EMPLOYMENT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20336, 8 September 1931, Page 7

EMPLOYMENT.

jpETING OF LOCAL COMMITTEE. •'Mi'" r-; .4. . IFOR 500 MARRIED MEN.: FOR SINGLE MEN. of the Christchurch UnemHommittec at yesterday's e agreeably surprised when iley, officer-in-charge of the artment, announced that possibility of the Selwyn tcil arranging for the em--800 married men. said that Mr E. D. Butt, pineer to the Selwyn Coupty L informed him that he »e for accommodation for tarried men to do work in, his desire being to make i niodel one. Ho proposed 'or a special train to Coaltransport of the men from various points where the bo done. These men would for nino working days, liority to do so could be obthe Unemployment Board, ild arrange also for the men i in groups of, say, 20 to parts of the county. The be of a useful nature, makand making existing roads Spftttessible for wool and produce ■EffMb ,the markets. Othor work HP laelude clearing drains and river IfP f9 .prevent flooding of areas of is to be advised to apply to Board for the nccesregarding the period of |||R|i for Single Men Next Week. gjjPHyfaitioo of three from a meeting HlHfe JBen, held at the Trades Hall Hn morning, waited on the com 1 the spokesman, Mr 11. 13; HHvMked for information regard? flHtojtroposed camps. Tequcst of the chairman, Mr HBsniaiQcu that next Monday two be established in CanterHill Top, which would abHflMta, and the other at Motunau, absorb 25 men. Plain food HHWfI teat accommodation would HHN, and the men would receive HHM averaging 10s per week per HHB7* I adjusted on the basis of jHDn? IBCii might receive a little fflEMfeltbors a little less. The men jjHBJWIo provide themselves with DHKipUet gear, and strong boots; would, be. provided by Department, and. the men going to the camps H|HRM3*oged by the Unemploy-HHjK-through- the Department.

The men for Hill Top would go by train to Little River and the Public Works Department would arrange for their transport from there to the campj those for Motunau would go by rail to Scargill and further transport would be arranged by the > Public Works Department. The men selected to go to these camps would be single men as classified at present. , . . Mr Barnsley: They may bo single men with dependents! Mr Bailey: If they care to go. Mr F. W. J. Bel ton said that the idea was to get single men with no.dependents out of town, and so open the way for the reconsideration of the position of single men with dependents who remained in town. . ■ . - Mr R. J. Ecroyd asked if advances would bo made for the purchase of" blankets in tho case of men with no money. The chairman that there was no mention of that in the circular .referring to the camps. _ • ■ Mr Ecroyd: Could the Defence Department provide the blankets! '• • Mr J. W. Crampton said that under his scheme the Defence Department was to supply the blankets. They were not being used at present. Mr Barnsley said that the camps would absorb 100 men. What was to be done for tho others? The chairman (Cr. E. H. Andrews) said they would bo provided with work under Schemes No. 5 and No. 4a. lie did not think that the money available would permit of the employment of all. Mr Barnsley said that he was rather afraid that this would cause a great deai of disappointment. Some of the men had been out of work for many_ weeks. The chairman remarked that this was only tho beginning of the camp scheme. Wlat are "Emoluments 7" The committee having forwarded to the Unemployment Board a cutting the letter to the Editor; of IhK 1 BESS signed "Lex," published in the issue of August 24th, relative to the interpretation of tho term "emoluments, the.fol lowinsr reply'was received: • "In reply to your letter, of August 25th, I have to advise tha tthe Unemployment Board has obtained legal ad vice oh tho point raised m the newspaper cutting submitted by you, and it is held that free housing or free board and lodging is an. emolument with meaning of the word as U3 ®V D Sent 12 (1) of the Unemployment Amendment Act, 1931. The Board, therefore, h ruled that the value of B " ch fEluded ing, etc., shall be assessed and include* in. tho total remuperation habl ® t duction of the emergency unemployment Ch «Board and lodging supplied to nurses, school teachers, or professxcnaL employees must bo valued at a reaso:na figure, depending on circumstances, a minimum of £1 P er „* s „ n . "The rental value of free housing p plied to employees should be at a fair and reasonable figure by _ ployer if an agreement fixing.the tal is not already m existent. "The question as to what , b ?£" be adopted for assessment of tho of free housing provided 10 ® l al of Teligion has been raised by d , g religions bodies, and when the Board ruling has been obtained the bodies concerned will be informed accordingly.

