"We publish the following translation from the Maltese of the Nationalist Electoral Programme which was approved by the Executive of the Party on the 27th July last: -"

Malta is at the cross-roads. We must make up our minds as to what Government to give her. We must return a government that shall put a stop to the present policy of ruination. We must all of us go to the polls and cast our votes in favour of the Nationalists.

Today we are at the cross-roads. Not merely because we are witnessing the gathering over our heads of an economic and financial crisis the like whereof we have never seen, but also because our people, a people that loves order and has always harboured moderate views, is being subverted by ideas that are bound to divide it and create class hatred; the people is being imbued with views that must inevitably lead to poverty; the working classes are being enticed by exaggerated theories which, in the long run, when the country is well-nigh impoverished, shall be detrimental to the workers themselves, once in a country that has been impoverished work is necessarily lacking and the wherewithal to live in company is destroyed.

As a result of the past two treat wars our country has undergone great changes in many spheres. Electric lighting. travel, motor transport, emigration, woman suffrage, the talkies, the high cost of living are all new facts and circumstances that were bound to bring about a change in the way of living of the Maltese. We Nationalists who have a soft spot for the good of the past, but who are progressive and seek further progress for the future, have done our utmost, on the three occasions in which we governed the country, to see that progress was maintained. We admit, too, that some changes in the social life of the country were essential. We admit that it was only fair that the plight of the workers had to he improved and that the burden of taxation required a better distribution than in the past. And yet the Government we have had for the last three years, to wit the Labour Government, has made such a mess and has squandered so much money and has moreover been so lacking in administrative experience, that it has brought the country into such a state of poverty and misery, that it has earned for itself general discontent and has brought us to the verge of bankruptcy.

The people who chose to give them a chance has done so and now, after all the harm they have done, will have no more of them.

The people has set its mind back on the Nationalist Party whose guarantee has always been one of honesty, of real progress, of peace between the various classes, of moderation in legislation and in taxation, of freedom of trade, of no interference and exaggerated prying into private affairs. The people has realised that the present Government should not be trusted again and that it should trust only The Nationalist Party which, in the past, with no abundant funds amid very little taxation without persecuting anybody, succeeded in leading the country on the road of advancement.

Honestly speaking, it is only too true that the expenditure of public funds has since some years increased very much, and have possibly more than doubled, but it is equally true that we have never had a government that could dispose of the many millions that were available to and were actually brought to nought by the Labour Government. Which Government in the past has ever had available as much as £6,000,0O0 every year? Which Government has ever dreamt of having at its disposal a £30,00O,0O0 fund in respect of War Damage? Which Government ever resorted to the imposition of such taxes and duties besides various fines, as the Labour Government has done? And what is the result of all this? What might not have been done with so much money if only they had been spent as they should?

When the Nationalists were in office, all they had was a bare £1,000,000 a year. And yet many schools were built, electric lighting and drainage were introduced in many villages, the Harper [sic] Area was developed, workmen's dwellings were built in various, places, work was given to thousands of men, the Mifsud Verandahs were erected, the large hospital at Guardamangia was planned and started, and a Reserve Fund of what was then a goodly sum (£100,000) was instituted and made available for an eventual rainy day; and many other benefits were derived from such good government, in addition to which even the taxation of the day was reduced.

Had the Labour Government carried on the administration with such economy and good sense, it might have been able to find sufficient funds, when the sterling was devalued, so subsidise bread at least in respect of large families.

The Boffa Governmnent is responsible for all the harm that has come about and the coming election will be its condemnation; which is why Dr Boffa and his colleagues have lost all hope. It is futile of Dr Boffa to lay the blame on Mintoff and the latter on the former, for they were both in the government together and the harm they did was a joint affair. It is futile of Mr Mintoff to try and whitewash himself in the eyes of the people for the mistakes committed amid the spendthrift policy followed as well as for the extremism shown by the Labour Government. When all this happened, when the money was so spent, when the exaggerated taxes were introduced, when extremism reigned, Mr Mintoff was one of them. He was amongst them. He was a Minister. Indeed he was the prime factor and ringleader.

