UNEMPLOYMENT DOLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 251, 20 October 1923, Page 6

UNEMPLOYMENT DOLES.

Mr. J. H. Thomas, the Labour M.P., in a speech at St. Pancras drew attention to the deterioration of character caused by unemployment doles. This is an aspect that does not seem to have been generally taken into account, yet it is serious because it affects industry when the period of depression has passed and tho factories are once more busy. During the war a large section of the youth of Mie nation lost four or live years of industrial experience. This was inevitable, but it added largely to the ranks of unskilled workers, and would have presented a serious problem could they have been absorbed into industry at the time. But, as we all know, the labour market was depressed and they remained in the ranks of the unemployed. When trade revives a large proportion of them will be totally unequipped for productive employment, and their characters as well as their skill will have suffered from so many years of inactivity. The position is complicated from the fact that the young workers who were at school during the war embarked on their industrial careers at a time when trade had collapsed. For the past four years these juveniles have been pouring into an overstocked labour market at the rate of 50,000 a month. Thus over two .and a half million young workers have competed with the older hands in seeking employment. For the juveniles periods of unemployment are even more disastrous than for their elders. Yet beyond unemployment doles little has been done to cope with the situation. For these doles nothing is received, however necessary they may be to prevent starvation. The question now is whether money spent in doles might not be turned to some account. It is proposed that in the case of juvenile workers grants for maintenance should be allowed, conditional on the recipients remaining at some school or training centre. This would ensure that they were, using their time in gaining some measure of efficiency for their work acainst the time when trade might revive. As regards the adult workers, those who cannot be employed at present miprht attend similar training centres, while employment could b e found for as many as possible on public works, which, if not immediately required, would at any rate provide some tangible result in' the future and give something in return for the money expended. And even if these works did nothing else, they would prevent thiit cl"+ r, *'iornMon of pfhcimicy and character which comes with doles and enforced idleness. Tn the period of unemployment following the Xapoleonic wars many seemingly absurd .schemes were put forward for giving employment under the plea that nnv work was bettor than none. The British Oovernment has voted over £40.000.000 for different kinds of public works, and thi« should <io for to heln th«=e 100.010 men. who. according to Mr. Thomis. h*vo not don« a day's work since they finisher] their apprenticeship, and have lost not only their trade, but their characters.

At one stage of the meeting of strawberry growers and fruit auctioneers, held in the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon, it eertainlj , looked as if the serene atmosphere would be disturbed by a fistic discussion between a burly Maori, and an equally burly pakeba grower. The Maori did not like the way in which his white brother was interjecting, and lie put up with a great I deal of wordy interference. The interI jector was cautioned more than once by I tbe chairman, but he would not desist. j The Maori, speaking on the question of I dishonest packers in order to illustrate his statement that he always honestly 'packed hi 3 berries, said:—"l will give r>o quid to anyone in this room if poor fruit is found packed in my chips." The other man then said something about "100 much waipiro." This was too much for the dusky grower, and forthwith he proceeded to take off his coat. Then I the other man spoke in Maori. "Look i here." replied the Maori, "I am now talk--1 ing in English, but if I speak in Maori you will need an interpreter." He became vary annoyed at the white man's broad grin, and assuming a fightim* attitude said, "Come on out here, I'll , shout for the crowd if I don't knock ! you." "Yes, you will f don't think, come outside and I will knock you," said the white grower. Tilings began to look serious, so somebody separated the pair, and the meeting was resumed. Not five minutes afterwards both Maori and i pakelia were sitting together discussing I the question of whether the little red berries should be loosely packed or not. The site selected for Devonport's War Memorial is meeting with divided approval in the borough. At last week's meeting of the council a motion was tabled to rescind the selection of a site alongside the borough chambers in favour a position on the Windsor Reserve. This was defeated on the 'casting vote of the Mayor who, in supporting the status quo, said that lie I could not go contrary to the decision lof the War Memorial