DISTRESS IN THE CITY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21121, 23 March 1934, Page 12

DISTRESS IN THE CITY

♦ ---■ PROSPECTS lOR WINTER I Ol TLOOK CONSIDERED TO BE, CRAVE A grave view of the extent of the distress likely to aiise fi om j unemployment in the coming wintei j n was taken by the honorary . r director of the central depot of s] the Citizens' Relief Association (Mr j, T. 11. Cape-Williamson) yesterday. cl ' It was emphasised that the demands | on the association's resources were p 1 now nearly a third greater than , (] thev were at the same time last I s( year, and that the actual number of ] u unemployed was greatei. < "The general public seems : think that things are better, as far j as the relief of distress is concerned, . than thev were last. year, '[hat is , enti.elv wrong: they are worse, j j said Mr Cape-Williamson. "Our i I nionev is fast disappearing and the 1 sources of income Cor the next , winter are _ problematical. One'' 1 blight, spot is that the I logicss League is undertaking to collect money to relieve distress in the |j coming winter. ' Greater Demand This Year T On March 10 the number of p families applying for (and receiv- u mg) food supplies was -14 a moi e ; i i than on the corresponding date las. t. vear he said. Each week so fai , d this 'vear there had been greater|ti : demands ou the association lor food | p than there were last year. Ihe, tl number of families helped m this, way is compared in the following tabulation ol weekl>' totals.1!).',4. lit.'vi. : • lanuai'.v 1 : > • ' ;a January 20 .. laDi 1-5-.1 anuary 27 . . Hl2 1107 0 Fel>ruary l •"!? Ip Feliruaiw to •• 1-»()<> 06,5 i i February 17 .. Hf-I; iK'f L Februai v2l . . H-<> 11 i t | March, a - I s '' l : y March, in b'{!)o y "These lic.ures gi'.e an indication t oi the' increase in February and : t t March But what is going to hap-; c pen m .lime," said Mr Cape-W d- . s i harnson. "The cost is going to be ! 1 I more li'.an H 400 a week for food. t Number of I'nemploycd c L'nemploymeut Board s 1 monthlv summaries ol the number r of men registered a.s unemployed. ; eiu'aced on th.e various schemes, or; ( having their wages subsidised by ~ the board show a similar position , to thai stated by Mr Cape-W ill mm- t The: e is normally a steady dc- j erca-e m registrations I rom October | n. March,, with the low est rcgistra- , t joes in Fi bi nary and March. I his ( vear the .-ame general tendencies } appear, but thoni;h tin present level , s th.e lov. C.t since last April, the' , total.-; for the three months of Pe- ' j eeiifoci , .lamia: v. and February are | ( each about 2DDD higher than m the! cori cspo; ii! i:>l; months last season. The figures are: Tins Fast ea so 11. season 1 r;; .i„ , 71 .Vuri 00,272 ; ( .l.miiar titl.!»2l (i7.iia(> , ' Fei -riia'r\ Of.(ilk (ilifukl , J Special Dillicultics l'-,uaby the men wci c iielped by being' able to get seasonal work 111 : ti;e summer mouths, and to build up a small reset ve to tall bacK on later. said Mr Cape Wlll lamson. This ; ..iimrmr. however, harvesting had ; gi\i'ii them verv liltU; won; and tnev had not Peeii able to do very ' much thi'ough the trce/mg works. ■ Last \ ear " almost every skilled ; ; \vi ii ker had .-aid that he could earn! a little extra money during flic; week, hilt this was now very rare. | 1 and the results of the men's cn- • ■ deavoui's were so pool' that most ol > ' • them had given up looking for such ; extra work. It had to be remembered that , countless families had now been de~ : pending for another year on lelief, pay. I'liev had no purchasing . , : power for anything outside a limited 1 amount lor rent and bare necessities. I The result was that their clothing was worse than ever—-they had , made it last m the hope ol finding ' things better this year, but that ; . hope had been belied The contents , of their homes, their bedding, floor- , coverings, and kitchen utensils, for , ' example, were now needing renewal. | A constant request now at the as--1 sociat ion's depot was for crockery,' where such requests were unusual 1 1 2 months ago. Houses and Health As larger numbers realised that j " they were likely to remain on relief - so there was a greater demand lor, houses at low rents, in the region of' ) 10s or so a week. A natural result , of this greater demand was that: rents went up, and the unemployed , were faced with a further difficulty. . Along with tins went the increas- , ingly more diflicult position of those; I who had heavily mortgaged homes,; who were getting further and lurther in arrears with their payments t, of interest and principal, so that moie and more of their equity in; , the properties disappeared. The State Advances Department, how-. I ever, was very good in its treafment v of these men. e At time went on. 100. it became ■ r increasingly noticeable that the' health of many of the wives of re- : lief workers was poor. The men were very healthy, but their wives had a double burden to carry. They o had lo work harder, to care for; e children on a pitifully small allowance, ami t hey could not get normal t . food or care or rest when they e IhemscUes were ill Many demands : v . also came on the association from 1 discharged 1 uhcrculous cases -un- „ employed men and their dependents . who still needed special food lo e prevent a relapse. I'he association .-regretted that it could do no more than supply these eases with mill;., a eggs, and malt, a work in which it j was dependent on the Mayors i. Fund.