FINANCE FOR INDUSTRY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 16

FINANCE FOR INDUSTRY

USE OF EMPLOYMENT FUNDS CLOSE SCRUTINY OF APPLICATIONS EXISTENCE OF LABOUR SURPLUS C ONSID ERED INE VTT ABLE IFrom Our Parliamentary Reporter.] ' WELLINGTON. July 29. "The possibilities which exist for the establishment of enterprises capable of economic operation have been encouraged by grants and loans 1---U the Employment Promotion Fund,” states the annual report of the Employment Division of the Department of Labour, which was presented in Parliament to-day by the Mimnstcr lor Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. ■The rehabilitation of existing industry, adds the report, had shared with new ventures, the financial resources of the fund. The report states that indiscriminate aid to all and sundry who required financial assistance for commercial ventures was carefully avoided. Grants and loans for such purposes from the fund were made available only if the objects of the proposed expenditure complied with the following principles; (1) Financial assistance must be for the development of primary ano secondary industries in 2-lew Zealand, and the establishment of new industries, so that an increasing number of workers will be required for the efficient carrying on of such udi.stries; (2) expenditure must not mean the bolstering-up of uneconomic enterprises by subsidies or tariffs, but must incorporate intelligent control and development of industries which the Dominion should be able to carry on to meet the requirements of her own population. Thorough Study "Financial assistance to industries is in every case preceded by a thorough and impartial study of each application by the Bureau of Industry, which requires to be satisfied that the economic welfare of the country would lie advanced by the provision of State assistance. Tire absorption of unemployed men into gainful occupations in industries fostered by State assistance must necessarily be an unhurried process. Until absorption is fully achieved, the State is faced with the problem of how best to retain the faculty and ability of the fit worker. After referring to efforts made during the last 12 months to encourage the provision cf work by State departments and public employing authorities, the report states that it was fully recognised that works for the relief of unemployment were frequently to some degree unproductive. That did not mean that workers’ labour added nothing to the community wealth. Able-bodied unemployed constituted the labour reserve of industry and loss in consequence arose out of the necessity of retaining the quality of employability in the ever-changing personnel of this reserve of. man power. Experience of Past “It is the responsibility of the State to minimise unemployment to the greatest degree possible, so that the population will be maintained on as high a standard of living as is practicable.” the report continues. “In the past, the failure to see what was really happening to the unemployed man, and the non-availability of sufficient funds for expenditure, caused many wrong courses to be followed, and the unemployed did not receive to the full from the rest of the community the help which they needed. The provision of good and useful works at normal full-time rates of pay is intended to rectify this. Problem For the Future “The problera of unemployment today and for future generations may not be how to provide subsistence lor persons out of employment, but how surplus labour may be absorbed in socially useful ways at rates of pay consistent with those enjoyed by Ihe rest of the community. The existence in the midst of a working community at any given time of a body of unemployed, able workers, appears inevitable, end with a constant improvement in management and technology there is a possibility that the number will increase up to that time when actuarial estimates predict a downward trend in population figures.” *