Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1938. PROVISION OF WORK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 219, 28 June 1938, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1938. PROVISION OF WORK.

The announcement of the intentions of the Minister of Labour in regard to the relief of unemployment in the Ashburton County, following similar action in other districts, will be received with approbation. It really means the end of the payment of sustenance to all able-bodied men. What slight virtue there may have been in the system when it was introduced there is none now, and it is to the credit of the Government that it has been decided to discontinue it. As readers are aware, the “Guardian” has always urged that the employment fund should have been expended, to a much greater extent than it has been, in the provision of work that would be of permanent benefit to the community. The levy on the wage-earner since the fund was established has been no light one, while on those whose income from other sources has been limited, and in most cases reduced, the impost is serious, creating great dislike for expenditure in a manner not economically sound. Unfortunately, while there has been a decided improvement in the position, expendi-, ture of State money is still necessary, but the community will derive some tangible benefit from it. The Minister’s action should assist those branches of private industry that have been experiencing some difficulty in obtaining labour, for there can be no doubt that the sustenance system has inclined men to accept the payment instead of making serious effort, to obtain or retain employment. But the greatest benefit from the new regime will be found in its moral effect. Undeniably many a willing and capable worker was forced on to relief in one form or another, but it is as true that many others found the possibility of evading the punishment laid on man when Adam lost the Garden of Eden too attractive to-be resisted. There was thus a tendency to the undermining of the mortal fibre and a weakening of that spirit of independence that is one of the bases of the best character. Especially was this so in the case of young men, some of them practically mere lads, whose manhood was in process of formation. Continuance of the sustenance system would have intensified the evil. The dole system in Britain and other countries, justified though it may have been from its political aspect, is bearing unhealthy fruit from the social point of view. New Zealand, so favoured by Nature, is too good a country to have such a blemish, and the Government is entitled to credit for taking steps that will nip the tendency in the bud.