UNEMPLOYMENT RELIFE

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 274, 19 November 1927, Page 17

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIFE

WORK FOR CHRISTMAS.

MK OF CITIZENS' COMMITTEE

FURTHER WORK AT GREY LYNN,

£7000 TO BE SPENT

The policy of spending as much of the money collected for unemployment relief purposes as possible before Christmas was advocated at yesterday's meeting of the Citizens' Unemployment Committee.

A. report was brought down by the treasurer of the campaign to raise £5000 (Mr. Brigham), stating that the Mayor's Unemployment Fund at present stood at (£6559 8/4, while in connection with the actual '"drive" itself, £156 12/11 had been raised by means of Flower Day, i£464 16/4 by means of the canvass of the residential nrea of the city, and £610 17/5 had resulted from the appeal to business men. The general fund, jprefore, aggregated £7833 15/. Expenditure on various relief works to date lad been as follows: Epsom reserve, [£1035 3/9; Grey Lynn Park, £700 4/5; Walker Road (Point Chevalier), £467 19/5; and Auckland Domain (new road in front of Winter Garden) £89 19/6, a total of £2293 7/1.

The Mayor (Mr. Geo. Baildon) who presided, said the committee which conducted the campaign, expected to realise a few more hundred pounds additional to figures shown in the balance-sheet, fchile the prospects of augmenting the fund by means of the motor carnival, to be conducted next month, were good. It was estimated that £200 would be picked op by this means quite readily. Already the committee was committed to a liability of £8000— £4000 for various works and £4000 Government subsidy, but .when the campaign was properly finished he did not think the committee would fall very far short of its objective.

A member of the committee referred to the excellent work that was being done by the men employed on the Epsom reserve, who were a good type. Five men had left last week to take up positions that were more or less permanent.

The Mayor said this was an indication that the relief works were serving the purpose for which they were intended. The various works at Epsom, Grey Lynn. Point Chevalier and the Domain were all progressing satisfactorily. The Town Clerk intimated that,, per mediui? of relief works, 650 men had heen assisted, and at the present time 200 men were employed on relief works.

At the suggestion of the Mayor, it was decided to proceed with the development of the Grey Lynn area (Western Springs) where it is intended to erect a stadium for Auckland. It was agreed to sp.end up to £7000 on the undertaking, as. apart from present commitments, this sum was in sight. The Mayor, impressed with the necessity of giving relief to as many as possible prior to Christmas, said that as many men as possible would be placed on the work.

The organiser of the '"drive" (Mr. Oump), in paying a compliment to the ladies who had assisted in the campaign, siid he expected that between £200 and £300 additional would be realised yet ss the result of the '"drive." He maintained that at least £2000 of the money credited to the Mayor's general fund was the direct result of the canvass by the "drive" committee, or the circulars that were issued to business people by the committee.. 'Other members of the committee-con-curred in this view, and it was ultimately resolved that all moneys received at the Town Hall from the time of the commencement of the "drive"' be credited to the '"drive," while a special (notion of thanks was passed to those *ho had assisted with the campaign.