Committee, who ! for four years had clone great service 'in collecting the necessary money and ! arranging all preliminaries. A publle petition against the site is, however, now being circulated, and a deputation ! supporting it waited upon Mr. Lamont ■ this morning. The Mayor, in replying, 1 reviewed the selection of the site over I fifteen months ago by the War Memorial Committee and its confirmation by the council then in authority. He pleaded for unanimity on the question, but strongly advocated deference to the committee having the matter in hand. They were almoßt unanimously in favour of the municipal chamber's site, and the present council had confirmed their selection. He urged the propriety and dignity of the site, and further stated that the contractor had all preparatory i work almost complete. In dismissing the deputation he fervently hoped that jon so eacred a question they would not oppose those who had given such a lot of time and labour to the project. In view of the increased demand that has lately been made for Oamaru stone, lit may be mentioned thn£ in September, 187:5, Mr. W. N. Blair, C.E., read a paper j before the Otago Institute, in which he I said: "The use of the Oamaru stone Is j coeval with the settlement of the district, but it was little known beyond till 18G0, J when an export trade commenced with j Dunedin. The first large building erected 'of this stone in the city of Dunedin was the University. The Oamaru stone occupies that large tract of country in the I northern part of the province of Otago extending northward from the Kaktinui to the Waitaki Plain, and inwards from the coast to the, Kurow River. Not only can large blocks be got of the same tint and consistency, but whole cities might be built in which one stone could not be distinguished from another." "The Government is greatly interested in the effort of the Auckland Rotary Club to emphasise the fact that the boys of to-day are, with their sisters, the electors of the near future," stated Sir Francis Bell, Acting Prime Minister, in a letter to the Rotary Club. He pointed out that every opportunity for clean and healthy life given to the boys is an influence for the benefit of the Dominion. On the same subject the Mayor (Mr. ■T. H. Gunson) sent a message expressing the view that Boy.? Week represented one of the biggest things the city has in hand, because of its possibilities and because the interests it represents are just "boys," who nre the citizens of the near future. As has been pointed out by Mr. Hutchinson, secretary of the i Rotary Club, Boys' Week, which opens on Saturday, October 28, is not a "movement for another holiday period, but is intended to impress tbe boys with the value of education and the fact that hard, honest work brings its own reward. The two Pitcairn Islanders, Robert Elliott Christian and Skelly Warren, who made a trip to London from their lonely little island in tbe Pacific in the New Zealand Company's liner Remuera (says the "Daily Mail"), are appreciative of the many kindnesses shown them. Both men have brought all sorts of presents for "the folks at home," and they are as impatient as children to get back to Pitcairn to tell !of their adventures in what they declare is "a city of wonders." At an inquest in South Australia on a man who had been Mown to pieces by biting a gelignite detonator round a fuse to blow out postholes, the coroner referred to the practice of miners who often thaw explosives out on a shove! or in a frying pan over a fire, mentioning that if gelignite is put in a fire carefully it may merely fizzle away, but that accidental detonation often causes unexpected explosions. The coroner also referred to the common habit of miners, who carry explosives in the bosom of their shirts against the skin for the purpose of "thawing" them. About 0 o'clock last night an elderly man, Mr. Anthony Shannon, was knocked down by a motor cycle at the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets. On admission to the hospital he was found to be suffering from a fractured collarbone, and injuries to the head. He was reported this morning to be progressing favourably. The Canadian Trade Commissioner (Mr. W. A. Beddoe) writes: "With reference to a statement published two days ago that there had been a run on the Dominion Bank of Canada, 1 beg to say that I at once cabled to my Minister, and his reply, received this mornling, says: 'Silly rumour caused run. i Stability impregnable.'" Tt is a rare occurrence in a tender for any job, lonst of all one that ran into nearly £2000, to see the rjriee cut Ito a fraction of a penny, but at the last Patea county meeting (says the "Press"') one tenderer made his fisrures run out ;o £1520 IS/SA. fearing, perhaps, that another might put in one to beat I him by three-farthings. One councillor ! expressed the opinion that tbe tenderer must be a Scotsman. I The latest "howler"' cnmps from Tailpipe. When asked for the meaning of ■'tomahawk.' , one bright youngster wrote: "Tomahawk is the male hawk, [not the one that lays the eggs."'

