HELPING THE OLDER MEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 5, 6 January 1934, Page 8

HELPING THE OLDER MEN.

When the Unemployment Board decided a short time ago to pay by results it made a move, though perhaps unconsciously, towards the adoption of a "dole." If men on relief jobs are to be paid according to the work they do they must be classified, and the most, inefficient are those of advanced years who are unfit for anything but the lightest tasks. To pay them by results would be to inflict hartlship and suffering on the most unfortunate of the unemployed. At the same time, it is not satisfactory to group them with younger men, and thus bring down the general level of efficiency on relief schemes. They must be dealt with as a group apart. If they cannot be given work except at a cost to local bodies that means virtually a waste of money, then it is better to pay them sustenance. Every possible means having been tried to avoid maintaining them in idleness, but without success, the situation must now be faced that they are not economically employable, and the authorities are recognising this. The Government is not committing itself at this stage to a permanent sustenance plan, against which it sees difficulties, but will give the method a trial in the two largest cities, intending no doubt to arrive at a workable system, if practicable, for the whole Dominion, finding a solution for some difficulties that stand in the way. One is the division of responsibility between the Unemployment Board and the Hospital Boards, which, howe'ver, should not be a serious obstacle. Much, of course, will depend upon the rate of sustenance that is paid.