UNEMPLOYMENT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20316, 15 August 1931, Page 4

UNEMPLOYMENT.

i EX-SERVICEMEN ! ADDRESSED. j j FORMER BOARD MEMBERS | REVIEW POSITION. i Mr \V. E. Leadley aud Mr F. L. Hutchinson, members of the first Unemployment Board, now dissolved, addressed a well-attended meeting of ex-Servicemen at the Returned Soldiers' Association last night, making a report on the Board's work and discussing unemployment generally. The Rev. F. J . Head, president of the Association, was in the chair, and there were over 100 present. "Dealing with unemployment from a Dominion angle is vastly different from viewing it from a local angle,' • said Mr Lcadley. "From Auckland to tho Bluff there are 250 committees dealing with unemployment. One of tho greatest difficulties of the Board almost from its inception was tho lack of adequate finance. When the first levy was brought into force there were approximately 0750 unemployed, and that levy was estimated 1 to bring in £600,000. That sum, together with the £ for £ subsidy, made available £1,200,000. That would have been all right with from 8000 to 10,000 unemployed, but the figures soon grew to 48,000, so that the money was soon used, and the Board was unable to operate efficiently. The New Board's Difficulties. "I anticipate that for some considerable time to come the new Unemployment Board will face similar difficulties in regard to finance as tho first Board. "It has been alleged that a lot of uneconomic and useless work has been aud is being done under the No. 5 Scheme. I have seen recent criticism from the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce of the No. 5 Scheme made on similar grounds. All I can say in regard to such criticism is that it must have been levelled without a complete knowledge of the question. (Applause.) It has to bo remembered that not all the men in the unemployed are experienced navvies, and those men have to be provided with light work. Then, too, figures show that a great portion of work under the No. 5 Scheme is far from being uneconomic and unproductive. In the Dominion there are f>S local bodies doing land drainage work, 29 doing roadaccess work in the back-blocks, 21! doing afforestation work, 17 doing river aud sea protection Work, 12 doing general land improvement work, four doing_ reclamation work, and four doing irrigation work. Criticism cannot be levelled that such works are uneconomic or unproductive." Mr Leadley referred to the great value of the work being carried out by the Waimakariri River Trust under tho No. S Scheme. He said that 783 men were employed on this work to-day, and of that total 350 men ivcro returned soldiers. The reason why so many roturned soldiers were employed was that the Returned Soldiers' Association had made a grant of £250 towards the purchase of trees for the work at tho Waimakariri. "It is foolish for people to criticiso the working of the No. 5 Scheme when they do not know the full facts concerning tho worlc being done under it," Mr Leadley added. Limited Income. Another criticism levelled at the Board had been that it did not concentrate on a land settlement and development scheme. If the Board had done that, and as it wore "put all its eggs in one basket," then approximately 3000 men could have been absorbed, and the remainder of the unemployed would have been left to rely on charitable institutions. Air Leadley explained tho ; s other schemes establisheafchy the first Board, ant! when he w-as'explaining work done under Schemes 4A..and 4B thero were constant interjectic&a asking the speaker if he could live himself on the wages offered under the scheme mentioned. Referring to the work of the now Board, Mr Leadley stated that if it was to live within t its income it would have to restrict its expenditure to £50,000 a week—and proceed carefully. That also was the sum spent per week by the first Board. The No. 5 Scheme, which must go on, ho contended, would take nearly all that amount, so that other schemes would necessarily be restricted. "I expect that it will be asked why, if the old Board did such good work, why were we 'sacked'," the speaker continued. "I must say I don't know. I would rather put it another way. We have been retrenched. That sounds better. The step was taken in the interests of economy, and the Government was not dissatisfied -with the work that had been done. There certainly is no feeling of rancour on my part, or on the part of any others of the members. Solving Unemployment. "I will say that unemployment in New Zealand cannot be solved by any Unemployment Board. The causes of this economic depression, which brings in its train unemployment, are outside New Zealand. I would stress three points which I believe could be developed to assist in attempting to solve unemployment. Tliey are:—(l) That a determined effort be made to secure new markets for our primary produce. (2) That an intensive campaign be started at once throughout New Zealand to educate people to the importance of buying New Zealand-made good*. (3"> That efforts of the new Unemployment Board be directed towards increasing the pro-, ductivity of land already occupied, aa well as settling new land when the money is available." Mr Leadley concluded with an appeal to all returned soldiers to band together and put the country first. "An Industrial Era." Mr F. L. Hutchinson said that his particular job on the Board was to seeure the development of secondary industries, fo as to absorb unemployment. New Zealand had not been able to compete in secondary industry because of tho tremendous importations to tho Dominion. During the Inst ten years the value of imports was £500,000,000, and it had to be remombered that every £1,000,000 could employ 2000 men for a yeav. He maintained that of' tho yearly importations at least £10,000,000 worth could well be made in New Zealand, and that would provide employment for 20,000 men. It was a fact that if New Zealand were cut off from imports, and put to it, we should still have everything that was needed for the people. There might be some things that could not be made, but if New Zealand were put to it then it still could exist, and even go so far as to produce such things as intricate machinery. Mr Hutchinson also maintained that the Dominion had borrowed money cheaply for public works which were beyond its means, and ho cited as an instance the hvdro-electrie schemes. The speaker concluded with the regret that in the midst of the first Board's work of negotiating for assistance for secondary industry it had been dissolved. However, that work would have to be carried on, as, the country had to realise that it now had to adopt an entirely different viewpoint. It

