Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1924. ALLEGED UNEMPLOYMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10167, 23 July 1924, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1924. ALLEGED UNEMPLOYMENT.

3 We do not know what inspiraJ tion was at the hack of Mr C. F. 3 Horrill’s statements and tliose of the Mayor at the meeting of the Borough Council when they implied that there was much unemployment in this town. According to those who should have a true appreciation of the position here, the remarks of Mr florrill and Mr Galbraith appear to have no justification in point of fact. We wonder whether it has occurred to them that in their zeal for the men allegedly out of work they have given Ashburton an improper advertisement. We cannot imagine (and the statements of labour agents collated by our representative are a confirmation of this view) that there is the very slightest warrant for the Ashburton Borough Council making itself look ridiculous by appealing to the Government to institute relief unemployment measures in this district. We do believe there is occasion for any man in tins part of Canterbury to he out of a job for any length of time if be is really anxious to find work. Some men are not particular. That was disclosed in our news columns yesterday. There are men who refuse work because it is a little way out in the coun-

fry. These men—and peril ap,< Mr Horrill had them In mind—cannot he classed as unemployed. If such men were really in need of employment they would take what work offered. The district of Mid-Canterbury is a part of New Zealand which relies as much as any district does on what it produces from the soil. Not by any stretch of imagination could this be regarded as a manufacturing district ; we are an agricultural community, and there is hardly one industry being carried on here that does not derive its sustenance from country pursuits. If, therefore, men choose to come to Ashbur- I ton seeking employment they must take what the town and district offers and not expect to find the same channels of work as are presented in the cities and

districts that are devoted more or less to manufacturing. The Mayor and Mr Horrill should realise these facts before they urge the Borough Council to ah action that is without warrant.

We may observe, in conclusion, that it is not an unknown device, resorted to particularly by Labour politicians, to make capital out of suggestions regarding alleged unemployment in the Dominion. They thereby seek to establish a case against the Government. But the zeal employed is misapplied.