Mr. M. H. Oram’s Maiden Speech

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 55, 8 March 1944, Page 5

Mr. M. H. Oram’s Maiden Speech

CONSTRUCTIVE CONTRIBUTION TO DEBATE (Special to “Times.”) WELLINGTON, March 7. In his maiden speech in the House tonight, Mr. M. H. Oram, M.P. for Manawatu, made a major contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate. After only a brief but pungent introductory criticism of the policy and administration of the Governmexxt, Mr. Oram devoted the remainder of his time to the examination of some of the mattei*s lundaxxxental to good government and the prosperity and development of the Dominion. These were: Firstly: The true duties and function of the State in an enlightened and educated democracy; secondly: The position of our primary industries and the relation thereto of the secondary industx*ies; thirdly: The administration end ox*ganisation of government", and fourthly: Education. ‘‘Briefly put, there are two opposing extreme views on the function of the State,” said the speaker. At one extreme stands the policy of lalssez faire, the doctrine which reduces the functions of the State to the absolute minimum and regards control by government and government generally as always dangerous and potentially corrupt, and leaves the widest field for possible exploitation. History shows that under such a system there almost inevitably emerges a condition of unfair competition, the building up of tremendous private monopolies followed by exploitations of labour and the growth of unsatisfactory and sometimes deplorable conditions. At the other extreme is the doctrine that the State is all powerful, that it should have complete control over all aspects of community organisation and life. This envisages a condition of complete socialism where the State controls and directs the means of production, distribution and exchange, and controls all the activities of the individual by means of regulation, license and permits and enforceable prohibition. “The true conception is almost midway between these two extremes, and that la where the National Party stands. It is one which recognises that in a modern democracy there are certain essential services which can best be controlled and organised by the State—as in our own case, railways, the post and telegraph, education, and others of a like nature, but i*ecognises too that society as a whole is a complex intricate structure whose parts are developed spontaneously from below to satisfy the felt needs of the people. Society, for which this House is called upon to legislate consists of economic, cultural, educational, religious, recreational and other institutions and the chief function of the State apart from those already indicated, is to coordinate the activities of all these various organisations, smoothing out all elements of discord and friction between them and between the component parts of each. “This conception of the duty and function of tho State,” raid Mr. Oram, “I believe to be fundamental and one that should guide our every action. I believe, too, that it should be understood and appreciated by the private citizen so that he will understand that he Is in danger of creating a monster which will destroy his individuality, his soul, and leave him a meaningless unit—a pawn to be moved at will by those to whom he has given unlimited powers.” Primary Production. Dealing with primary production, the speaker said If a scientific historical and geographical survey taught anything, it taught that New Zealand had been, was now, and always would be mainly dependent upon its primary industries for its prosperity and development. “What the future holds in store is by no means clear, but for the present and the immediate post-war years a fairly accurate balance can be struck. On the debit side we have, firstly, the fact that Great Britain has been forced to expand her agricultural production to practically double what it was before, and already thei-e are advocates for the retention of a large portion of this development. “Secondly, is the isct that owing to transport difficulties and war conditions generally, Great Britain has been forced to dx*aw her supplies from the nearest possible sources with natural expansion in the countries concei*ned. -Thirdly, is the steadily decreasing population of European countries, considerably augmented by war conditions and, fourthly, the scientific development and expansion of synthetic and substitute products. “On the credit side we have the fact that two large countries—the United States and Soviet Russia—have become highly industrialised, and, most important of all, that it will take some years to supply the needs of the peoples of the devastated countries of Europe, to restock those countries and set production going again. Taking all these factors into consideration it seems tolerably certain that we shall be assured of good prices and ample demand for our products for a period of from five to ten years after the “Then w r e shall be called upon to face not only intensified normal competition but the full force of the chill blast of the technological age. Even now vitaminised margarine has not only cheapness to recommend it, while synthetic wool products in quality and texture can scarcely be distinguished from the genuine * article. We know that time will come. We know even Its approximate date, and we shall only have ourselves to blame if we are not prepared. Then quality and price will be the only factors that will count, and only by a close examination of, constant attention to, and improvement in every item that entei's into the production schedule, can we hope to meet the intensive competition of future years and enable us to dispose of our surplus on a basis which will give us anything approaching pre-war roturns. “Our planning must include consideration of the question o> alternative markets and the possibility of the diversification of our products. Exhaustive investigations into these matters should be put ( in hand at once and the very best brains 1 available allotted to the task.” Mr. Oram then went on to deal with the relationship between primary and secondary industries. “Remembering,” he said, “that the farmer’s best market is his internal market and that population cannot be maintained let alone increased without manufactures, but remembering, too, that we must always have a substantial exportable surplus which we must exchange in the markets of the world for raw materials and manufactured goods, we come to the inevitable conclusion that it is in the interests of all that secondary Industries should be encouraged provided that they are economically sound and able to be developed in reasonable competition with those of other countries with a standard of living comparable with our own. Industrial development is an economic proposition only if a country has: (a) Raw materials available locally which in our case are the products and by-products of our primary industries: or (b) large local markets to ensure the economy of large scale production.” Failure of Administration. One important function of government in which the Labour Party had dismally failed, said the speaker, was that of administration. This was clearly demon-

strated in the Internal Marketing Department, import restrictions and manpower. “In the ultimate result administration is even more important than legislation because no matter how worthy or laudable the objects of a policy may be unless that policv is administratively possible and the administration Is sound and efficient, the policy has no possible chance of success. Efficient public administration results from the fusion of Uiree indispensables: The best information, the best organisation and the best personnel. It is necessary, therefore, for a Government to develop research and planning. For short-term planning every Minister needs to have access to an expert corps of economists, statisticians, political scientists, sociologists and others on whom he can call at short notice for memoranda and information to guide him in formulating policy. Such an organisation must naturally be in very close touch with the Government of the day. Long-term planning end research, however, needs a different organisation quite apart from the Government that happens to be in office, so that it can carry on ita work from a purely unbiassed, dispassionate and scientific viewpoint. The best organisation would be that which leaves those at the head freest to make important decisions on policy on the facts which are placed before them without having to be hindered and distracted by too much detail and routine. We have in New Zealand the example of many heads and small departments, whereas the ideal might be few heads and large departments. Our political organisation has largely been allowed to grow in a haphazard manner.” [Mr. Oram’s survey of educational problems will be given in & later issue, j