would have to develop in an industrial way, and the time was ripe for such development. New Zealand was to have an industrial era, and it was a definite advantage that New Zealand had not "shot its bolt in that direction." The speakers were accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for their addresses. WORKLESS GIRLS. MEETING OF COMMITTEE. For the purpose of ascertaining whether girls on relief v.ork should pay the wages tax, when men on certaiu typed of relief work wero exempt, the Christchurch Women's Unemployment Committee decided, yesterday afternoon, to approach the Commissioner of Unemployment, Mr Malcolm I'Yaser, on the subject. Mr.-j A- J. I' raer said that the more necessitous the case, the more it should ha cared for. The secretary, Miss E. S. JJatb, said that the majority of the unemployed girls were of a type who would ho completely self-supporting in normal times. jL'hero was scope for the training of "iris who wero not using tho spare Dime at their disposal. Miss H. K. Lovell-Smith said that it was time to approach the Unemployment Board with tho object of establishing training hostels in the four centres. Quito a number of girls could bo absorbed in the sphere of small, intensive farming, and become, in time, an asset to the country. A member said that some channel, other than domestic service, should tie explored. Thero were many householders who were not capable of training girls, and, in any case, many of tho unemployed girls were already very capable at domestic work. Members stated that the cooking work carried out at St. John's Church schoolroom was hampered by tho lack of space. Mrs Fraer suggested that an appeal should be made to owners of premises to let to provide a suitable place for the cooking of meals for unemployed girls. It was decided that the sub-commit-teo should consider the question of continuing under the present arrangement or re-arranging tho cooking scheme. On the motion of Mrs Fraer it was decided to make an appeal for more suitable premises, at a reasonable rent, and to express tho greatest appreciation of the generosity of thoso who had mado the present premises available. The secretary reported that thero were 218 girls on the unemployment register and six had been placed in positions during tho week. Expenses had been covered during the week and the balance, £203 9a 10c], remained unaltered. Income, however, was likely to be much smaller in the future. DOMINION REGISTRATIONS. (muss assochtio;: iixsaiUM.l WELLINGTON. August 1-1. An apparent increase of L' 74 in the unemployment registrations is shown for the week ended August 10th, when the total of 43,070 is compared with the previous week's total. Particulars of the registrations in the main centres are:— With Without dependents, dependents. Auckland .. 3118 3912 3118 8912 Wellington ... 20<31 23-11 Christchurch ... 3309 1932 iXinedin ... 1601 1174 Invorcargill 853 392