Importation of Russian Goods. Mr F. W. J. Bel ton I'roughtuptho question of the importation goods, which, he said, was b «°® in J serious. Leading grocery Stocking Bussian matches bought prices which made it utterly impossUiie for British of New matches to compete. ■ = Unless some g were done the match factories in

Zealand would have to close down. Tho object of the Russian Five Year Plan was to ruin the industries of other parts of the world, and to make unemployment in tfhose countries of. such a magnitude that they would be. unable to deal with it, and people would starve, and the outcome would be revolution. He moved: "That the Prime Minister bo asked to take immediate steps to deal with tho importation of Russian slave-produced goods";—there was no other description for them, be declared. Cr. .Annie Fraer seconded. • Mr Ecroyd questioned whether the committee had any jurisdiction in the matter. - Who; was responsible for the importation of Russian goods! He suggested that it' was those who. believed in buying- in .the cheapest market. Members of the committee should go back to the bodies they represented and get them to take action to get tradesmen to refuse to import Bussian goods. Mr T. L. Drummond said that he would like to know how the balance of trade stood between Russia and New Zealand. He was given to understand that Russia bought a lot of New Zealand wool. Their policy was, or should be, to patronise those who .patronise them. He moved: "That the matter be held over for consideration at next meeting." Mr Ecroyd seconded. Mr Belton admitted that the matter was one outside their jurisdiction, but qs an Unemployment Committee they were concerned with unemployment in the country. (Hear, hear.) As to trade balance, what was the use of talking about it if they were going to have 100,000 unemployed in this country? , The amendment, on a show of hands, Was lost, and the motion was agreed to. Scheme 4A. The Unemployment Commissioner wrote thanking the committee for its endorsement of the Board's decision to confine work under the No. 4A Scheme to that of a developmental nature. As to the committee's suggestion that the minimum period of four weeks for engaging labour under the scheme be waived, he advised that the administration expenses involved in arranging contracts would not pay the Board to allow agreements for a shorter period. In a circular memorandum the Commissioner set out that some misunderstanding had arisen with regard to the Unemployment Board's recent circular referring to the reopening of Scheme No. 4A on October Ist for subsidising developmental work only. The question as to how far farm work was, or was not, developmental work, would have to be left largjal/ to the discretion of local Unemployment Committees. For instance, it wasf not suggested that where a man under the scheme milked one or two cows for farm purposes, this this should be termed "milking," neither was it suggested that a day or two's work in connexion with potato-digging should prevent a man being employed under this scheme.

The difficulty which the Unemployment Board was trying to meet was that a large ..number.'of. men who were definitely engaged during a portion of the time on seasonal work, such as milking for factory supply, were put off during the winter season, and it was definitely represented to the Board bv the employers that they would be able to re-engage these, men when the .season reopened. It would be understood that it was utterly impossible, with the funds at the Board's disposal, to subsidise the whole of the labour engaged on farms

or oven a substantial part of it. As already pointed out, thie Board was anxious that every endeavour should be made by local committees and certifying officers to induce farmers to tako men on under Scheme No. 4A, and tho Board must rely on the committees and certifying officers to use a large amount of discretion in determining what might be classed as developmental work for the purposes of the scheme. Riccarton's Position. . The letter, signed by the DeputyMayor of Biccarton (Mr W. Machin) and the Town Clerk (Mr E. Sarjeant), setting out the position of the borough in respect of unemployment, the text of which appeared in yesterday's -issue, was read. The chairman said that the letter showed that they had not studied the unemployment position, or the work of the Board. The weakness of their argument was the statement that' local bodies should not be called upon to find work; but the Board could not organise the work without the assistance of the local bodies. Mr W. W. Scarff said that the Deputy-Mayor of Eiccarton, being closely interested in farming, considered that all single men should be I placed on farms. Mr W. E. Leadley said that the writers of the letter were unaware of what was being done by tho Unemployment Board. If they read the Board's annual report they , would be astounded at the work done under the No. 5 Scheme with the assistance of the local bodies. The attitude of the writers of the letter reminded him of tho old woman who remarked that of a body of men on the march all were out of step except her own son. He thought that Eiccarton should be responsible for its own unemployed. Mr G. Maginness reiterated his opinion that the unemployment problem was not a local bodies' problem but a Government one. To make matters worse, the Government, after passing the Unemployment Act, had dispensed with the services of a large body of men from the railways and Public Works Department, thus increasing the obligations sought to be placed on the local bodies. Tho Christchurch City Council's action in placing £ISOO of the ratepayers' money on the estimates for the alleviation of distress was very commendable, but it was a case of al-. lowing the heart to run away with the head. The time would come, and that fair* speedily, when the ability of the j local bodies to assist in finding work | would come to an end. Mr Ecroyd urged that it would be better to employ 1000 men at full rates for full time than to employ 5000 men at- half rates and for only a part of the time. Cr. J. W. Beanland: And let the others starve! Mr Ecroyd said that 1000 men fully employed would demand the work of another 1000. Tho letter was received. The Pounu Scheme. Mr George Harper reported regarding the Pound Scheme that there had been a fairly good collection, but not quite as much as was expected owing to the absence. of collectors, and not due to the contributors. Ho desired the public to know that big collections were needed for the remainder of the present month in order to carry things well on into October. It was only a question of collecting, but at this time of the year there were inducements for the collectors to devote, their time in other directions.

