LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

Hokitika Guardian, 26 July 1927, Page 4

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

AI)I)Ti E.-sS-I N-K KIM. V. The Lion. .Mr Michel.— sir. 1 feel sure that honourable members were highly pleased yesterday to hear within the portals of this chamber the voice of the mover of the resolution now before us. When the Hon. Sir •lames Allen was appointed to tilt is ( hamber a few weeks ago his appointment met with the general approval of the people of this country, who reeogni-'od that tor a long period

c.f years he has worked unceasingly for its welfare and that of its people, and that .lie is one win- has undoubtedly rendered great service to the Itrilish Kmpire. When lie had finished his speech I cerlainlv felt that I knew a great deal more about the polities of the world than I had ever done before. Human nature. I think, is ever prone to dwell upon the apparent and overlook the actual. So when we have read from time to time the accounts of the doings ol the Longue of Nations and the other great Conferences that. have assembled in the last few years we have sometimes overlooked certain things—we have seen what they have not done, and we have sometimes been disappointed. Hut from what we learned yesterday we can see that there is an immense amount of good being done at these Conferences, which are undoubiedls helping to solve some of those great | international prdbl.oins ot the Hid . World. I listened to the honourable gentleman's address with great pleasure and received from it intuit information. f can say the same of the speeches delivered by the Hon Sir lulwin Mitchelson and the Hon. Sir John Sinclair. Coming to the address itself. I cordially agree with the references to the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. There is no doubt that that visit has helped to strengthen, as it were, the silken cords that hind us and other overseas states to the Kmpire. The outstanding point in connection with the ltoyal visit to this country was the magnificent response on the part of the people in every walk of life, who joined in the enthusiastic receptions that were accorded to their Royal Highnesses. There has never, I suppose, been a more enthusiastic reception in any

part of the world than that which was extended to them not only in the larger centres, hut in every part of the country that they visited. Kelerencc is made in the Speech to the last loan. There is no doubt that the tonus on which that loan was ra-isod were highly satisfactory, and showed conclusively that New Zealand s credit still stands very high in the Old Country. Financial people there realise that heavy as our indebtedness is

per capita, it. large amount of it was raised for revenue-producing purposes and carries its own burden, placing no direct taxation upon the people. Hut in sjiite of the high standing of cur credit at Home. I think we must all agree with the seconder of the Address in .Reply that the financial outlook of our country is one that is a little disquieting—l will not put it more strongly than that. One aspect of our public life to-day which I think is regrettable is the apparent carelessness of some speakers—men w ho hold high positions. There is a great lack

of sense of responsibility with regard to what they urge in the way of public expenditure. These people seem to think that the Government of the day, no matter what Government is in power, has unlimited funds at its disposa I. . They urge the expenditure of not hundreds and thousands, blit millions, in the most extraordinary way. And. in tin’s connection. .1 want t-u say that [ fuel that the public expenditure of this country, especially • in tlio various Government Departments, is going up too quickly. 1 realise, .Mr Speaker, that in a country like New Zealand, where the population is increasing—although nut as quickly as wo would like—there must he att increase in expenditure every year; hut it seems to me that the expenditure is going up far too rapidly. Now, let us take one Government Department- alone—and what I. am going to say in regard to that Department has probably some application to other Government Departments. I will take i he Kduention Department. Education before the war cost, in round figures, one and a half millions annually, this year, in round lignros, it will cost four millions; and I actually read in the papers a few days ago a- proposal made by some speaker in ~ another part of the country that the if Government should immediately bor- ** row one millions towards the- erection “ of new school buildings. This is an instance of millions being thrown over the shoulder hv people who have no vdea as to where their money is to come from. There is every reason why the Government should set up that Committee that is referred to in the Address by It is Excellency—every reason why his Advisers should set up a Committee to check the rapid increase per capita of people in this country in regard to expenditure of the Government Departments. T entirely agree with the honourable seconder of the Address—that the matter is too serious for public, men to pass over. 1 know it is not a move that makes one popular; J know it is easier to appeal to the people by throwing millions about and telling fjhem all is well; but we must fare the position without any shirking whatever. The Hon. Sir Edwin Mitchelson said yesterday—and we all agree with Kim—that our output, as far as the primary industries are concerned—the primary industries especially—must ho increased. There is just this encouraging fact, that the quntity of butter wo have turned out this year shows a considerable increase on the previous output. There is an increase of 10 per cent, and that is an increase in the right direction. I liopo there is going to be an increase all round, and nothing in the nature of a “go slow" policy. Reference is made to the necessity of encouraging trade between different parts ot the Empire, or more reciprocity in trade. 'Where is, .'unfortunately, very little in evidence? that this reciprocity ex- . ists. although 1 feel that, in the abstract. wo all agreed as to its neeesI sitv. I read a Few hours ago a rcporfc of a. meeting Hold in a northern ■ centre in wliiieh the local body had j just received tenders for the supply 'of twenty motor vehicles. Tenders j had been received from different places; hut because the motor vehicles made in a foreign country were £-? cheaper than that made in England the local body accepted the tender tor the supply of twenty vehicles lroiu the ! foreign country. It was a matter of | £-10 in a transaction involving some I thousands of pounds of expenditure. Surely that is not encouraging trade | within the Empire. But Air Speaker, I let us come nearer home. At e rei member a few months ago the States of the Commonwealth passed legislation. or gazetted regulations, prohibited the importation of New Zealand grown potatoes into the Commonwealth. It. may from some people's 1 point of view be a small matter, hut it is a very serious matter for those I who produce that commodity in this j ] country. About the same time we t 1 shut down, or practically, shut down, ; on importations of flour and wheat c from the Commonwealth. There is no i reciprocity in this policy. Again, 1 within the last week we find a pro- t posal made by some of the -States of ( i

