LABOUR’S ELECTION POLICY

Hokitika Guardian, 18 November 1931, Page 2

LABOUR’S ELECTION POLICY

EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY. Never in the history have the people of the Dominion ”been asked to make a more momentous decision tnan tlie one they will make next montn. , me decision is vital. It is between the drift, gloom and depression of the present Government, and organisation, development and employment tor our people. Taxation, local and national, is increasing rapidly—citizens are losing their homes—the savings of lifetimes are drifting away. A liait must be called. , With proper reorganisation no family need lose its home. No citzen, old or young, need go short of essentials. We have wonderful natural resources. Access to them is denied by the policy of drifting statesmen who have no faith either in .themselves or the people. ’The flow of credit, which is the life-blood of our commercial and productive system, has been blocked. The block should be removed and the flow restored.

The records and traditions of the Dominion show how progressive minds overcame difficulties. In the early ’nineties John Ballance and Richard John Seddon lifted the country from depression to prosperity. Between 1914 and 1919, eighty millions sterling was raised for war purposes. Fifty-five millions of it was raised in the Dominion. There is still a large reserve of credit available for productive development. The Labour Party proposes to use the nation’s credit- for reconstruction purposes. The present "banking laws permit this to be clone. With a mandate from the people ; Labour will ask Parliament for authority to raise suffi_ eient credit in New Zealand to carry out a bold policy of industrial development. primary and secondary. All the credit necessary can be raised in flie Dominion. The credit will be used for the development of our natural resources. Productive development will bring commodities and assets. Willing men and women of the present—apd boys and girls who are coming on, are entitled to some nnensure of security and permanent employment. It is better to utilise our available labour in productive work than to continue the present wasteful and demoralising method of spending the un employment funds. Ta-ftion increases cannot go on indefinitely. The‘source from which taxation is drawn must he extended. The national income must be increased. It cannot be done by taxing one section to keep the rest working part time.

Especially when the work is of second and third-class importance.

Credit is the first essential. Given a mandate from the people, Labour will raise the money. Tlie co-operation of the Associated Banks and leading citizens will be invited. (The money will all he raised within existing banking laws.) The raising of the money means direct employment of New Zealand workers. Employment in Now Zealand industries. The drift in our national trading accounts will he arrested. The Labour Party submits the following policy to the electors, and urges them to support and vote for the Lab-* our candidates:—

Credit. The etablishment of a Central Bank with control of note issue, and the organisation of the hanking system and credit resources with maximum facilities for use in primary and secondary production at minimum cost. Primary Production. i Planned production of national requirements. Development and extension of land settlement. Co-ordination of ah Government Departments—associated with primary production to enable the fullest assistance to he given to the primary producer. Supply of all necessary fertilisers on long credit, payment to he made in proportion to increased output. • Overseas Marketing. Promotion of reciprocal rade agreements with Great Britain and other countries. Organisation of contracts for sale qf New Zealand products over” seas with guaranteed reciprocal trade Negotiations to prevent undue fluctuations in prices, with ultimate stabilis* ation for given periods.

Secondary Industries. Maximum support to secondary industries. Investigation of markets overseas for New Zealand-manufactured products. Extension of Home markets lor New Zealand products. Cultivation of and assistance in, the promotion of the following industries: Coal Carbonisation, Flax products, Motor Assembling, Assistance in reorganising Woollen, Clothing, Boot, Iron and other industries with a view to meeting the requirements of the Dominion from its own factories, with adequate safeguards for economic prices. Roading and Transport. Construction, maintenance and metalling of hackblocks and other roads. Co-ordination of motor, railways and shipping systems with a view to supplying the most economical services at the lowest cost. Interest and Rent Charges. Reduction of interest and rent charges, with right of appeal by mortgagee and property owner to prevent hardship. Unemployment. Immediate provision of productive work to enable unemployed to earn sufficient to maintain themselves and their dependents, with ultimate transference to ordinary productive employment, The Labour Party will:— Re-introduce the graduated land tax on large land holdings. Maintain the Conciliation and Arbi* tration System for the negotiation a’ki settlement of differences and disputes between employers and employees. Maintain existing educational, hospital and pension facilities.

Expansion of Industry, The call to all electors is for the expansion of industry, so that those at present unemployed may be once more absorbed in industry, earn their own living, and make their own homes. The natural resource,- are available — the human resources are at present idle—the Labour Party believes that it- can command the credit which will link the human with the material resources. With the maximum encouragement to private initiative and the careful, co-ordinate planning of our requirements and production, we can start the Dominion once more on. the road do prosperity which is the rightful due of all our citizens. H. E. HOLLAND, Leader Parliamentary Party H. G. R. MASON, Dominion President, W. NASH, General Secretary.