Compulsory registration of firearms is almost universal in the British Empire, but it is obvious that there are still loopholes. The difficulties, according to a local authority, appear insurmountable. The normal citizen obeys the law instantly, but it is the abnormal citizen who keeps his automatic pistol. The reflection was forced on the authority by the fact that the madman Higgins possessed a modern Colt automatic pistol and a box of cartridges, which he would be apparently unable to obtain without tbe consent of the authorities. Apropos of the protest by a recentlyarrived gentleman from South Africa at the high price of New Zealand land, comparisons are inevitable. Thousands of morgen of veldt have been sold at a shilling or two per morgen, the trifling cost of native labour making living less strenuous than in some countries. Comparisons are valueless, because ot the. lack of water on the veldt and the absence of trees. In South Africa the settlers cherish a tree apparently worth half a crown. In New Zealand tUe settler will burn a thousand trees worth £500 to grow £50 worth of grass. Within a year Canada will be the world's greatest producer of newsprint paper. This prediction is made by the Dominion Statistician as a "reasonable possibility," based upon the enhanced output of Canadian mills, the establishment of new plants during the present year, and the number of large mills in process of construction. Tbe report on the pulp and paper industry of Canada for 1022, just issued by the Bureau of Statistics, values the output for the year at 155,785,388 dollars, an increase of more than 4.000,000 over the production of 1021. There were in operation, according to the report, 104 mills, of which 43 manufactured pulp only, 38 produced paper only, and 28 were pulp and paper mills combined. The installation of newsprint paper mills has been of such extent during the present year that the Statistician feels warranted in predicting as a reasonable possibility "that Canada's newsprint production will exceed that of the United States during 192:5 or 1924, making Canada the world's greatest producer of newsprint paper." The pulp and paper industry of Canada represents a capital investment of 381.000,000 dollars, and gives employment to 26,000 men. Under the British Housing Act, passed during the last session of Parliament, 29,000 houses have already been approved for subsidies by the Ministry of Health (says the London "Daily Telegraph.) One of the advantages of the new scheme, which has led to a great diminution of the work of the Ministry, is that when estimates have been submitted for houses of the types specified by the Act, and the case for the payment of the subsidy has been proved, no need arises for the continuous supervision of and interference with locjil authorities. The estimates of the cost of the houses which have been passed for subsidy by the Ministry vary from £300 to £450" throughout the country generally, and from £350 to £150 around London. "The more I think about it the more I am convinced that motor trains are the only solution for the non-paying lines in the Dominion," said Mr. H. Holland at a recent meeting of the Canterbury District Railway Committee (says the Lyttelton "Times"). He added that whilst travelling in the North Island recently he had noticed trains with 30 or 40 passengers that some years ago would have been crowded. Mr. W. H. Nicholson: Like sending a small child to school on a draught horse. Mr. Holland said he understood that the Department was taking action to secure two or three motor trains. "Pussyfoot" Johnson, the world's famous prohibitionist, is now touring the Union of South Africa (says a correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph"), and on the whole being very cordially received. Even in the winegrowing districts, whore he boldly delivered lectures, lie had a patient reception and tried to impress his keenly interested, though naturally hostile, audience that the grape growers of America were more prosperous now than ever before, as since prohibition came into force they stopped makinnwines to produce non-alcoholic grape juice, which had become an almost"universal drink in the States. Naturally the various temperance associations have given the plucky American reformer a cordial reception, whist the wealthy vineyard owners of the Western Province showed a forbearing tolerance at the meeting. ° In connection with the scheme for a hospital levy on all wage-earners presented by Mr. Fred Mack *t the last meeting of the Leamington Town Board the secretary of the Waikato Hospital Board reported to the Leamington Town Board yesterday that both Mr F Lye and Mr. J. A. Young, M.'sP., were 'much impressed with the scheme, and were prepared to further the matter in Parliament Mr. \ oung suggested that representatives discuss the matter with Hon f. J. Parr during his forthcoming visit to Leamington. It was decided by the Leamington Board to circularise all'local bodies in the Waikato Hospital district to endeavour to obtain thei r support. Special excursions are announced by the Devonport Ferry Company f or Labour Day. Frequent trips will be run to hohimarama and St. Helier's and to Rangitoto three trips will bo run leaving Auckland at 9.45, 11.45 and 1 43 The usual vehicular service will be suspended and only eight trips will bo run from Auckland on the Devonport service and on the Xorthcote. service three trips will be run. , In the course of a discussion at the Anglican Synod last nigbt several speakers referred to the need of Bible reading in the State schools. At lensrth a layman said that, while he agrled with the speakers he must say that two ot his children who attended Diocesan schools seemed to know much mn™ about the Prayer Book than the Bi^e