the CommonwealtTi that there shall bo a duty of fid a pound put on New Zealand butter and cheese. There is certainly no sign of reciprocity in

trade there. It is a most serious matter, and something practical should he done, because we have had from time to time very similar sentences in the Governor-General’s Speech a.s to the necessity of encouraging trade within the Empire; hut we certainly seem still to have a lot to do in this connection. Arising from this comes the question of control, and I want to speak very plainly about this. l\i‘ have in this country control of kauri gum. meat, honey, wheat, and flour ; and. lastly ,and not least we have dairv produce control with its serious’lesson. AVe have all this control; and T. believe that control of the imports and exports of a country- to the extent we have lit to-day is absolutely opposed to the declared policy of the Government —that “lh- want less Government in business and more business in Government.” T feel that very strongly, and I believe that much of the unrest to-day is to he attributed to this continual tinkering, tihis continual interfering, with the imports and the exports of our country, jf any apparent good was coining from it wo might put up with it; hut what nro the facts? These controlled articles to-day—kauri-gum, honey. , noi ,t. and dairy produce—-..re all in a most unsatisfactory condition, so I,ar UC ' S and markets arc concerned. Ihe one hbr article in this country not at present controlled is wool, and that i* about the only big item ot export that is holding a fairly satisfactory pmn It is very questionable indeed wliethe j, W c had had control of wool, we would have had this satisfactory condition of the wool market. The Hon. Sir Thomas Maclveiv'.ie. The control of wool brought about the slump in sheep ami wool. The lion. Mr Michel.—l admit that the fall some time ago had that effect. Independent of the objectionable features I have referred to, it is opposed to our free-born liritish spirit that we should have control in every walk ot life. Hut this is what 1 want honourable members to remember; the declared policy of the Socialists, or the extreme Labour party, is that they shall seize the menus of production, distribution, and exchange. Now, that is exactly what we are doing. Have we not already seized or controlled a great part of the trade ol the countiy . [ snv that we have, and I say that we are by peaceful legislative penetration seizing the means of production, distribution. and exchange. Such a policy. if persisted in. must lead to disaster. As a citizen of this country I strongly object to it. T have been surprised to iind that the higher Courts of tlie land consider that all this control is legal. I should have thought, for instance, with respect to people who. with their families, milked cows at four o’clock in the morning, and worked fifteen, sixteen and seventeen hours a day, that as free-horn British people no law in the world Mould h.iii prevented them from tloittg what they liked until the commodity which they produced. I have been surprised 1" find that it is not so. and that all this control is legal. I do sincerely hope that in the future we shall have far less Government in business and much more business in Government. It is the declared policy of the Prime Minister, and a very sound one it is. Lei us, as a neople, give e licet to it. Noun I want to say something about the Singapore base. It is a matter upon which, ever since it lias been before the people, 1 have lelt very

