TO PREVENT ARREARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 159, 7 July 1926, Page 12

TO PREVENT ARREARS.

MAINTENANCE COLLECTORS. EXPENDITURE OF £500 INVOLVED. THE DEFAULTING HUSBAND. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. The chief feature of the Destitute Persons Amendment Bill, introduced by the Minister of Justice, is that it makes provision for the appointment of maintenance collectors, whose duties will be to see that huge arrears do not mount Tip. The Hon. F. J. Rolleston explained in the House to-mg-ht that in the past many wives had refrained from taking action against defaulting husbands bocause conviction meant imprisonment, with the result that the State had to keep hoth hushand and wife. Under this new legislation the duties of the maintenance collector would commence as soon as an order was made. The officer would act on his own initiative, and would endeavour, by friendly means if possible, to keep men up to the mark, and act generally as the friend of the destitute person Tlie enforcement of this clause would involve the appointment of officers, but the (expenditure would be less than f£soo, and it was thought that such expenditure would be more than justified by preventing huge arrears piling up. Reformative Work. Mr. H. E. Holland said an anomaly (was that when a defaulting husband went to gaol (he !had food, clothing and Shelter, but his wife and children might ibe destitute. Personally, he could not see any difference between children who had been deserted and those who had been orphaned, yet the State made no provision for those unfortunates, whose fathers had left them to an unfriendly world. Mr. Holland thought men imprisoned for defaulting on orders should be put to- work on reproductive labour. Too often the work on which fchey were employed was non-productive. The Prime Minister: That does not Apply to Mount Eden. Mr. Holland: The time must come whe n these men must be put to work on something that will be of economic value to the community, in order ™to make it possible to provide for their wives and families. The Prime Minister: Well they do that now to some extent. Mr. Holland admitted that was so to a limited extent, but there should be better organisation of these cases in order to ensure valuable work being done by defaulters, so that they would earn a sum sufficient to maintain their dependants. The bill was read a second time.