SABOTAGE

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 250, 25 October 1939, Page 4

SABOTAGE

that position to-day. This position takes us back to some of the other pledges given by the Labour Party at the last general election. The Minister of Finance told the people, prior to the elections, that the country had enjoyed three years of prosperity and that they could oo certain, if a Labour Government was returned to office, that another three years of prosperity would ensue. The. Labour Government was returned!, but within a month of tlie election it was disclosed that the Government was at its wits’ end for money, andl within another month a state of emergency was declared in New Zealand. Had the people been informed one iVonth prior to the elections, instead of one month afterwards that a state of emergency was about to be declared, the Labour Government would have been turned into the political wilderness. The people, however, are now prepared-to make many sacrifices because of the war, and while tlie people are in that frame of mind the Government is going the whole liog. We . oil this, side of the House, have the sorry satisfaction • of knowing, that every word of warning we issued! were justified to the hilt. The State has been completely socialised and tin’s Rill is the last link in the chain. Policy: of Sabotage We nre asking youth' to fight tor us in the name of freedom; to go overseas and to face the horrors ol' war. just as we faced them in 1911. Probably they will he called upon to' fsvCe the same mud and slime and hardship that we faced in France during the last war. While our young men are doing that, it- is clear that it is the intention of the Government, to sabotage the whole economic and political system of the country.. The -Minister of Finance is' not going Home tins time, and the Acting Leader of the House is going instead. R would he interesting to see how ithe- Minister of Finance would face the people in the Heme country with whom lie had dealings only a few, months ago. and to whom lie gave a definite pledge that there would be a limitation of the use of credit in New Zealand. . A similar pledge- was giveit-in tlie Budget. The Hon. Air. Nash: “L gave no pledge whatever in Flngland with regard to the government of tin's country. v> Mr. Doidge: “I suggest- that that was one of the undertakings the Minister gave at Home.” The Hon. Air. Nash; “No.” Air. .Doidge: -“I must accept tiie Minister’s statement. In the*' Budget, however, will he found such a pledge, and that pledge was given only eight weeks ago. 'l'he Budget declared plainly that it is time that we realised t-liat them must be a limit to the use of credit-. Yet within eigli weeks we are faced with a Bill, the main purpose of which is to break down all limitations. This Bill gives tlie Minister of Finance powers which the muclimaligned Al'r. -Montagu Norman would never have dreajned of possessing. AYo

are committed in this Bill to a rash and dangerous experiment. The standard, oi living must shffer. in this country. For three years tin’s Government ha s pursued a policy of wild finance, and at the end of three years we find ourselves in hi, state of voluntary liquidation. * The Budget itself contained three warnings: that we must cease to lean upon the Reserve Bank; that there must he a limitation of the use of credit, and that we .must cease spending at the rate of £'20,000,000 per year on public works if the standard of'living was not to be lowered. Those were all warnings given to u s in the Budget only two months ago; all those warnings are now forgotten; andl this crazy measure before the House is the consequence.”

SOCIALISTIC POLICY COMPLETED UN DFIt GUISE OF WAR ; r ' iNECIKHSJTY MR. JJOIDGF’S ATTACK (Published by Arrangement.) It .was three o’clock on. the Satur-j day morning when the member, for] Taurangiii (Mr, F. W. Doklgej rose in; Parliament to -speak in opposition - to the- Reserve Rank Amendment Bill.; Speakers who followcdl him’congratulated the member for Taurnngii on the vigour of his attack upon the Rill. Alr.v Doidge’s speech wag as follows: “Sir/ this Bill is an unconscionable Bill. It is tho last cog in Socialistic; machine which the Govei nhiont of the, day lias been .so busy, preparing and; building during the past ' four years.; Already wehave upon j the Statute Rook legislation •'which (provides 1 lor the socialisation of ■ commerce, trails-, . i ■■. t ? port and primary production. Now comes banking. Under the Industrial Efficiency Act and tho Bureau of .Industry wo have the control of industry and commerce. Under the Marketing Act which went through hist night, wo; have socialisation of the primary in-, dustfies, and of course in recent; weeks wo have had tho Small Farms; Rill, which robs many thousands of larjners of their right to freehold. Wet

nave the socialisation of the transport industry inasmuch as tho Transport Act gives the Minister complete eon-: trp) and dictatorial powers. Lastly, comes this Bill, and this in return will give the Government the powers, it desires jit connection with the socialisation of the Reserve Rank. The speakers from the Government side of the House who have supported this Rill claim that The control passes now in to the hands of the people, but we know that this is not really so. What actually happens i.s that the control passes into the hands of the politicians. The dangers of that are apparent. Wo know flmt, as a consequence, we are bound to have political log-rolling, political expediency, political prejudice—they are all influences'that will work, and there is evidence already of those dangers. Wo find that one of the clauses of the Bill provides for the removal of the minimum reserve, which i.s considered by traditional banking to be ono of the necessities and safeguards that are highly essential. When the Bill goes through, ng no doubt it will, we will iiavo the Ministry of Finance in tho position of the country’s master. It is sheer foolishness to contend that it i.s the people who will control the bank. It i.s the Minister of finance who, in splendid isolation, will control the money-bags of this country, and. henceforth call the tune. A Staggering Burden The session, is in its dying hours and we still have not laid from the Minister of Finance any statement

