WHOSE CHARGE?

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 123, 26 May 1932, Page 11

WHOSE CHARGE?

UNFIT WORKLESS MEN. HOSPITAL BOARD POSITION. I CONFERENCE TO BE CALLED. A conference of representatives of contributing local bodies is to be convened I by the Auckland Hospital Board to con- r. sider the position which has arisen over the provision of relief for unemployed c who are unfit to undertake t work. A decision on these lines wise i arrived at by the board yesterday, fjl- r lowing a full discussion of the report i of the chairman, Mr. W. Wallace, on the i results of his recent visit to Wellington. C Outlining the outcome of his interviews with Ministers, Mr. Wallace said t he had asked the Minister of Employ- ] ment point-blank when the hospital J boards might expect the Unemployment v Board to take over the whole question * of unemployment relief. "Mr. Coatee," ' added the chairman, "did not give nie a direct answer, but said: 'You are not \ going to be relieved altogether. You 1 will have to provide for a section of T the physically unfit.'" Mr. Wallace said t the Auckland Hospital Board whs pro- t pared to accept the definition of tin: physically unlit as given by the officer s in charge of the Auckland Labour Office, Mr. W. Slaughter, and published in the f "Star," namely: "A man who in normal \ conditions would not bo able to earn c his living is not a charge on the unem- j ployment fund." He objected, however, { to the statement that there was a ten- c dency on the part of hospital boards to . classify all cases of distress a<3 arising 1 out of unemployment. "I deny thav t said Mr. Wallace. "We are prepared to do our fair share towards the relief of ] men who are unfit to earn their living. < The tendency is not for the board to J classify cases as suggested; the tendency 1 of the Department is to foist these t people on to us." ' Cost of Small Farm Scheme. , Mr. Wallace referred to the rural s allotment scheme Mr. Coates had inaugu- i rated, and said the Minister had stated that already 8000 acres had been given < to the Government for the settlement of i unemployed. It was estimated that the ] cost of placing each man would be 1 between £230 and £250. However valuable the scheme might prove to be, • it was costly, and would take a long ' time to carry through, and the concern ' oi the Auckland Hospital Board was as ' to what was to be done in the meantime with the number of men on its book?. Mr. Wallace said he had asked the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Minister of Finance, whether the repayment of the amounts advanced to boards against subsidies could be spread over a term of three years. "The Minister," added Mr. Wallace, "referred me to the Secretary to the Treasury, the man who, in my opinion, is responsible for all our troubles to-day. I asked him where he thought the people would find the money and he suggeeted that local bodies were not putting sufficient pressure on their ratepayers to get th&m to pay their rates. He held out no hope, but asked me to lodge an application, and this I did before leaving Wellington. It seems to me, from the altitude of the Secretary to the Treasury, that we will get very little assistance in that direction." "To Arouse Local Bodies." Mr. Wallace declared that an effort would have to be made to arouse local bodies. The responsibility was the Government's, and the moneys advanced should have taken the form of a straight-out grant. As far as the Auckland board was concerned, it would be overdrawn to the extent of £00,000 at the end of the month. Mr. M. J. Savage, M.P., eaid the main question was whether a large section of the unemployed was still to receive relief from the board. The Minister had made it clear that persons unfit for the work assigned were a legitimate charge on the funds of the Hospital Board. "That makes it very serious for the board," he eaid. "We will have a email army of unemployed dependent upon the board. Are we going to shoulder this responsibility or fight the proposal? The Government has £3,500,000 to do the job, and it should carry it through. The people are taxed to the limit now; the basis of taxation is just about exhausted, and nothing is being done to strengthen it." Mr. Savage suggested that the chairman should call a public meeting in the Town Hall and place the facts before the citizens who, he predicted, would eupport him to a man. The interpretation given by Mr. Slaughter differed from that furnished by the Minister. If Mr. Slaughter's construction were correct, nothing more need be said, but he had an idea that the Minister's was That meant that the board would he expected to find sustenance for the ' men who had paid for it; and he suggested that the time had come for the Government to put into operation tho ' sustenance provisions of the 1930 un- ' employment Act. In the meantime the chairman should be authorised to con- ' vene a public meeting in the Town Hall or, alternatively, to arrange for a con- ' ference with representatives of the conI tributing local bodies. ! Thousand Men in Auckland. > Mr. W. K. Howitt said the records '■ showed that in Auckland there were at J least 1000 men who weue fitted for light work only. He suggested that local i bodies should be urged to co-operate • with the Labour Department with a view to absorbing men fitted for light work ' and classified as unfitted to go into camps. Dr. E. B. Gunson contended that the men who were partially fit for work should not he a charge on the board. . That position should be placed before the local bodies. If care were not taken the people would be faced with civic chaos. —~*., On the motion of Mr. 8. J. Harbutt a it was decided to convene a meeting ot i representatives of all the contributing local authorities and place the position » before them. In the meantime the Minis- , ter of Employment is to be asked ■\ whether he agrees with tho definition given by Mr. Slaughter.