LABOUR’S POLICY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1938, Page 9

LABOUR’S POLICY

MR J. ROBERTSON SPEAKS AT MAURICEVILLE. GUARANTEED PRICE SCHEME. There was an attendance of 36 to hear Mr J. Robertson, Labour candidate for Masterton, speak in the Mauriceville East Hall last night. Mr E. W. Cheetham, Mauriceville County Council chairman, was in the chair. Mr Robertson received a sympathetic and attentive hearing. Mr Robertson dealt extensively with the charge that Labour had imposed a crushing burden of taxation, thereby restricting business expansion. Since 1'936 there had been an increase of 1135 factories and total production had increased in value by -£26M. When incomes were going down throughout the depression period the previous Government had increased taxation by £6,000,000. Labour had certainly increased taxation but, after paying the increase, the net income left was £41.000,000 greater than it was before. This was because the total national income had increased out of all proportion to the increase of taxation. Referring to the guaranteed price scheme, Mr Robertson said that the Government had saved the country enormous sums of money through orderly marketing. Before the Labour Government took over London buyers went up and down Tooley Street offering less than brokers’ prices for large orders in an attempt to break the price. Some brokers, perhaps a bit more shaky than the others, would be frightened that the others would sell at the lower price offered and leave him holding stocks at the higher price and he would accept the offer. This action on the part of one man would often be sufficient to break the price down without any real cause and the New Zealand dairyman would lose as a result. Today ihe Government simply fed the market with a regular supply at set prices with the result that the difference between Danish and New Zealand prices had almost disappeared. Mr Robertson claimed that the National Party were coming before the people with a weak imitation of Labour’s policy. This was because three years of Labour rule had made it impossible for any party to face up to the people with proposals based on the 1930-35 experience. He claimed that the best test of all was the volume :;f goods actually bought and consumed by the people and this had increased by 12 per cent. In moving a very hearty vote of .hanks to the candidate, Mr H. Myers said that any reasonable man must Agree that the Labour Government lad done a lot of excellent things and he thought they deserved reinstate-

ment for another term at least. _ Mr Myers said he would defy any dairy farmer to produce his books and show that the guaranteed price had been unsatisfactory.