ALL-ROUND "CUT."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 263, 5 November 1932, Page 19

ALL-ROUND "CUT."

relief work allocations. 10 OPERATE NEXT WEEK. announcement by minister. (By Telegraph- —Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The anticipated announcement of the Minister of Employment that the amount of assistance to be given the unemployed is to be reduced was made in the House last evening by the Hon. A. Hamilton, who indicated that there | would be a uniform, all-round reduction | in the allocation. The "cut" will ap- j proximate 10 per cent and it Will become operative throughout New Zealand next week. !i An appeal to the' Minister to disclose I his plans was made by Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, wlio declared that if it were decided to reduce the small .amount, now made available to relief workers, a very serious situation would develop. "A Little Fright." Replying to the debate, the Minister said it was quite correct, as stated in: the Press, that the fund had been overexpended in recent weeks. During the winter months an extra measure of relief had been given, and provision had, been made for that to cease ,at the end. of the season., However, the same scale of assistance had been maintained up till the present. "When I last saw the figures," he added, ?T got a little fright. It" looked as' tliougli when' our commitments were met we would not have; enough— , . * •;•••' t ' • Mr. A. S. Richards (Labour, Roskill) Then you did not have a credit of £100,000, as you stated. The Minister: Yes, the fund" is. healthy, and we cotild meet our commit-' I ments to a certain date and still have i a surplus. However, you have to under-. ! stand the form in which- the statement I of accounts is made out. j Mr. Hamilton then announced that there .would be a uniform reduction in: the allocations. - - : :v ! Fewer Working Hours; | In a subsequent interview, the Minis-, ter said the reduction in the allocationwould .not mean that unemployed men ! would have their -wages reduced, but 1 simply that in future they would work proportionately fewer hours weekly. Although a surplus of £100,000 had been correctly shown, and the fund was still in a sound condition, the board had been spending beyond its average revenue during the winter, with the result that an adjustment was liow necessary. "In addition," added Mr. Hamilton, "the hoard liks to consider commitments i; ahead by such schemes as No. 4 (farming) and No. 10 (building, painting and repairs)."

■ MANTJEEWA PROTEST.

I A protest lias been forwarded to 'the Minister in charge of• Unemployment by the business people of Manurewa pointing out the serious cffect of the cut. They state that - the position is different there compared with the cities, as a cut was made during the winter.