LABOUR PARTY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 September 1943, Page 3

LABOUR PARTY

MR FRASER SEES REASON FOR CONFIDENCE. STAND. ON GOVERNMENT’S RECORD. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “There are many reasons why the Labour Government should be retained in administrative control of New Zealand, but there are three in particular which make Labour's victory at the general election poll on Saturday thrice assured,” declared the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, in a final election message last night. “First of these reasons is the vital part the Government, with the full cooperation of the people, has played in developing and maintaining New Zealand’s magnificent war effort. “Second, the Government’s record of legislation and administration which before and during his war established and held a standard of prosperity and social security enabling the nation to wage war with vigour, efficiency and unsurpassed success. “Third, the pledge of the Government and the Labour Party to make the post-war future of New Zealand better than even the best of the past, to rehabiliate all ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen back to the highest possible standard of civilian life, and to give the whole community absolute security against slumps and ruinous economic depression. “These are plain, honest words epitomising the Labour Government’s deeds in peace and war. “The policy of the Labour Government and party is free of pretence. We leave other parties to traffic in shams, and peddle shoddy political wares. All that we have done and vow to do are part and parcel of the basic principles for which the New Zealand Labour Movement has always fought—the principles thdt are embodied in the Atlantic Charter of the United Nations as the foundation of a new world 1 order. “Let the electors anywhere considerthe counterfeit programme of the Nationalist Party. It now proffers a fuller cupboard than the one it depleted when it was in office, but if the door be opened in the clear light of experience there will be revealed the grisly skeleton of Nationalist depression. “It is not necessary here for me to recount the legislation and administrative achievements of the Labour Government during the past eight eventful years. The people, both old and young, are enpoying to an incomparable degree the fruits of Labour’s policy of making everyday life happy for the many, and not merely for the privi?t3ged few as was always the case under the Nationalists. “There has been a great deal of talk by the anti-Labour forces in this election campaign about the necessity for restoring the old forms of freedom. The Nationalists want freedom for predatory vested interests which simply means freedom to grab the highest possible profits from industry, trade and financial investments, and the right to grind the faces of the poor. “The answer to that preposterous policy is this: Labour stands or falls by the real and true freedom which means fredom from want, freedom from exploitation, and freedom from fear of slumps and depressions. “I confidently ask for the support and authority of the people of New Zealand to enable the Government: — (1) To direct and carry on New Zealand’s 100 per cent, war effort until ■ victory is won. (2) To proceed with a complete scheme for the rehabilitation of our servicemen. (3) To maintain the high standard of living of our people, including Social Security, during the war so that further progress in Social Justice can be made in the post-war period. “As Leader of the Labour Government and the Labour Party, I face the issue of the election poll with the utmost confidence.”