavily at elections. The main thing would be foi other parties to agree, to a programme acceptable to Social Demofrats who would never depart from its principles. Social Demociats ■••oukl not like to form a minoiitj Government because they didn t work well as a rule he said.