Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1910. WORK FOR PARLIAMENT.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 October 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1910. WORK FOR PARLIAMENT.

4 APART from the continuing and more or less routine duties that devolve unon it normally, Parliament, it no doubt will be agreed, has in these days a vital responsibility in satisfying itself that the war organisation and the war effort ot the Dominion are all that they should be. If it is satisfied that this organisation and effort have been developed for the time being to a point at which only the executive action of the Government is necessary, Parliament may reasonably reduce its sittings to a minimum. In the contrary event, it has on its hands undischarged responsibilities and duties which it should be very unwilling to neglect. . So far as some important aspects of war organisation are concerned, a stage presumably has been reached at which the Government may be left to carry on. This applies particularly to the assembly, training and transport of military forces ot all kinds. Possibly it applies also to the use of available capacity in the Dominion in the manufacture of munitions, though' this is a question on which something specific should be heard before Parliament again adjourns. There are other branches of war preparation and enterprise in regard to which full confidence is not obviously warranted. Some phases of our national financial and economic position appear to call lor very serious attention indeed. ‘ While events of the last month or two have made and make it possible to look with increasing confidence to the ultimate outcome of the war, it is also being made clear that the struggle in which we are engaged against forces both evil and powerful is likely, or at all events liable, to be long drawn out. As a unit among the nations which have,rightly determined that there shall be no compromise with these forces, we cannot be content to fall short at any point of the effort that is demanded. It is, for example, our duty to ask ourselves whether, as a people, we are making all the use we might of our economic resources and productive power in furtherance of our war effort —'whether, economically, we are acquitting ourselves in a manner worthy of the standard set by those citizens of the Dominion, the pick and flower of our manhood, who are staking life and more in the struggle to re-establish justice and freedom in the world. , . . It would, in fact, be an extraordinarily casual or optimistic observer, in or outside Parliament, who would venture to say that the total energies of this country are effectively harnessed for war, or are likely to be in the conditions that exist today. Stubbornly as it has been defended, largely by the method of ignoring criticism, the present scale of Government expenditure, particularly on public works, is flatly and preposterously incompatible with the circumstances of a country that is, in the most literal sense of the words, fighting for its life. The position is in no way met by inviting individual members of Parliament, as the Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) invited them on' a recent occasion, to say what 'works in their own districts they would like to be cut out. It is the simple and.imperative duty of the Government to effect all legitimate economies until the war is over and done with, and certainly to cut down total expenditure on public works as speedily as possible at least to the figure, that sufficed only a few years ago. The general economic position in the Dominion is one in which a great expansion of purchasing power is accompanied by a considerable reduction of available commodities —a state of affairs which makes directly and definitely for damaging and destructive inflation. ' The latest Statistical Summary issued by the Reserve Bank shows that the volume of bank notes held by the public increased from £12,067,000 in August, 1939, to £15,642,000 in August last—an increase of well over 25 per cent. On the other hand, as the J Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) told the economic conference which qiet early last month, it appears that the vali/e of goods which are available for consumption in New ■ Zealand has fallen from about £133,000,000 last year to about £114,000,000. Something depends, as Mr Fraser observed, on the types of goods that have been cut down, whether they have been luxury items, consumers’ goods or goods for capital purposes and so on. Questions that greatly need attention and study in any case are raised in the Prime Minister’s further statement: — Though the total of goods and services for civil use has decreased by some 14 per cent, the amount of money that is available for spending by individuals, after taking into account increased taxes, is still about the same this year as it was last. A situation like this no doubt means that prices must tend to increase with the pressure of purchasing power on goods to be bought. That, I believe, is the situation with which we are faced today. The situation thus fairly stated by the Prime Minister imperatively demands the consideration of Parliament with a view to doing everything that is possible to ensure that our national resources are made fully available in furtherance of the war effort, and at the same time that everything practicable is done to adjust and strengthen our national economy under the stress ,of war. One palpable need in this category is a system of saving extended much more widely than anything yet attempted in this country. Production, of course, is one of the most important of the factors calling for review. A good deal is being done at present to stimulate production from the land, but what needs to be considered is what may be done, with justice and advantage to all concerned, to expand every form of useful production. If it gives the attention it should to these problems of national economy, Parliament undoubtedly will find reason to extend at least by some weeks the period for which it is proposing to sit between now and the end of the year. .

A MOST DESERVING CAUSE.

r fHE good work done in the health camps organised annually for the benefit of delicate and debilitated children has come to be well and widely recognised and it may be hoped confidently that in this district and elsewhere in the Dominion the preoccupations and demands of the war will not be allowed to stand in the way of the camps getting the public support to which they have so good a claim. As in past years, the funds that are needed to finance the camps are being obtained by the sale of Health Stamps, obtainable at all Post Offices. Sold at 1-kl and 3d apiece, the stamps have postage values respectively of Id and 2d, the extra halfpenny or penny as the case may be going- to the health eamp funds. The helpful co-operation of the Post Office thus makes it possible for members of the public to subscribe to this good cause on any scale they may desire. Few, indeed, are so poor that they cannot afford to make some contribution to the health cam]) funds. Those who have supported the camps generously in the past no doubt will continue to do so, but the method of collection admirably facilitates the gathering in of a multitude- of small donations and it is desirable that the merits of the appeal made on behalf of children who have every claim to sympathy and help should be known and realised by all. Gratitude is due to the voluntary committees which give much lime and thought to the organisation and administration of the camps. Appreciation of the public-spirited and humane service thus rendered can best be shown by making a point of buying some Health Stamps.