Mr Belton said that there was urgent necessity during the remainder of this month for the greatest possible number of collectors that they could get'.. The goods were there ready to be picked up if they could .only, getthe .collectors.,

( Other Matters. The Unemployment Commissioner wrote that the committee's resolutions relative to voluntary camps in country districts, and to the employment of married women in cases where their husbands were able to support them, would be conveyed to the Unemployment Board at the earliest opportunity. With regard to the weekly allocations of grants to local authorities by the Unemployment Board, Mr Bailey undertook to supply tjie committee with particulars every week with the allocations for the local authorities in and about Christchurch. The meeting was attended by Crs. E. H. Andrews (chairman), Annie I. Fraer, J. W. Beanland, and J. S. Barnett, and Messrs G. Maginness, T. L. Drummond, B. J. Ecroyd, W. W. Scarff, IP. W. J. Belton, E. T. Bailey, W. E. Leadley, J. W. Crampton,, George Harper, and J. F. Eames (honorary secretary). Mr P. E. Climie, a member of the ' Unemployment Board, also was present. REDUCED ALLOCATION. SINGLE MEN AFFECTED. The Water Supply and Works Committee reported to last night's meeting of the City Council that the allocation from the Labour Department for unemployment relief works for the week ended August 29th .was £IB4O, which necessitated about 60 men losing one day. This number did not include any who lost a day during the previous week. The allocation for the week ended September sth was £1960, which was sufficient to keep all the men employed for their full time. Adyice had been received that tho allocation for the ensuing week was £1790. This would entail practically £#l the single men losing one week and some of the four and three day men one day. The. financial position in connexion with unemployment relief for the two weeks ended August 29th was as fok lows:— **■ £ s. d. Amount provided by Government under No. 5 Scheme .. .. 3,232 12 10 General account—Subsidy on wages, team hire, etc. 1,276 11 0 Belief of Unemployment Loan, 1931 ' 787 371 £5,296 7 51 Tlie works in hand were as follows: — Cambridge terrace (Barbadoes street to Fitzgerald avenue). Innes road (Butland street to Thames street). Wilson's road (Opawa road to the river). Collins street (Church square to Jerrold street). Tancred street. Eichardson terrace. Approaches to Fairview street bridge. Stanmore road widening. Abberley road widening. Brougham street widening. North parade widening. The Eeservos Committee reported that the total number of men employed under tbe No. 5 Scheme was 258.

RELIEF CAMPS. {PRESS ASSOCIATION telegram.) WELLINGTON, September 7. : Id furtherance of the relief camps scheme for unemployed single men. eighty men have been allocated' to go from Wellington into camp at Akatarawa, where they will be employed widening the road between Upper Hutt and' Waikanae. No more single men will bo sent from Wellington at present. The Unemployment Board says that 1000 men, with whom it is proposed to commence operations, have been sent into camps in various parts of the Dominion. There were 300 applications in Wellington alone. Twenty men had been selected for the Akatarawa camp when a Communist demonstration was made, and the men were urged not to go. As soon as the demonstration was finished the queue of applicants for camp service was reformed.