Many mistakes were committed and many exaggerated taxes were introduced by the government at his instigation. He himself often boasted about this. He boasted that it was he who was for such taxation and he cannot be trusted not to make them even harsher if he is given the chance. Wherefore if the Labour Party were to be returned to office, the economic situation would worsen rather than improve, and instead of having more funds we would have less which would ultimately lead to less work. It is indeed more than possible that the two sectors of the Labour Party (the Boffists ond the Mintoffians) which are seemingly so divided today may reunite tomorrow to form what goes by name of the Labour Front.

We are in duty bound, also, to fight down as strongly as we can, that other Party which was and is still the curse of Malta, namely, the Strickland Party which is so hated in both Malta and Gozo for having always laid aside the real interests of both Islands. This duty of ours is even greater because this Party happens to have at its disposal ample funds, newspapers and other means to carry on with its propaganda of deceit. This is the Party that was condemned by the Church as well as a Royal Commission for its scandalous and disastrous policy when it was once in office. It will be no surprise to anybody if some day this Conscription Party will join hands once again with the Labour Party as it did some 20 years ago even when those very communists who had committed the sacrilege of assaulting St. Johns Co-Cathedral one Pentecost Day.

The real fight in the coming election however lies, as is clearly seen, between two parties: it is Mizzi versus Mintoff. And those who are against Mintoff must realise that they will have to decide and vote for Mizzi; for it is either Mizzi or Mintoff, and votes should not be wasted here and there on other parties that stand no chance of going to power.

In view of the great problems that weigh down our Island home it has become ever more necessary for the people to return to office a political party that gives it an assurance to probe into and endeavour to solve, as best it can, with earnestness, honesty of purpose and savoir faire the following major problems: the fear of unemployment, lack of schooling education, the dearth of industries, sorry plight of our agriculture and fisheries, the fabulous administrative expenditure of £5,000,000 a year by the Government, their heavy taxes that are strangling the people, the shackles of reserved matters in our poor Constitution, the high cost of living and, above all else, the peril of the infiltration of subversive and communist ideas in the minds of our youth.

The Nationalist Party need not make any lengthy declaration on its religious policy; history has taught us well enough how, under previous Nationalist governments, perfect peace and harmony reigned between Church and State for the social and spiritual welfare of the people.

Particularly in the face of the new and very real danger of the infiltration of communist views and of immoral customs, the Nationalist Party reaffirms its constructive policy of strengthening the Catholic tradition of the People of Malta and Gozo. Wherefore a Nationalist Government shall apply in earnest, and possibly shall improve, the existing laws for the safeguarding of Christian morality in the Press, in cinematographic and theatrical entertainments, in public behaviour. It shall increase religious teaching in the secondary schools and shall endeavour to introduce a superior course of religious culture in our University.

The Nationalist Party which has, throughout its history, always upheld the constitutional rights and political freedom of the Maltese people, cannot, of course, be satisfied with the present form of Constitution which denies us the right to decide for ourselves on many of our problems and which, with the many matters reserved by the Imperial Government for itself, does not give any guarantee of an honest-to-goodness Constitution.

We feel that there should be, and we are after having, full understanding and co-operation in the matter of defence of these Islands between the Imperial Government and the Maltese Government, but we also feel and expect that, in all political matters and rights touching our country, the Maltese have the right to a fully responsible government otherwise known as "Dominion Status".

Being within the British Commonwealth and a European country with an ancient civilization, a glorious history and with the required political ability, Malta has a right to expect that it shall not be dealt with as if it were an African colony, as it is unfortunately being considered today.

The Party shall go on doing its utmost until this national ideal is reached, and although it reserves the right eventually to seek the moral support of the other independent states within the British Commonwealth as also that of the Un ited Nations Organisation (U.N.O.), it is hoped that it need not have to make such appeals, trusting that the British Government shall ultimately be persuaded of the righteousness of our cause and shall acknowledge our national rights and aspirations.

The Nationalist are fully aware, with all the untruths that have been uttered against us and with all the persecution we have had to undergo, that our enemies charge, us with being extremists and raise against us the language question stating that, because of the latter, we neglect all other problems chief among which that of the needs of the working classes which is so important at present.

This is quite untrue. We are aware and we do hold that, at the present hour, all the world over, Malta included, the right of first place goes to the socio-economical question. If returned to power; therefore, we mean to dedicate all our efforts to the solution, according to Catholic principles and not as the socialists would have it, of the social and economical question, according to our own means and to what is due to us from Great Britain and from Marshall Aid.

