MONEY FOR LOCAL BODIES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 193, 1 September 1937, Page 3

MONEY FOR LOCAL BODIES

-Press Association.)

Obligation on Government to Provide It «• MR SAVAGE'S STATEMENT

(By Telegraph-

j DUNEDIN, Last Night. | The City Council's housing scheme at Clyde hill was formally inaugurated to-day in the presence of members of Parliament, membeTS of the City Council and representatives of other local ,bodies and organisations ip. the city, as ,well as a considerable number of !interested persons. The first three houses were ready for occupation to-day, and the City Council was warmly congralulated by the1, Prime Minister on its enterprise and on leading other cities of New Zealand in the realm of housing. He emphasised the determination of the Govemment to provide the people of the Dominion with adequate houscs. After congratulating the City Council on its enterprise, Mr. Savage said Dunedin had led the other cities of New Zealand in municipal enterprise for many years, and to-day it was leading other local bodies with Tegard fo housing. To-day the Dunedin City Council was the largest borrower of money from the Government at 3 per cent. It had already borrowed £100.000 and proposed to borrow another £100,000. He did not care what the local bodies asked the Government ,to do in the way of money; if they put a decent proposition to the Government, it was up to it to meet them. He thought local bodies would have ,to get greater assistance from the governments of the day in regard to finaneial matters than ever before, because at present interest rates were too high and .there was an obligation on the Government, whether it was a Lahour Government or any other, to provide money. The Government was not going to allow rates of interest to prercnt it from applying its labour to thd natural resources of New Zealand. "We have the right to govern New Zealand," he added. "We have taken finaneial powers never enjoyed or favoured by any other Government of New Zealand. We can see that the people of New Zealand are well housed, clothed, ied and educated, because the old saying is still true that a man does not live by bread alone. We must not think that, because we are not producing butter or wool, we are not producing something just as valuable when we have houses and gardens and many rther things that make life worth while."