NATIONAL PROBLEMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 January 1940, Page 4

NATIONAL PROBLEMS

PRIME MINISTER’S SURVEY DEFENCE OF LABOUR POLICY. DENUNCIATION OF PROPHETS OF GLOOM. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In the sixth of his series of weekly addresses on “New Zealand’s Problems as I See Them ” last night, the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, said that for the benefit of those who thought the Government had not movedMasl enough during lhe past four years he intended to give a general review of what had been done, lie challenged, anyone to name a country in which greater progress had been made by constitutional means in a like period.

Prophets of gloom were saying there were bad times ahead, Mr Savage said. They had been saying that for the past four years, but so far the big black wolf had not yet put in an appearance. Unemployment had been predicted for the New Year, but the advertising columns of the Press did not show that. Prophets of gloom were among the enemies of the nation, he said. Wages had increased from £65.000.000 in 1935 to £109.000,000 in 1939, an increase of £43,000,000 in four years, or just on £11,000.000 a year. Referring to the need for maintaining and increasing production. Mr Savage said it was clear that production from all sources had been increased and, therefore, the people were entitled to feel secure. Primary production had suffered through seasonal changes, but secondary production had been increasing rapidly. In 1935 factory employees numbered 93.592, and in 1939 123,723, an increase of more than 30,000. In 1935 the number of factories was 15,900, and in 1939 17,842. an increase of more than 1900. Factory production in 1935 reached £79000 000 in value and in 1939 £113.000,000.

Over the 1935-39 period there had been an increase of 2561 in the number of shops and the number of shop assistants had increased by 13,840. "f think I should draw people's attention to these figures because a big effort is being made to use the shop assistants against the Government," Mr Savage commented.

The Prime Minister also referred briefly to the Social Security Act. which he described as “one of the most revolutionary measures of all time," and the banking, educational, guaranteed price, mining, public works, housing. and native lands development policies of the Government.