THE UNEMPLOYED.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20550, 19 May 1932, Page 13

THE UNEMPLOYED.

CASE OF THE PHYSICALLY UNFIT. MINISTER TO BE APPROACHED. U'lfliSi ASSOCIATION TEUEOKAJI.) AUCKLAND, May 18. "What arc we going to do with the six or seven hundred lueu who ai'e physically unfit for camp or for hard town work and who are applying to the Labour Department every day.' asked Sir George Richardson at a meeting of the Auckland Metropolitan Relief Committee. "No jobs can be found lor them, hut something must be done," said Sir George. "Are they, to be given sustenance ?" The Mayor (Mr (J. W. Hutchison) : 1 think we should ask the Minister for Employment what he is going to do about tliem. A representative of the Labour Department said that some local bodies could not find work for the men. The Mayor: Married men are still being coerced into camps. , 1 say coerced, and I meant it. I think it absolutely wrong. I am certain that 7o per eeut. of the community would be against it. It was decided to ask for a return of the number of men physically unfit. The Mayor mentioned tfiat some men who had been certified fit by the Department doctor had produced certificates from other doctors that they wore unfit. These men were denied work. It was decided to write to the Minister on the subject. OFFICE WORK FOR BOYS. QUESTION OF EFFICIENCY. (I'RESS ASSOCIATION TXLKQBAiI.) WELLINGTON", May 18. Stating that the commercial community was respousiblo for the extent of unemployment among boys in New Zealand at the present time, Mr W. F.. Cuthbertson, speaking at a meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, urged the employment of boys as shorthand writers and typists. "I have felt for a long time that we as commercial men are responsible for the position as it exists to-day,'' he said. "I am strongly of the opinion that in warehouses, offices, and shops far too much female labour is employed in New Zealand. Girls have a sphere in life that is rightly theirs, but they should not displace boys who can do the work as well. It has been said chat boys are unsatisfactory in certain classes of office work, but they must be looked to for the future, and thank God the men of to-day have carried on their businesses in the past. We cannot send all the boys away to be farmers. Many of them can become efficient at "shorthand and typewriting. Let the girls stay at home and be the mothers. That is where they ought to bo. Boys are not getting the encouragement due to those who in the future have to carry on the business of tho country. ; ' Mr E. R. Bender: Give me a girl for shorthand and typewriting. Mr Cuthbertson: Boys can beat them into a cocked hat. The chairman (Mr J. Pearce Luke) said that he had some personal experi- i cncc during the war of propaganda i about the efficiency of women. In his , opinion they "hadn't got it." The committee's Teport under consideration stated that in the national sche.me to meet the unemployment, problem which the Government had in hand full attention, it was assumed, would be given to some co-ordination on national lines that would absorb both adults and young people into useful industry and reproductive ploymentA WARNING. r i : NO WORK IN NAPIER. (PRE3S 'ASSOCIATION TELPGBAM.) I. APIER, May 18. In view of the continued arrival in this district of unemployed from outside, the Mayor, Mr J. Vigor Brown, issues the following for circulation:— I wish to warn all workers from coming to Napier to look for work. We have over 1000 workers, married and. single, out of work at present. Many jobs where workers are engaged at present will soon give out. Nearly all the funds ot charitable organisations are exhausted, and these organisations are at their wits' end where to look for more. Between 70 and 80 per cent, of the cost of the buildings being erected is immaterial, and about 20 per cent, for labour. Under the circumstances I must ask people not to advise workers to come to Napier as they will be worse off here than in their home towns. People not living in the town cannot have any idesi of the scarcity of work. I deem it my duty to make this statement to save adding to the distress at present in the town through the want of employment. • . The police have issued instructions to all country stations in Hawke s |}av to turn back all unemployed men proceeding to Napier in search of work. Building fictivities havfe attracted many to Napier. Until now the number of non-resident unemployed is over .600, thus creating a difficult problem.