strongly. !am in entire sympathy with tile proposal 1 that is ivlerveil to in His Excellency’s Speech. 1 believe tiniL this country should contribute the sum me ntioned—tliiit is, £1.000,000 — towards the construction of that huso. Some will tell us to-day that- there is divided naval opinion on the question—that high experts differ. Sir. I am prepared to take the considered export opinion of the British Government, anti the British Government tells us that the Singapore base is absolutely necessary. But daring the last two or three days you will have seen rabies in reference to this matter. \mi will have noticed that one of the greatest naval experts of our friendly ai'l.v, Japan, has mentioned tiie Singapore base. Ho did not show any antagonism to it, but he said that Japan could not shut its eyes to the fact that it was going to render the third great fleet of the British Navy more mobile and efficient generally. There you have an opinion from outside Britain that that base is going to make for the efficiency of the British Xavv.

The Hon. Mr Cohen.—And protection of Austrnhisiii. The Hon. Mr Michel.—Exactly so. ~ ell, what is C 1,000.000 in this matter? It is to he spread over three or lour years. Our sea-home trade, our imports and our exports, amounts in round figures to €100,000,000 a year, and tnat is a figure that will go on increasing. An expenditure of €1,000,000 over four years is equal to an insurance premium of os per cent, per year for those years. Now, think what our position would have been during those awful years that are now behind us if we had not been able to do as we did during the Great War. Xot only did we send one hundred thousand men across the sea without their being interfered with, but wc were able to import and export goods to the value of something like €400,000,000 during the four years of the war. Why were we able to do that? There is oni'y one answer, liecause we were living in the shadow of the British itag. For nearly ninety years we have held these Islands without any trouble. We have never been molested. Why? Simply because we have been under the protection of the British Navy. It seems to me that in the past we have never done our duty. We have not realized as fully as we should have done our responsibilities in this matter. Only a few weeks ago, on the 22nd February, a member of the British House of Commons asked that a return should he laid on the table of the House setting out the amount paid by different British countries towards defence—the defence of the Empire—. and the return that was laid on the table shows that the total contributions per head of population for defence. including naval defence, were: .For Great Britain, €2 18s 8d per capita, per year; for Canada, os tin.

The reason for the small contribution explained yesterday in that able speech by my honourable friend the Hon. Sir James Allen. Canada is living in the shadow of the American flag, but 1 need not develop that point, as honourable members understand it perfectly weli, and Canada is quite content to feel that she is safe with the protection that she believes that America will —and no doubt would—give ber were she attacked by any foreign power. That is the reason why Canada refuses to recognize her full financial responsibii’ity in this regard. However, we find that the Commonwealth of Australia spends ISs Id per capita per year on defence. New Zealand 9s lOd per capita, the Union of South Africa —white population only—l3s Id; while the Irish Free State spends ISs 11a per capita per year as against our 9s lOd. I say, Sir. that that table alone shows conclusively that- we have bad our protection very cheap indeed. "We must recognize that the people of England are very heavily taxed—in fact, the heaviest in the world—being about fclo per capita, as against £l2 in this j

