OPPOSITION MOTION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 648, 28 September 1933, Page 5

OPPOSITION MOTION

(Press Assn.-

EARLY MOVE TO TEST STRENGTH OF THE »• j HOUSE GOVERNMENT'S SHORTCOMINGS

— By Tel€ gra ph — Copyright).

Wellington, Wednesday. Resuming the addres-in-reply debate, the Leader of the Dpposition (Mr. H. E. Holland), moved the following amendment: — "But this House affiruis that the Government has refused to reeognise that the critical condition of society demands. a definite plan of financial and industrial reconstxuction, including. the preservation of equities in land and homes, jand the reduction of overseas indebtedness to present day values; that it has. refused t.o mqke provision for unemployed women and youths ; that by its. deflationary policy it has intensified unemployment , distress and privation and made home life among relief workers on, ixnpossibility; that its present system of unemployment relief is costly and, .uneconomic ; that . the high .exchange has had a disastrous .effect upon the economie life of the. Dominion; that increased and inequitable taxation. including the saies and unemployment taxes, should be imniediately revised and ultimately repealed; that the curtailment of social services and the reduction of wages, salaries and pensions has erippled tra;de and impoverished the nation; that the present monetary system has failed to provide for the requirements of the people and that complete public control of a monetary system based on goods and services and capable of expansion according. to growing needs should be substituted. . "The House furthe.r affirms that Your Excellency's advisers do not possess the confidence of the country." Mr. Holland said

that neither the mover nor the seconder of the ad-dress-in-reply had made any attempt to explain the paradox of want and poverty in the midst of plenty. It would he better for the Govern •

ment if it faced up to that paradox for there was no doubt

that it would have to be faced sooner or later. He would like some Government member to explain during the eourse of the debate, why it was necessary for men, women and children to go without sufficient food when there was no sliortage in the Dominion, why people went without sufficient clothing while factories and warehouses were filled wjth articles they could not sell and why people had to go without coal when the mines of the Dominion were idle. There was absolutely no reason why anybody in New Zealand' should go without the necessaries of life. Apparently the only shortage was a shortage in statesmanship and capacity to so organise the. country affairs that people who wanted work could secure it at a fair remuneration. N.Z.'s Representation Mr. Holland went on to refer to New Zealand's representation at the World Conference, and said that he had always held the opinion that there had been no need for New Zealand to send ministers abroad for that purpose. The High .Commissioners could have done everythmg that Mr. Forbes and Mr. Masters had' done and more, and done it better. "He could not have done it worse because nothing was done," said Mr. Holland. "I think the expenditure on the journey was a hopeless waste of money, especially in view of the absence of any results from - the conference. It is true that the Prime Minister came back with a somewhat more hopeful outlook than he generally assumes." Mr. S. G. Smith (Government, New Plymouth) : It must have been a success, then. Mr. Holland: It..was too great a priee to pay for a more hopeful outlook for the Prime Minister. The Note Issue Continuing Mr. Holland said that there was power to-day to print double the number of bank notes in eirculation. It was necessary that the Government should have power to produce whatever legal tender currency was necessary for the public and private business of the country. Over 90 per cent. of New Zealand's currency took the form of a cheque system and a cheque was only valuable when the goods were behind it. Change of Front. Referring to the Government's high exchange policy, the Leader of the Opposition said that everybqdy knew tbe history. of the Prime Minister's change of front on this issue.. He had yet to receiye an explanation of why the banks had somersaulted on the question. . . , . - Hqp.es that; the f armers would benefit from the pegging of the exchange at a, high figure had not been realised. No sooner had aetion been taken than Denmark had followed suit and France had put a heavy duty on goods coming from countries with high exchange, The Labour party's proposals for definite trade agreements and for a guaranteed .price were an ,infiniteiy better proposition from the f armers' viewpoint than the high exchange. He was satisfied that. only a very small proportion of f armers had reaped, , any direct benefit from ithie Government's policy. The Beneficiaries The (fnly farmers who had benefited were those who were mortgage. free, or those who had not hypothicated their incomes to the mortgagees. Apart from those farmers he had mentioned, the financial institutions were the only other beneficiaries and the Government had had to impose fresh and unpopular taxation to meet the case. .. . Mr. Holland expressed -the hope that the majority of members would •realise their duty to the country and

give expression to the country's desire by supporting his amendment. The amendment was seconded by Mrs. E. R. McCombs (Labour, Lyttelton). Minister in Reply Hon. J. A. Young said that the Leader of the Opposition had found fault with the Government's administration, but had not suggested what the Government should do. In a comparative sense, New Zealand had done very well and1 had made very satisfactory provision for the unemployed. New Zealand's expency.ture on unemployment compared with that of Britain, showed that the Dominion was doing more per capita than the Old Country. The Leader of the Opposition had inferred that the Labour Party would pay standard rates of wages if it were in power, but as the money was not available, this would he impossible. High wages could not be paid if industry was not paying even if the payment of such wages did keep up purchasing power. Deflation Necessary The Government had been accusqd of making matters worse by its deflationary policy, but he contended that deflation. had been absolutely necessary so that fixqd charges could be brought down in keeping with diminishing returns. Referring to the World Conference the Mipister said that no matter how small the results might have, been, the fact that New Zealand had been re•presented in Britain at snch a. critical time was of great value to the country. Whatever the cost might have been,. it had been warranted. Continuing the Minister said that currency was governed by prices realised in world markets. . Values could not he fixed in New Zealand and anything that might be cone would only he transitory in effect. If the Gov'ernment were' to issue paper money based on the- value of goods produeed, the value of goods would not he increased nor would the value of the country's currency jp.e increased. All that would he incre.ased. would be the volume.. of paper money in eirculation and there would be no advantage in having, twiqe. as many pound notes as pi'eviously if two note# were required to.purchase what had been bought previously for one. The Leader of the Oppqsition had said that guaranteed prices would he better than high exchange, but debts would have to be ereated to pay guar anteed prices and those debts would have to be redeemed. It had to be admitted that the high exchange had added' to the. cost of imported goods, but notwithstanding that the cost of goods had continued to fall. . The Minister stated that a lasting solution of the world's tronbles would have to.he found and all sorts of trials and experiments would have to be made to find a way out.. .. While that was being done, it was a mistake to create discon.There was a definite impr.ovement all over the world and the effect of improved. . prices for primafy products wonld soon he felt. Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour, Manakau) : Th^t is the result of restrieted outputs. , ■ Mr. Young said that outputs , had been increased instead of restricted. The shipping companies were^ busy building larger and better ships to handle the increased trade throughout the Empire. . . Mr. Young also referred .to the firmer values an the stock market and said the better prices being offered for Goverpment bonds indicated the sound position qf the country and a general return to confidence. • The House adjourned at 5.10 p.m.