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19 3 9, NEW ZEALAND.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT. (In Committee of Supply, 1st August, 1939.) BY THE RIGHT HON. M. J. SAVAGE, ACTING MINISTER OF FINANCE.

Mr. Chairman, — As the Hon. Mr. Nash has not yet returned from his important mission in London, it has fallen to my lot as Acting Minister of Finance to present this Budget to the House. In view of the direct bearing upon the public finances, I would like to say a few words about the economic policy of the Government. All our efforts are directed towards raising the standard of living of the people generally and to promoting a healthy and happy community. The standard of living depends upon the volume of production as well as on its equitable distribution, for Ave cannot consume or exchange for other goods Avhat has not been produced. To raise the standard Ave must have greater production, and every man, Avhether he is employer, manager, or worker, can and should make his contribution towards a larger output. I may say that to the extent any man fails to do his best he is retarding the fulfilment of the Government's programme of economic and social advancement. For their part the Government is concerned to see that every man able to work gets an opportunity to earn an income that will enable him and his family to enjoy at least an adequate standard of comfort. This involves organizing the economy of the Dominion on a basis that will normally provide full employment in productive industry. That in a nutshell is the Government's economic policy. When the present Government took office in 1935 there were many thousands out of employment, consumer purchasing-poAver was at a low ebb, and there was consequently little life in trade and industry. In such circumstances our first concern Avas to relieve the hardships of the unemployed by providing work for them. It has all along been recognized that the only permanent solution of the unemployed problem is for the men to find work in productive industry, but at the time there Avere no vacant jobs in industry. The Government therefore took immediate and vigorous action to put in hand public works of a useful character and to subsidize an expansion of works on the part of local bodies. The result was a rapid increase in consumer purchasing-power, Avhich automatically provided the scope for an expansion of industry.

Economic policy

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