SLUMP REMEDIES

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1931, Page 3

SLUMP REMEDIES

SUGGESTIONS FROM MR APPLETON. SHARING THE BURDENS. WELLINGTON, August 26. After reviewing the factors which h d brought about the present,economic citation in New Zealand, Mr Will Appleton, in ,an address at the I.M.C.A round table last evening outlined the steps which, lie thought should be ialien in order. to alleviate the.position and put an end to conditions which were postponing recovery. Among the remedies he proposed were the compulsory reduction of interest charges, •a return to sane land values, a roundtable conference between emp.oyers a..d workers, and market development.

Mr Appleton began by speaking ol export prices and production costs. The big fall in the price level and the almost stationary production costs had resulted in an acute position being reached. The .only feasible way for New Zealand to put her house in order was to bring costs down to a world,parity. Some attempt had been made to adjust wages and also to bring relief in the form of interest reductions, but local-body rates in some cases were higher, and all the indications pointed to heavier Government taxation. It was evident, . therefore, that there would, have to he drastic measures in the way of adjusting taxation a'd other costs if New Zealand’s fanning problems were to be solved.

TAXATION; INDEBTEDNESS From a discussion of the position of the fanner and the fact that the country had lived on borrowed money for years, Mr Appleton went on to consider what he called “the growing incubus of taxation.” In this connection lie quoted figures extensively. Production had increased wonderfully, but had not kept pace with-Government expenditure, and a bigger percentage of txr.ation had had to be added to the overhead costs of production in every business and industry. “There are,” Mr Appleton said, “"05 local. bodie s in New Zealand, or one to every 2000 people, and there has een a,progressive and an alarming increase in local body indebtedness in reccin' years. During the last decade, the gross amount of loans lias almost rebled, and is n' w about 70 millions. Per capita the figures have risen from £24 to £46, which means that annual loan charges have jumped from 26s to 59s per head. Taxation is now £6,390000 per annum as against £3;000,000 ten years ago.

“The problem.” Mr Appleton said “is how to extricate oursdhes from the morass into which we, in common with most other parts of the world, have fallen. First, I consider a reduction in Iwth Government and local body taxation imperative. The pruning knife will need to cut deeper into all departments of .State, and the hulk of oursocial services, justifiable no doubt in good times will have t ; o he dispensed with. In the local body field administration and overhead charges coukl ho reduced tremendously by amalgamations and the co-ordination of kindred activities, t would, moreover, restrict public bodies to trade, only in generally accepted public service monopolies and then under unsheltered comm ere al <o ditions. In this connection they should pay jnome.tix and other charge s the same as a commercial enterprise.

CONFERENCE METHODS SUGGESTED. “There should, in my opinion, be an immediate overhaul of conditions between capital and labour. In many cases at the present time there are irksome restr'etions which practically kill industry. lam inclined to think tha with a roundtable conference between the. employers and the workers without the interference o!‘ busy-hodies on cither side, who are more concerned with their jobs than with the welfare' of the county , we should soon settle a considerable portion of our unemployment problem. In this connection I tliink the .high-wage fallacy has just about been exploded. Tt was for a time contended that.a country which pays high wages must necessarily lie prosperous,* ard it was quite overlooked that it is a secondary matter whether a man receives two or ten pounds if lie returns in exchange products which possess' an , exchange value against what he is paid. It is significant that those countries in which wages were not artificially, raised to an uneconomic sfanchvd have felt the depression less.” REDUCTION OF INTEREST. Holding that there was some reason ip the contention of the wage-earner who has accepted his 10 per cent reduction', that a, portion of capital was not - standing its fair share, Mr Appleton suggested that there was a case for a reduction- of interest rales. “Perhaps it. sounds like sacrilege to suggest the breaking of contracts, he said, ‘Hint desperate times demand desperate remedies, and contracts made un der force of circumstances which u> many caSos are .now considered to be harsh and uniust should, in my en:nion. he revised, Tt is far better that a. man get a little less interest than oorhaps lose his security altogether, hooking at the position from a broader nsnect. T believe the day will come when force of circumstances will render jt necessary for all war debts to h p cancelled. / “T feel.” remarked the speaker “that another way in which we can

right the economic position is to develop new markets br our prod""e. There is little doubt that the teeming millions of the East offer tremendous scope for the development of our trade in this relation. Much carr he done also by the arrangement of trade treaties between other parts of the Empire. THRIFT AND HONEST * TOIL. “There can only be a return to public confidence,” Mr Appleton said, “when it''is realised that honest toil and conscientious work are the only sure and certain roads to prosperity. In the easy days too much reliance was placed on the ability to make money, not out of olir labour but out of the sale of land, goods, or securities. Increment was what we afl looked for. The possibility of a fall in values occurred to few of us. -The lesson to he learned is that success will now come to file energetic and the efficient man, the one who toils 'either with bis hands or IRs brain. There is no other way. IVe must also make better use of the land we occupy. Closer settlement should be encouraged and more of our young men induced to look to the soil for their livelihood. It is needful also to restore public favour in broad acres as a suitable • security^for advances.”