The Nationalist Party feels and believes that great importance should be given to the socio-economical question, not only because such is the dictate of social charity and justice, but also because it is only through the timely solution of this problem, that we can fight down communism which has always sought for its supporters among poverty and misery.

It is the intention of the Nationalist Party, which is the party of each and every class, to dedicate itself to the solution that this social question' deserves.

We shall endeavour to have Old Age Pensions dealt with as in other countries, in such a way as to provide better for widows and all such as are in real need of Government aid, without thereby reducing such pensions as are already in payment. Similarly a system shall be introduced whereby employees shall have the right to choose whether they are to retire from service at the age of 60 or at 65 thus giving their families the chance to enjoy the payment of salaries and wages for an additional five years.

We shall reform the Workmen's Compensation Act in such a way as to ensure that workmen who go on protracted sick leave through misfortune or illness shall be assured of a living for themselves and their families.

If returned to office the Nationalist Party shall continue to extend sewerage and electric lighting places in both Malta and Gozo where such comforts are still lacking.

As soon as the financial situation improves we shall extend Relief to deserving cases, especially to widows and to such sick persons as are now unable to get it.

The Party shall do its utmost to develop and encourage a programme of capital investment so as to avoid for the future, as far as it is possible, and for the present too, any recrudescence of the problem of unemployment.

It is our belief that with moderate expenditure and with better organisation both medical and hospital services, which are not at all bad and which compare fairly well with similar systems abroad, may be greatly improved. A better system of assurance shall be studied so as to render it possible for genuine cases of poverty and necessitous cases of illness to have available the services of specialists and such medicines as are beyond the means of the poorer classes.

All this does not mean that because we consider the socio-economical problem as the principal problem of the day, we are renouncing our well-known principles on the language question. We are, however, so eager to propose to the electorate a moderate programme, that we are content to confirm the truly conciliatory proposal made by the Nationalist Party in its programme for the last general election of 1947 for a fair and proper solution of the question of the Italian language without prejudice to English or Maltese.

We propose particularly that at the proper time under the present circumstances the teaching of the Italian language shall become again compulsory in the Lyceum and Secondary schools, in the Teachers Training Colleges and in the University, and that such teaching shall be made at least possible to children attending the Elementary Schools if they elect to have it.

As it is the duty of every earnest party, it is our intention to give to the education of the country all its due importance. And, according to the means at our disposal, we shall do our best to increase the number of schools and to build new ones, a thing which, under the colonial regime, was most neglected.

We mean to attach special importance to the question of technical education, both in the elementary schools as vocational tuition and in factories and trade shops than can take on apprentices, as is done elsewhere.

This problem of technical education is enormously important for us today not only because we are endeavouring to develop industrial production locally, but also because many of our best skilled labourers are leaving the country though emigration. It is now that we should endeavour seriously to provide for their replacement.

We shall introduce in the Public Library all necessary reforms based on the suggestions of the best local authorities. We shall provide for the restoration and the protection of our artis1tic treasures and the national monuments that are the heirlooms of our forefathers. We shall take the necessary steps to reopen the National Museum. We shall aid and encourage societies that promote the serious study of local history and that develop local talent in the fields of art and music. Although the building of a National Stadium is highly desirable, this cannot really be achieved in a short time; in order therefore to provide for the development of sport education for the people, for our youth especially, for the physical and moral welfare of all concerned we feel that it is better for the present to erect sports grounds in various centres spread as far as possible in both Malta and Gozo.

Our Party visualizes very clearly the serious sproblem of our demography, that is the increase in our population, and, of course, we shall find the best means to solve this problem. For, although we hold that emigration is in itself an evil, seeing that it weakens the nation's strength in the separation of so many children from their mother country, we fully realise that, at the present time, this is but a necessary evil.

We shall therefore continue to help, under a system of assisted passages that we consider the fairest of all, all those who choose to emigrate to the cuntry of their own choice on the best terms we shalla be able to get from the receiving countries. It is worthwhile recalling here that it was a Nationalist Government which, in 1925, initiated the system of granting money aid to prospective emigrants, through a vote of £10,000 approved during that year.