concerning his mission to Great Britain. .. We followed his activities 'there with intense interest and many of us hoped that at sonic tijne during the present session lie would have told us the. result oi' his work in Britain. We know that he went to borrow £30,000,000. He went because 'our own cashboxes were empty, in the rush oi war legislation the Government would conveniently have us forget that the country was on its beam-ends financially only a few weeks ago, and 'that for 'the la.st 3.0 months the Government has been in a declared state of emergency. Now, oi course, under the guise oi war, these empty cotters have been refilled. The people carry a new burden oi staggering taxation. It is admitted that the people are quite willing to pay for the war, but 1 wood ask what the justification is for the immense amounts oi expenditure that arc being planned at the present time. In 1914 wo had to iaeo up to war just as we are doing now in 1939. In 3.944, oi course, the country was financially sound and taxation was extraordinarily low. In 3911 taxation per head was £5 3s and total taxation per annum reached the .comparatively small total of £0,000',000. Hero, in 1939, taxation per head is £2O and the total taxation tor the year amounts to £40,000,000. That mean's that in J 914 the country, when faced with war started off from scratch, hut in 1939 it unfortunately starts from a long way behind scratch. I repeat, it would be interesting to know why the 'Government contemplates such heavy expense in regard' to the preparation for war, and the part we in New Zealand are endeavouring tr> play in the winning of the war. But the efforts fhat are contemplated now are seemingly not greater than cur efforts in 1914. . In 1914-18, we provided a division of troops, and in those days a division consisted of 20,000 men. in order to continually maintain during the lour year# that division in the field, and make up for the wastage of war, New Zealand found something like 140,000 men, and actually sent over 100,000 men overseas. We are not proposing, as far as 1 know, to do anything more than on this occasion. 11. we arc to find a division, and the war lasts three years, as the Prime Minister of Great Britain has suggested— Mr. Speaker: “May 1 point out to the lion, gentlemen that there is really nothing about defence preparations in this Bill. The Bill relates to tho Reserve Bank.” Mr. Doidge; “Wlmt I would like the Minister to tell us is why so much has been done under the guise of the necessities of war-' The case 1 seek to present is that the programme to which we are committed should not cost more than eur programme in 1914-18. However, I do not-desire to further labour that point. Inflation Inevitable “Every speaker of the other side ol the House to-night has denounced the administration of the .Reserve Hank. The Minister in charge ol Housing worked hijnsejf into a fren/.y because the Government had not found easier access to the Bank ill the past hut J would remind the House that the Budget of this year emphasised over and over again that we must cense leaning on the Reserve Hank. It is strange that within eight weeks of thy presentation of the . Budget we lint) that an altogether - different policy : 'is being pm.sued. Instead of observing' the direction in the Budget to cease leaning on the Reserve Hank we are now proposing more or less to smother the Rank. ••In his second reading speech the'

Minister did not deny the intention to inflate or the inevitability of inflation. The Minister in charge of Housing talked about wise inflation being brought about when the Bill becomes law. We know perfectly well that there in no such thing as wise inflation. History teaches us. that wherever inflation has been adopted tho consequences have boon disastrous. I would remind those who suggest such a thing as wise inflation that in the ranks of the Socialists" the outstanding economist is John Stratchey. And he has fold ns that inflation is like a drug—it is only effective when taken in ever-increasing- doses. We know, of course, what has happened in recent years in. countries which have had recourse 1 to policies of inflation. Wo know that in central Europe in 1923, when inflation wys so much in vogue, is cost as much as the equivalent of £2,000 to buy a. ham sandwich. The lion, mein her for Grey Lynn, when speaking on the subject of inflation tonight, said" that we do not build houses made of pound notes. That jnayi he true, hut in countries in Europe where they have, pursued a policy of inflation they have actually papered their homes with mark notes. “Will the Minister toll us what, if we do embark on a policy ol inflation as a result of the operation of the legislation. is going to happen to the people who have to depend on fixed incomes and fixed annuities, of whom there are many thousands? Wljat is to happen, to these people? How is the Minister gdi-ug to get over the troubles that will eortaiidy develop as far as those people are Concerned ? More Brok2/i Pledges

“In introtlucing the Bill, the Minister told us that it implemented a policy that had been definitely endorsed by the people of New Zealand. 1 profoundly disagree with that statement. If the people of New Zealand ha til been informed that it was tho intention of the Government to reduce tlfi* minimum reserve safeguards, I make hold to say that the Minister of Finance would not be occupying