SUSTENANCE AND STARVATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 173, 24 July 1930, Page 6

SUSTENANCE AND STARVATION.

When Mr. R. A. Wright said in the House yesterday that he would oppose the sustenance clause in the Unemployment Bill because it would destroy the spirit of independence in •the working man, he spoke sincerely and for a considerable section of the people. Every such measure of relief induces such fear, and it is not a sentiment to be despised. But the reply to the objection is obvious. As Mr. Sullivan, a member of the Labour Party, said, there is nothing more likely to sap the independence of the worker than inability to get work. Or as a body put it that inquired into the working of the so-called English "dole," unemployment allowances may be demoralising, but they are not .so demoralising as starvation. No one really suggests that men out of employment should be allowed to starve, but if the State does" not provide a statutory allowance for them, then charitable aid boards or private charity must step in, and, as Mr. Sullivan went on to say, the acceptance of this kind of charity may break down the spirit of independence. We are already spending a great deal of money on relief, and the question is whether our system is as efficient as it might be.