This, however, does not release us from our obligation to provide work in our midst for our Maltese and Gozitan brethren, and to secure a sufficient number of technicians and skilled labourers for the needs of Malta especially in these days of hectic Reconstruction.

This is in full agreement with what the Nationalist representatives in Parliament have always upheld.

In the first place we shall do our utmost so that the Imperial Authorities, who are at the moment providing work for about 21,000 persons, do not reduce this complement. With this aim in view, and in order also to obtain improvement in the condition of Service employees, the Party shall help and support programs from Trade Unions for the increase of such employees as are on the Establishment. We shall insist to our utmost on the fact that our country, which was so useful to Britain during two world wars and which suffered so much damage and hardship, has the right to expect that, in time of peace, it should not have to thrive on charity but on work that should be provided. With a spirit of cooperation on both sides this difficulty many and should be surmounted especially if the Dockyard work on ships for private firms is increased.

Apart from all the above, the Nationalist Party hs already submitted in April last to the British Government through the financial expert Sir George Schuster a list of all that is due to our country in the financial an economic field, and we shall therefore only refer here to our Memorandum dated the 13th April 1950, which our Leader delivered in the name and on behalf of Nationalist Deputies, and which is already sufficiently well-known seeing that it was duly published in the local Press.

We trust that the British Government, when everything is submitted to it without any ridiculous threats and with all due deference, dignity and sincerity of argument, will be only too ready to realise the reasonableness of our claims.

We mention, as our most pressing needs, the need to solve the water problem which, according to the views of local and British experts, may become a very serious one within the span of a few years. We mention also the need for an increase in the irrigation of our fields so as to ensure more produce from agriculture, so sorely needed not merely as a means to obtain a reduction in the cost of living and for the supply of the country's demands, but also for the security of the country itself as a military base, as we have seen during the last war. Indeed, if the Nationalist are returned to office, the Imperial Authorities shall be insisted with for the return of such lands as a no longer required for defence purposes, and a project shall be drawn up whereby to save better that rainwater which is at present going to waste and which may otherwise be stored in reservoirs (for which purpose certain old quarries and valleys may be utilised) and later used for the irrigation of arable land; such project might be taken up by private initiative and with Government help. Means may also be studied and found whereby, for purposes of hygiene etc., other secondary water, and not rainwater, may be made use of, as is done abroad.

The country's resources are very limited, but they can still be developed in the sense that our harbours might be made to attract a larger traffic of shipping, while we may still organise ourselves as a centre of civil aviation with an aerodrome and better stations.

The above subjects lead us on to give our views son local commerce and industries.

By way of a foreword on this subject it must be said that what with the war and the socialist ideas of the outgoing government which, like all socialists, believe strongly in the interference of government in all branches sof life, our trade has been hampered since some good years. On the contrary, we have for over a century been striving for the principles of freedom in every branch of life and cannot therefore but feel that the country's trade should be given the greatest freedom possible. We admit that, in the exceptional circumstances of emergency, the government may have to control a country's trade somehow; these circumstances, except in the case of some commodity that is still scarce the word over, no longer exist since some good time, and we therefore hold that the time has come for the repeal of most of these emergency regulations which serve no other purpose than to pry into and shackle the wholesale and retail trading of shopkeepers.

We admit too that government should ensure that traders do not indulge in black-marketeering to the detriment of the consumer, but when commodities are available abundantly as at present, redundant regulations are liable only to procure needless trouble to tradesmen and to keep the cost of living high, for the system of fixed prices runs counter to the desirable competition between traders and shopkeepers which alone and more than anything else may bring about the lowering of prices when the market is full. There should therefore be room today only for such regulations as ensure no further rise in prices when some commodity becomes scarce.

We also admit that there should be certain protective duties to enable the development of local industries that might procure work for the unemployed and curb the exodus of local funds; we feel, however, at the same time, that freedom of importation should be retained not only in the interest of local industries themselves which would otherwise not do their utmost to produce ware at moderate prices.

The Nationalist Party which has been insisting, ever since the days of the Government Council under the 1931 Constitution, that traders who lost their shops through enemy action should have a right of preference in reconstructing them, intends to have the necessary legislation passed without delay.

