"ALL RECORDS BROKEN"

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 April 1938, Page 7

"ALL RECORDS BROKEN"

ADDRESS BY PRIME MINISTER IN WELLINGTON -

Surplus of £BOO,OOO Announced for Past Year

DEFENCE OF SPENDING POLICY

WELLINGTON, This Day. In a political speech last night in the Town Hall in which he announced a surplus of £BOO,OOO and a reduction in the public debt for 1937/38, the Prime Minister (the Rt Hon M. J. Savage) was greeted with great enthusiasm by an audience which not only packed the hall, but also filled the Concert Chamber, where the Prime Minister was heard through loud speakers. Mr Savage claimed that the economic position of the Dominion today was better than it ever had been. The meeting was arranged by the national executive of the New Zealand Labour Party, which is now holding its annual conference in Wellington. An invitation had been extended to the general public. Mr James Roberts, president of the New Zealand Labour Party, presided. On the platform with the Prime Minister was the deputy-leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Hon P. Fraser. Having given thanks for his reception and stated that he had never felt better in his life, Mr Savage went on to deal with the achievements of his party, which had, he said, “miles to go yet.” He admitted that all records in respect of taxation revenue had been broken, but maintained that the money had been spent to the best advantage of the people as a whole. Declaring that a splendid Budget would be presented next session, Mr Savage continued: — “The salient feature of State finance last year is this: There will be a surplus of approximately £BOO,OOO, and the public debt will be less at the end of the financial year than it was at the beginning. This is a fact in spite of critics who charge the Government with over-spending. Surpluses are important, but not half so important as health and social security, and we will organise our finances and our economy so that the people will be secure in the benefits which should be theirs. “Our opponents say we are spending a lot of money. Of course we are! Everyone is spending a lot of money, that is the reason trade is expanding. There is no other way to expand trade at home or abroad. What is the real position? RISING PRODUCTION. "The total value of production last year was the highest on record in New Zealand. The cash, increase in two years of Labour was over £39,000,000 as compared with a production value decrease of fully £37,000,000 ih the two blackets years of the depression Government. It does not require monthly bulletins to prove the difference in values, but while frankly admitting the gain and effect of overseas increases, I take leave to point out that huge acretions to the volume of production are the direct results of the Labour Government’s policy of more equitable distribution of income. “Official figures prove that the increase in the volume of production from field and factory was much larger after the first full year of Labour Government than in any of the previous recorded years Let me illustrate from the prosperity chart the change which has taken place as a result of Labour rule, taking the latest available figures.” The value of exports, Mr Savage stated, had'increased from £48,360,000 in the year ended February, 1936 to £65,150,000 in the year ended February, 1938, an increase of 35 per cent. On the same basis, the value of imports had increased from £37,250,000 to £57,750,000, an increase of 54 per cent. Cheque transactions showed an increase of 25 per cent, from £16,670,000 in the year ended February, 1936 to £20,950,000 in the year ended February, 1938. Post Office Savings Bank deposits had increased from £25,000,000 in 1935/36 to £33,000,000 in 1937/38, an increase of 29 per-cent. PROGRESS IN SAVING “I would like to remind you at this point that we are charged with being spendthrifts and reckless visionaries. The perpetual cry of the Nationalists is that we should concentrate on saving for a rainy day. It is thus suggested that the Government has encouraged the community to become thriftless, to ‘eat, drink and be merry.’ But thrift today is at a peak level. All records in savings have been surpassed under Labour. Today, there are over 1,130,000 depositors in the Post Office and Trustee Savings Banks. Of that record total fully 880,000 are in the Post Office Savings Bank, with over £58,000,000 to their credit at the end of last year. Since the Labour Government restored wages and quickened develcrease in production at the present time, said that the increases in the 1936-37 year were very large, ranging from 20 to 50 per cent., and if the in-

opment and industrial enterprise the deposits of savings have exceeded the withdrawals by over £3,000,000 a year. "Labour came into office pledged to restore the purchasing power of the people. The statistics of wages and salaries paid as revealed by the unemployment tax returns show how this pledge has been fulfilled:— Year ended Year ended March, March, 1936. 1938. Inc. Wages .... £M.72 £M.IOO 39% “I ask. would that increase of £28.000,000 in the workers’ wages have occurred had Labour not been returned to power! Will it be maintained if Labour ceases to be in power? And if the buying power of the people is reduced how will it effect the commercial life of the country? It is that extra £28,000,000 which has enabled the people to purchase more food, more clothes, more pleasure, and still to put more away in the savings banks for a rainy day. UNEMPLOYMENT "The next point I wish to refer to is unemployment. The registered number of unemployed in March, 1936, was 54,500; in March, 1938, it is 6695, to which must be added, to make a comparison with the figure two years ago, 8000 men totally unfit for any work whatsoever. Today there are over 20,000 men on public works, and their output shows that they are not afflicted with the 'leprosy of laziness.’ Public works have never been more economical or more efficient. These 20,000 men are paid at living wage rates with conditions unsurpassed in similar work, in any other part of the world. Thousands of retailers, shopkeepers and manufacturers are all thriving as a result of the Labour Government's expansion policy.” SOCIAL SERVICES Dealing with several services, Mr Savage said: —“Labour’s policy of increasing social services at a cost well within the capacity of a rich country to pay without any undue strain at all has raised the ire of the Nationalists. But you may accept my assurance that notwithstanding the bleatings of the daily Press and the selfish cry of big interests, the social security plan of the Government will be made the law of the land during next session of Parliament. “The newspapers have seized upon actuarial calculations of the probable cost in 10 and 40 years, but they are very silent about the inevitable increases in production that will take place during the same period. The experience of the past is not without its value in this respect. In 1900 the value of production was £34,000,000. In 1937 the value of production was £136,000,000—an increase in value of 300 per cent. “Of course, one has to take into .account also increases in population and the movement in prices. A further comparison should, therefore, be made between the volume of production at the beginning of the century and the present day. This comparison of volume of production reveals an increase of 110 per cent. During the last ten years similar increases have taken place. In 1926-27—one of the best of the pre-depression years—the value of production was £120,000,000, in 1936-37 the value of production as £136,000,000. Over the same period the volume of production increased by 18 per cent. ONLY HALF THE STORY “And that is only half the story. People are engaged not only in the production of goods, but also of services. These, too, have been increasing. Of course, there are no precise figures, but we do know this —that in 1900 one-third of those actively engaged were producing services. Today the proportion has increased to onehalf of the working population. And we can expect this movement to continue with the advance in the standards of living. Mr Savage, after referring to' the increased amount paid in wages last year was any indication, the figures of industrial production would establish a new record. Mr Savage resumed his seat amid prolonged cheering. “This has been magnificent/’ he said after he had returned to the Town Hall from the Concert Chamber, where he spoke for a few minutes to the overflow audience. He stated that in his political experience the warmth of the welcome and the enthusiasm of the people had been the greatest he had even encountered. Proposed by Mr C. 11. Chapman, M.P., and seconded by Mr P. Dowse, a motion of thanks to the Prime Minister for his address and of appreciation of the work of the Government was carried with acclamation.