SUSTENANCE MEN

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 15

SUSTENANCE MEN

TO,THB ID1T0» Of THE PRISS. Sir,—Many unthinking people follow the example of some would-be statesmen and condemn sustenance men who do not go into the country districts in search of work. "Loafer" and "scrounger are the elegant terms which are bandied about. Follow your leader is an easy game to play, and does not require a very high intelligence; hence the great number of stupid statements we hear and read day after day That work can be got in the country is a fact which all of us are conversant with, but the conditions surrounding the work require explaining and exposing. I was in conversation with two young men at the beginning of this week. Both of them have children dependent on them, and they stated that they had covered fully 40 miles a dav on push bicycles the previous week in search of work. In many instances they were told by farmers that there was no work available; in some cases plenty pf work was available but no money to pay for it. In two cases they were told that .they could start but they could get only a few shillings as money was too scarce. So much for Canterbury district as to work offering. There are other factors which deter the sustenance men from leaving the city. One especially requires explaining to the man in the street. And that is the penalties imposed by the local administration on those who do search for and are guilty of finding work to do. The regulations as laid down by the Hon. Minister for Labour allow a weekly earning of £3. such to be computed week by week, all surplus earnings over that amount to be deducted from the next week's sustenance allowance, which may eliminate the entire allowance lor that week. Now, anyone not conversant with the troubles of the unemployed may surmise that if no sustenance is granted for that week, the person so penalised, will be allowed to make any sum not exceeding £3 from any outside source of employment without further, penalty. This is not the case in the event of a man with a wife and two children to support. His allowable earnings are limited to 17s for that week, and any earnings over that amount are deducted from the next week's allowance. One easily understands therefore that the security of the sustenance allowance is the guiding principle in the search for casual employment. Another factor is that searching for extra work entails the spending of some part of the previous week's, sustenance money, and as no expenses are covered in the scale of outside earnings, it is quite possible that by searching for and getting work the sustenance man's average for the period may be below the sustenance level, I believe that the limit in petty pin-pricking has been imposed on a section of the sustenance men this week, In regard to arrangements for the holiday period. Those men who are not in receipt of extra work have already got their holiday pay, while those who seek for extra work are compelled to report at the bureau as usual during the holidays, thus entailing the loss of profitable work and extra earnings to the extent of two days each week, One is led to believe that this arrangement is for the purpose of imposing a penalty on all who earn a few shillings over the £3 limit. One rather significant fact is that this arrangement does not apply in NewJSrighton, .Sumnerv or- Lyttelton, which brings the question: Is the arrangement a bright idea from St. Asaph street, or is if a national instruction? If it is the latter, then why the lapse in the other three towns I have mentioned?— Yours, etc., F. H. GRANT.

December 20, 193 G. [When this letter was referred-to Mr Ross, he said his only comment was to advise the men to call at the Placement Bureau, and it would do its best to Help them.]