Our industrial policy consists of the encouragement as far as possible of new industries and in the protection of those already extant. This may be done through the exemption from payment of duty, as far as this shall be practicable, of such raw materials as are used in any particular industry and in the exemption from the payment of income tax, for a number of years, in the case of new industries that are not in open competition with others already extant that actually pay income tax. We mean to do our utmost to get the new electricity power plants installed here in the briefest time possible, to extend electric lighting throughout Malta and all the villages of Gozo, so that we shall not only have our Islands properly supplied with light at a cheaper price, but furnish local industries too with the necessary power at once cheap and reliable. Similarly as we have already said, we shall endeavour to increase in earnest in public schools and in private workshops that technical education which is the root of all industrial development.

Many commercial enterprises that might very well be take up in Malta, because of the element of risk involved, are in fact never tackled by such private firms as refuse to launch capital therein unless they are hundred per cent sure of good profit being derived therefrom. In other countries such enterprises are taken up by limited companies who gather their capital from various people and thus spread the risk on all shareholders. We propose to change our antiquated commercial laws in order to encourage the introduction, under serious control of the interest of shareholders, of limited companies that shall go in for new enterprises as is done abroad.

It is our intention to study how the government may issue loans to such as can seriously guarantee their ability and solvency (with hypothecs on land, etc.) who would wish to take up serious industrial enterprises that are advantageous to the country. Such loans shall be made under the responsibility of the Treasury at moderate interest that shall be less than the current commercial interest charged, for the encouragement of industries.

The Nationalist Party, if returned to power, shall endeavour to increase the acreage of irrigated land in the Island, for it is felt that this shall produce increase and the farmer improve his condition. A Nationalist Government (1) shall endeavour to find out whether it is not the case of entrusting local companies with the development, along with the government, of a new system for the storage of water for irrigation purposes; (2) shall protect as best it can Maltese and Gozitan farmers against exaggerated competition from abroad so long as the interests of Maltese consumers are not jeopardized; (3) shall encourage farmers in the rearing of more cattle head, especially milchers in order to be able to reduce as much as possible the expenditure of £300,000 on condensed milk imported from abroad, to increase the number of land produce consumers, and to have better manure for our weak soil which is getting weaker as time passes; (4) shall increase the number of our carob and olive trees and the vines in our dry land, so that, by time, our rocks shall break and make room for more water storage underground; (5) shall appoint a Committee of independent members to study the situation of the local wine industry and the competition it is meeting from imported wine; (6) shall give the farmer who has tilled the same land for a number of years the right of precedence in the acquisition thereof in case it come up for sale, and shall issue money loans for the purpose.

Along with agriculture, fishing is that other Maltese industry which deserves every encouragement and protection. There are thousands of Maltese who earn their living from fishing, and when this industry is developed better many others will be able to earn their living the same way. The whole country shall greatly benefit from a better development of this industry.

A Nationalist Government shall reorganize better the fishing harbours in Malta and Gozo which have been very much neglected during the last fifteen years, in order to encourage to the utmost the fishing industry, to reduce as much as possible the importation of fish especially during those seasons when we usually get the necessary catches.

A Nationalist Government shall encourage the formation of a private company for the production of local preserves particularly in the case of fish that is not sold fresh. We shall also give facilities to our fishermen for the acquisition of motor boats and other fishing craft through government loans at low interest, provided the proper guarantees are given.

We shall give the tourist industry the greatest protection and encouragement ever. We feel that such as take trips abroad during the year (excepting of course our emigrants and those who go abroad for health reasons) should be made to make a reasonably low contribution towards the establishment of a fund for tourist propaganda on behalf of our Islands. Up to date Government expenditure on tourist propaganda has been too small and, if tourism is to be really encouraged, a serious propaganda drive should be made through colour posters and films as well as other adequate means of advertising Malta and Gozo. Such propaganda requires funds which, coupled with an increased Government money vote for the purpose and concentrated propaganda on the part of private firms (aeroplanes, ships, hotels, etc.), shall help to make such propaganda far more effective than heretofore. Meanwhile, as soon as we are returned to power, we shall forthwith start work on the rebuilding of our Opera House, opening singing classes that shall give us our local chorus singers and even others for the major roles that would make an eventual Impresa able to carry on. We shall endeavour to eliminate visas in respect of tourists on brief visits and to obtain permission for the recognition of British paper currency to be used locally especially by tourists. For this purpose too, the Nationalist Party pledges itself to encourage as strongly as possible and to facilitate the reconstruction of demolished buildings and the repair of all war damage to land and property in our Islands.

