Stifled Enterprise

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 33, 2 November 1937, Page 14

Stifled Enterprise

SOCIALIST POLICY Young New Zealanders Call for Definition POLITICAL ISSUES The Young New Zealanders' Association, which has been established. for the purpose of providing voun^er men throughout New Zealand with the opportunity and facilities for studying the political position in New Zealand, offers the following observations on •some opinions recently expressed by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Walter Nash, and Mr J. A. Lee_, Under-Secre-tary for Housing: — In his reply to criticism of the Budget Mr Nash is repoxted to have said that there was no such thing as a flight of capital from New Zealand. It wae possible some funds might be going overseas, but they were not appreciable. For one thing, New Zealand wasfstill a country in which to invest money and it could even be argued that people who earned their living in New Zealand could be expected to invest their surplus funds within the Dominion. It is interesting to consider the Minister of Finance 1s statements alongside those of Mr J. A. Lee, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing. In his recently-published ' booklet "Money Power for the People," Mr Lee says that internal loanS, except those held by the Post Office Savings Bank and Superannuation Funds, should be redeemed out of the Reserve Bank credit and not re-issued to the public. Mr Lee also says that at some stage Labour must make credit available to secondary industrics. i While Mr Lee makes it clear that the opinions expressed in his booklet are his own," he claims that these views coincide with Labour promises. On the one hand, we find the Minister of Finance implying that it is the duty of New Zealanders to invest their surplus income within the Dominion,' while on the other hand we have Mr Lee, a prominent member of the Governmenr., outlining a finance programme which must progressively undermine, if not completely extinguish, all scope for the investment of private capital, Investors' Choice, In the paist the private investor In New Zealand has had the choice of investing in Government securiti.es, local-body securities, or in commereial and industrial undertakings. If, as Mr Lee predicts, it is the purpose of the present Government to provi.de all tho capital it requires for Government purposes by manufacturing money to De called . Reserve Bank credit, then it is reasonable to suppose that that poliey will later be extended to local-body finance. This would result in two previous avenues of investment being closed to the private investor. Mr Lee has been good enough to inform us that the Government will later provide in the same way morley for secondary industries, which appears to justify the suggestion that, this is auother avenue of investment for private capital which will be closed. This leaves the one remaining avenue —that of business activity, and in this connection the Government has already provided tangible evidence of i.ts intention to compete in this ephere. Only recently it was announced that tlie ■ Government intended to set up a council for the purpose of organising the retail chemiste5 business in New Zealand, and that that council would be responsible for the direction of a combined buying organisation in connection with the retail chemist trade. State eommandeer of our produce, State control of the wheat and flour industry, as well as State control of such services as broadcastng, transporfc, etc., have now becoine establshed factore n' New Zealand, c , 7" ' ' State Monopoly. In the light of this evidence of State monopoly of importatit industries and the prediction of Mr Lee that the Government ihtendes to go much further in this direction, it is difficult to see what lnducement there is for the investment of private capital in business undertakings. There are many people in New Zealand who' would dispute Mr Nash'a statement that the amount of New Zealand capital being sent overseas for investment is not appreciable, but whatever may ,be the position at the rnoment it seems fair to suggest that if the policy of the Government has been nghtly interpreted by Mr Lee private capital will in future be forced out of the country for investment purposes. During the recent Address-in-reply debate, the Minister of Mines, the Hon. P. C. Webb, invited the Opposition to ught the, Government on some big political issue. No doubt the Opposicion will be willing and ready to cross swords with the Government on many big political issues when they consider the time opportune to do so, but in the lneantime we want to submit that the real political issue in .New Zealand today is Freedom of Enterprise v. State Control. If the present Government is preparecl to give a public assurance that it will co-operate with the private investor in developing New Zealand and allow the investor to prolit according to the energy and enterprise put into afly under taking. then there will be some inducement for private capital Co be used in the deveiopment of this Dominion Building the Race. * This question is not merely one or economics1— it also has a very direct \ bearing on the building of our race. Ore cannot look baek on the "history of the British Empire or on the history of this country without appreciataing the national value " of the' enterprise and retermination of our pioneers. It is the spirit of independence atid enterprise which has made the British Empire and has made New Zealand. If tliis same spirit is to be stifled in New Zealand by State dictation aad competitioa in private enterprise

then the result will be a "nation oj leaners.'"* ' • . s If the policy of the present Governulent results in undermining the seope for the investment of private capital it automatically ' uflderininbs the' seope for the enterprise of the individual and the only possible result is an army of public servants commanded by a bandful of Cabinet Ministers. ^ It would appear reasonable to ask the Govvernmen^ to indicate to the public what part it considers private enter- j pnse should play in the future develop- ' ment of hiew Zeaalnd. Is it the in- ! tention of the Government ultimately | to control industry in New Zealand l>v I providing credit at a cost that private capital cannot compete with? i Ihis is the big political issue on 1 which the present Government- will- be largely judged, concludes the Young New Zealanders' statement, and tbe public is entitled to know the inlentions of the Government in this congecfcipn,