UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1927, Page 11

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

APPEAL FOR SUBSIDIES. ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT. A deputation consisting of the Mayor J (Mr. (Jeorjre Baildon), Mr. E. Phelan and Mr. E. H. Sharp (secretary of the Returned Soldiers' Association) waited upon the Minister of Labour (Hon. J. G. Anderson) this morning, with the object of obtaining subsidies on moneys aggregating £900. in the proportion of £300 each, contributed towards unemployment relief in the city. The Mayor also made a formal request urging that various city loans authorised should be facilitated in order to allow the works to be put in hand as soon as possible.

In reply tbe Minister explained that Cabinet had agreed that voluntary contributions raised by local bodies would only be subsidised, subject to work being approved on conditions laid down by the Minister of Public Works. It had also been agreed that where voluntary contributions were subsidised by local bodies, tbe Government would also subsidise sucli contributions, but not the subsidy given by the local authority. In the present case he was informed that the Patriotic Society had given £300 from its B fund for unemployment relief. This amount was subsidised £ for £ by the City Council, and in accordance with the minute he had quoted, the Government subsidy was also to be £ for £, or in other words £300. He impressed upon the deputation that whatever works were undertaken for the relief of unemployment, which the Government was asked to subsidise, that it would have to be passed by the engineer for Public Works, and finally agreed to by the Minister of the Department. The Government would not subsidise work that was on the ordinary schedules of local bodies—its subsidy relating to expenditure on actual unemplovment relief work. »