We are aware that our country today is in need of very many things. In the first place it is imperative to have our commercial scales balanced, for, if the country continues for some time longer to deplete itself of its funds by paying them out abroad, the result for us would be poverty. We shall therefore work out, as far as possible, a programme that shall increase our visible exports and reduce to the best of our ability the gaps between outgoing and incoming funds.

Our second need is a reduction in the cost of living. We do not mean to do as the Labour Party did during the last electoral campaign, that is give a pledge to lower the cost of living when they were fully aware that they could not do it, with the result that we all know. The high cost of living does not depend on us Maltese but on foreign prices and on the market value of the sterling. We shall however pledge ourselves to do our level best to obtain a reduction in the present cost of living. We shall, for example, do our best (especially now that Germany and Japan are returning into competition) so that our country, which has suffered a severe setback and has reaped no benefit from the devaluation of the sterling, may be able to make its purchases abroad where the required goods are the cheapest. We might also reform our customs duties. We might encourage competition which shall doubtless bring prices down as it has always done in the past.

Our third problem is the problem of funds. Where are we to get them from? This is indeed a big problem that is no less serious than the other two. Other taxation, of any importance at least, does not appear to be possible, as our country is already well soaked in taxes especially when one considers that this is a poor country owing to its unproductiveness, a country that cannot very well recuperate quickly after its capital will have been eaten up by taxation. Indeed it is a case of saying that, as soon as circumstances shall allow it, the Party shall do its best to find means to reduce taxation.

The Nationalist Party intends also to facilitate and ease up certain redundant formalities connected with Income Tax. There are people, like farmers, common shopkeepers and workmen with an income that falls well short of the income tax level, who still have to spend money on the filling up of forms and the keeping of accounts and books. They shall no longer be required to send in the annual form so long as their income shall not have increased in such a way as have become subject to Income Tax.

The Government is in great need of funds as a result of the increase in social service work and in the complement of its employees and particularly in the country's needs, as also because the Colonial and Labour Government we have had have burdened [sic] the country with administration staff commitments and for fully sixteen years have neglected our most urgent needs. For example, as Sir George Schuster himself remarked, during sixteen years of administration the Colonial Government did not build even a single classroom despite the fact that the number of school-children is increased at the rate of 2,500 every year. If we are therefore eager to go ahead we must build up many schools. We should meanwhile bear in mind that our present crisis owes its origin to the war which has disrupted our economy more than it has destroyed our houses. As a result, we need help and have a right to it. We need money. Where is to come from? In the first place we must economise greatly in the matter of expenditure, and such economy should be carried out in real earnest; otherwise bankruptcy will be inevitable. And yet, no matter how much we economise, it will not suffice. We should also bear in mind that when the slump in imports comes, as it must come, our revenue from duties, which is our greatest source in this line, shall also decrease. And when funds get low, as they have already become low, the result shall be a decrease also in the revenue from income tax and from entertainment duty as also our intakings from the Public Lotto and Lotteries.

There should therefore have to be full understanding and cooperation between the British and Maltese Governments if the economic crisis is to be solved somehow. The amount of £1,500,000 spread over five years proposed by Sir George Schuster who came to Malta without our Party having asked for his advice cannot be enough, for, as Sir George Schuster himself stated, our Government cannot very well escape its commitments, and we are fully aware that the bulk thereof have been burdened on our country by the Colonial Government. As a matter of fact, Sir Gorge Schuster himself stated that it may very well be that the amount proposed by him will have to be revised before the lapse of five years.

It is therefore imperative on the Government to look after the interests of the Maltese People in real earnest and to present its financial position by the force or argument and not by means of ridiculous threats. Other Parties that have in the past given proofs of their servility and have refused to safeguard the interests of the Maltese must therefore be discarded. We are, however, fully convinced that the Maltese People have understood this very well, and it is by now common knowledge that the Party of the Strickland family shall hardly succeed in securing the return of its representatives in the new Parliament.