country. When ire compare that with 1 America, £G, it. is unfair to us to throw an ever increasing responsibility on the people of the Okl Country of giving us that protection which is absolutely necessary if we are to hold these Islands and safeguard our trade. Under these circumstances, I hail' with pleasure the announcement that the Government intend to ask Parliament to vote £1,000,000 spread over several years, towards the construction ol tne I Singapore base. 1 would only say this, j Sir. in connection with the opposition to that: that those who oppose this expenditure are those who have always opposed anything in the way of expenditure for defence oi the Umpire. It comes from those who, even during those years of the Great War. did not help us one bit in sending our hundred thousand men across the seas. There was an underground in Hue nee all the time against what we were doing for the defence of the Empire, and most of the opposition to this proposed expenditure is coming from those same people. They are continually dwelling upon the horrors of war, and all that it me ans —they are continually condemning war. Mr Speaker, who sup. ports, and who upholds it? Mho does not feel sorry at heart when they see the horrors of war? Surely we see and i'eei' it as much as they do; but tie realize this: that unless we are prepared lor war. just as surely as night follow s dav we are only helping to make another. If Croat Britain, In my opinion, bad been ready for that Great War in 1914, this little country would not have lost sixteen thousand or seventeen thousand of its picked Young men. and probably have auotner sixteen or seventeen thousand broken in health and body, simply because Great Britain was not prepared for war which brought about these disastrous results. Yes. let them remember,] that none of us want war. I now wish i to* speak about the employment hues- . tion. because it is with us. and 1 want | to say .something definite about it. As long as 1 can remember, and I have aj (rood recollection, for at least forty or | iifty years we have had unemployment j from time to time in this country. It scorns to come periodically; and there, is no doubt, as my friend the Hon. Sir, Thomas MaeKelizie pointed out. a lot, of our trouble to-dav is due to the slump in wool two years ago. We had j £10.000,000 less last year in our ox-, ports, while our imports, as the l’rimc I Minister lias pointed out, have not! shown anv great decline—in laet, there , is an increase. That is the trouble, we', know; hut 1 want to say this: that 1, do not believe there has ever been a] Government in power in this or any | British country or, in laet. in any j other country in the world—and 1 xav it deliberately—that is offering a higher rate of relief pay than the Government of New Zealand is doing to-day. We are told that 9s and Vis a day is not sufficient. lam not suggesting for a moment that that should he the standard wage, but for relief works 1 say it is more than any other Government in the wori'd lias ever ottered the unemployed. 1 say that deliberately, and when we find men holding responsible positions urging that award rates of wages should be paid, they are speaking with no sense of responsibility. otherwise they would realize that immediately you offered award rates - say. Us and Ms a day—to the unemployed. the men, who are stopping in the country working for a less wage should have their heads read ” if they did not flock into the towns. Then, instead of having hundreds of unemployed, we would soon have many thousands. But what is more important is, when would they come oli ihe unemployed list ? It that is to he the position, as we are told it is b.Y irresponsible speakers, that, we are to find award rates for every ones who wishes to work- in the towns, tile finances of this country or any other country would break down very rupidfy indeed. We have to-day put through a Bill which provides for the expenditure of L'loU,00(l in connection with unemployed, and we laid a statement from the Prime Minister last night that it is going to cost, from what we can see now, probably L'lUti.GOt) to deal with. I think the Government, instead of being attacked in connection with the unemployed difficulty, are to he commended lor the liberal relict wages they are offering, and for the magnificent efforts they are making to cope with the trouble. I Hat applies also to practically all the local bodies, aud ai’so to many private citizens. But, Mr Speaker, there is just this to lie said: that if this irresponsible talk is carried oil to a much greater extent it is going to do the unemployed harm, because the people will not be so free with their contributions if they believe that it is the settled policy of the country that everybody who likes to find,- into the towns has the right to demand award rates of wages. Private .subscriptions would fall uIT very rapidly indeed, and nothing lull trouble would come. My friend, the linn. Kir Edwin Mitehelson, thought the export of white pine should be barred. Now, the timber industry of our country is in a most deplorable state to-day. There are probably two or throe thousand men out of work, and there are altogether something like eight;, nine, or ten thousand men employed in the industry. If you attempted to curtail the export of timber it would simply lead to disaster. Put there are other reasons why I object to the suggestion made by the honourable gentleman. 1 am not one of the saw-mill-owners of this country—any money I ever put into sawmilling 1 lost—but there are many hundreds of thousands of pounds sunk in sawmilling-plant, and if you attempted to shut down on the timber industry you would bring about bankruptcy and all sorts of trouble in connection with those engaged in the industry. Knowing the West Coast of the South Island as wei'l as 1 do. I want to say that 1 am perfectly confident that there is more white-pine there than will lie out out in the next twenty or thirty years; and if our tree-planting schemes are to lie as successful as we believe they will be, there should certainly, in the future, lie no great shortage of timber in this country. Put to attempt to close down on the timber exports today would be a great blunder. In conclusion. I sincerely compliment the mover of this Address in Reply motion upon the informative speech he gave us, and I ai'so wish to congratulate the other two speakers on their addresses. 1 heartily support the resolution now efore the Council.