MASTERTON SEAT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 September 1943, Page 3

MASTERTON SEAT

DR, MAZENGARB ADDRESSES ELECTORS IN SUPPORT OF NATIONAL CANDIDATE. LABOUR’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS ELECTION. “I believe that an election should never have boon held and .that the whole attention of the country should have been given to the war effort,” stated Dr. O. C. Mazengarb in an address in the Masterton Y.M.C.A. Halllast night. Mr J. T. Jameson presided. Dr. Mazengarb was given a particularly good hearing. There were about 200 electors present. Dr. Mazengarb said the Prime Minister had also been against holding an election, but he could not get his way with the Trades Hall. The election was brought about because the Government chose to have an election. Referring to the other parties in the election field, Dr. Mazengarb said that although the National Party thoroughly disagreed with J. A. Lee’s financial policy it was to his credit that he had stuck to the platform under which the Labour Party was put. into office in 1935. With regard to the Independent Group, there was one safe bet in this election and that was that in the merry mix-up all members of the group would lose their deposits. Referring to the Labour administration. Dr. Mazengarb said credit was due to it for relaxing the purchasing power of money and for extending the pensions scheme. Although, he added, a pensions scheme existed before the Labour Government took over the whole was lumped under the name of Social Security for which the Labour Party took credit. In referring to the slump of 19301935, Dr. Mazengarb said that the then Government took what it thought to be corrective steps. Those steps were proved wrong and should not have boon taken. However, there was not one of those steps taken by the Government which had not already been taken by Labour administrations in Australia. Dr. Mazengarb said the Labour Government had gone wrong in pouring out paper money. When it took power, there was a cover of 99.7 per cent against the note issue. In October 1938 that cover was down to 26 per cent and Mr Nash got a big fright. With no apologies, import control was introduced although the League of Nations experts had recommended to all countries in the world that the import control was no remedy for the conditions it was supposed to remedy and had urged those countries to abolish it. Price and wages stabilisation followed. The Servicemen’s Settlement and Land Sales Act was described as being another stop along the road of land nationalisation. Dr. Mazengarb said that in a case where the Land Court would not agree to a price, although the buyer and the seller were in agreement. the price fixed by the Court could be paid and the difference paid “under the table.” Al the conclusiqn of his address Dr. Mazengarb was accorded a vote of thanks by acclamation on the motion of Mr J. Macfarlanc Laing.