NEARLY ALL PLEASED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 208, 2 September 1932, Page 3

NEARLY ALL PLEASED.

BOYS PLACED ON FARMS. ■ i « ONLY REASONABLE WAY." AUCKLAND COMMITTEE'S WORK. , ] "One of the most pleasing results of i our endeavours to get unemployed boys i 'on to farms is the small percentage of I those whom we have placed that have becom« dissatisfied with the conditions ! or their employers," said Mr. N. G. ' Gribble, president of the Auckland ( Boys Employment Committee, this morning. "This is in the main to \ the type of ooy we have sent, the farms . on which they have been placed, and the valuable assistance we have got from various welfare organisations and private people, who have been only too : willing to do all in their power to make the boys happy under their new conditions." Of the 300 odd boys whom the committee had placed, not more than 5 per cent had failed to go on with their jobs. Those boys who had thrown in their jobs were regarded by the committee as failures. Mr. Gribble said that there were very few cases of homesickness among the boys, this having been successfully combated by the' good work of all the Churches, the agricultural and pastoral assocations, local school teachers and education boards, as well as branches of the Farmers' Union. Good work had been done also by members of his committee, who made periodical visits to farms where boys had been placed. Spirit of Independence. Mr. Gribble took exception to remarks made by Mr. A. E. Robinson, secretary of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, yesterday, to the effect that the majority of boys are not willing to go far from the city. Mr. Gribble said that once the "superficial rubbish" about leaving home was removed from the minds of the boys, and they were given encouragement to strike out for themselves, the "Westward Ho" spirit reasserted itself. The only reasonable method of getting unemployed boys occupations was to place them on the land. "Getting boys on the land will lessen the burden of the farmers of the future," said Mr. Gribble, "and it is a pledge for the security of the country. The better the boy is treated the more will he enthuse over the future of farming, the greatest primary industry of this country." Mr. Gribble said that he would like to see a fine yeomanry in the Dominion, for if a young country was to make true progress it must have a strong farming community. If our farming life was to be deprived of a line young element, the country would suffer an irreparable loss. Many Helpers. Mr. Gribble produced letters from men who had stated their willingness to do all in their power to make the boys happy. Remarks in one letter ran: "I undertake to inspect the home, and also undertake to visit the boy and the employer to see that they are both satisfied, and have a word with the boy and the employer as to how they are getting on, and then report the position to the Boys' Employment Committee." Another man had offered to act as liaison officer in his district by keeping in touch with the boys and reporting to the committee. Mr. Gribble said that the average ages of boys who had been placed on farms was about 16, and the average wage 7/6. TOTAL STILL IN DOUBT. M.P. CORRECTS A STATEMENT. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Thursday. A denial that, he had estimated, as reported, that the number of boys who had loft school at the end of last year and -were now unemployed was 2902, is made by Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., -who, with Mr. A. E. Ansell, M.P., is associated with the Unemployment Board in dealing with the problem of unemployed boys. Mr. Smith says that all the committees in New Zealand have not completed their records and none is in a position to say how many boys are without work. Confusion had arisen probably from the statement that 16,467 boys left the schools last year. Of that number, 1358 were going to their homes, and the destination of 1544 was not known. Mr. Smith thinks that the 20,000 so often referred to is an estimate founded probably on the fact that that number of boys left school in 1930. Mr. Smith and Mr. Ansell recently completed a tour of the Dominion in connection with unemployment, but the former refuses to make an estimate of the number of workless boys.