A Plea for Unity of Action

Hokitika Guardian, 20 February 1923, Page 4

A Plea for Unity of Action

| TO Ml"' :(!!•; ITXAXCIAI. i if'ATiOX. I Son an.. ■ ago, m speeches deliver i I : 0 ( lu-is .-‘nirch. M r I C. .ii'. I: I spot b ! emphasis on v inert.:.-' lo .he Dominj ion'. \ ..(lit i • • ■ a- i nr ,-ecl with previ ■ • are. • Mr a'-t criti-i-uis v. v some- ■ what no irly m V ,-e of iy sonic j political:- d.uring ti, r.-.-ciit eh- lion to j discredit (lie Government. Bearing in I mind t! • raordm : i y circum-sta n ", with wld. da- (oivernment had to ntend mice.- a: i oiiditiou-. full allowance must b. m:: lc. The figures relating to the .:c::i u’- bnauce. published in the ■ s.. , . Hi ; apart altogether I it, • I •.I- -.1 n of fastening responsihill: c: r.bu ■■ ml increase in expendif .: d ;ri: g re . > years, the Massey Go r ~.ih !: - deliberately, set itseli to .lug about :■ most decided i improvemn i' a- . on and i- | consequent!; and t lit.. ' One matt . at- st: out most prominently in da at. - at presented is tin :nr ,• ' : : onal debt—.£. . .C'-. Ur.— should ha . liisiantly he!o; •• i ..c pilhlit eye, not only to remind us, as a community. o’ fh ! >• • nee unity i . . : creasin .■■•wer ly remetty i.y way ot perm: r relief from the enormously heavy under which the country is staggering. This is no time for party squabbling resulting in long drawn out and futile debates vi the lrymlntnrr. ot an expen . .. oiiKihii.g like £BO a day. ail for the paltry purpose of ventilating the question of whether this or that

political leader shall rule. £220,000,000 to face. Think of it! Our Legislature about to debate a want of confidence motion largely the outcome of personal ambition, when members, irrespective of party considerations, should he seriously working shoulder to shoulder to stabilise the position. £220,000,000 for a small community of a million and a quarter souls all told! Is it not enough to make sober-minded people pause and think hard? What is to happen if, before anything can he done to place the ship of State on an even keel, the country is handed over to the tender mercies of irresponsible revolutionaries'? W bat may btt the outcome is too appalling to contemplate. There must he united action on the part ol all moderately- \ minded representatives of the people i Let il lie rememberd that however uni- I tedlv we may pull together as a people j that there are always contingent risks | to he laced such as seasonal disturb- ! ances and market vicissitudes. On top of these we certainly do not want j incessant labour troubles and all the ingenious devices resorted to by extremists to frustrate the great cflorts that must he put forth to increase output in every direction, if we are to avoid being completely crushed under the enormous weight indicated hv a colossal debt of £‘229,0(10.000. Let it not be thought that m urging need for increased production and extended enterprise that the League is making an attack upon any class insertion of our people. I hero have been movements of a politico-industrial character which savoured too much ol irresponsibility. Loose talk about strikes and ‘‘go-slow” have been disturbing factors. Still on the whole our people have shown a commendable spirt hitherto in maintaining the Dominion's industrial and commercial I activity. Our purpose in writing is to emphasise the Fact that such activity. Mild even increased activity in some directions, will he required for some time to come in order to cope with the special trials that w< • as well as other peoples, have to meet as an outcome ot the four years of devastation through which the whole world lias passed. Air Skerrett. and the League, did not criticise from the standpoint of anv pait\ interest. Full credit is due to all who have been striving on constructive lines to re-build the country's finance and prosperity. In our opinion the Massey Government is entitled to the credit of having endeavoured to reconstruct at a time when rei onstruclion was clearK called for. Ii carried out the imncpnhir work of ret reiirhing in lace ol inflated expenditure-; il might have been easier for it. as a party, to have .Iri11: li. bill instead it faced the troubles for which action the t.overn-nn-iit merits some appreciation. The weight of £22O.O;HU>OO debt is not lightly to he thought ol and the I !iuniiiiini' - Bevi'iiue. both public and plicate, require to he t urther increas'd. Tin'-, can. "e submit, only he fiecomplislicd by unity of action on the part of all concerned- Government. Oppositions. Local Authorities and the people in general. (Contributed by the X.Z. Welfare I -eagiie).