AFFAIRS IN AMERICA

Hokitika Guardian, 18 August 1933, Page 7

AFFAIRS IN AMERICA

SWING FROM PROHIBITION A ECONOMIC RELIEF SCHEME / AUCKLAND, August 14.' In the course or a visit to California, Sir Alfred Bankart, who returned to -Auckland by the Mariposa yesterday, found that the two chief topics of conversation everywhere were the move away from prohibition and President Roosevelt’s p.ans for economic relief. When the steamer sailed, said Sir Alfred, 20 states had taken plebiscites 011 tile Eighteenth Amendment and all had voted for repeal. A wireless message received later stated that Arizona had done likewise. Fourteen more States would vote this year and it seemed likely that President Roosevelt would be justified in his hope that the amendment would be repealed before Christmas. The President’s proposal to reduce tli© working week from 44 to 40 hours without decreasing the weekly wage was expected to provide work for 5,000,000 of the 12,000,000 unemployed. It was a temporary expedient outside the law, and was intended to cover the interval before comprehensive legal codes for separate industries were put into effect. The scheme was being put forward under a scarcely-veiled threat of a Government-encouraged boycott of employers who would not participate All those who accepted 'the proposals were to have their names displayed at the local post office so that, as the •President had said in a broadcast, the people could readily discriminate as to where to make their purchases. Such a scheme needed to become a national movement before it could attain its purpose of raising the purchasing power of the people, said ,Sir Alfred. However, there seemed to be a general disposition to co-operate in making the experiment effective Sir Alfred was very disappointed at seeing go little apparent effort to influence the huge outward tourist traffic from Californian ports towards New Zealand. The Dominion had had a representative in California, but he had died 12 months ago, and had not been replaced.