The Rent Question

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 262, 29 July 1908, Page 7

The Rent Question

Regarding tho question of slums. in Wellington, tho Premier said that if any of them had been present that morning when' ho was speaking to a deputation of builders and contractors, they would ' have heard him speak of tho evils of the'high rents that were- caused by 'the appreciation of land' and the tremendous cost of building. Tho latter was out of all proportion to any increase of ; . (Hear, • hear.) He & was just as strongly, with tho deputation in the dosirb to soe tho people ill good homes with -fresh and 'proper surroundings as the most extreme advocate could be. He had always hold; that attitude, and long ago he / tried to get . land ; within reasonable distance 'of- Wellington,' and' connected with ' ' ' ■ . l

tho city by rail, and to build houses there, but ho found there was the. strongest indisposition on tho part of the'men to transfer their homes to any such place. He agreed : with Mr. Hogg's suggestion as to a tunnel to tho Ohariu -Valley, if it-could be carried,' r out, and workmen's homes built there. ; The; Government had been trying for, the last twelve months to get land in Wellington for i this, but thoy found the-, prices were-such' that no working man could have paid'the; rent required to. furnish-the ordinary rate of interest.. : Tho'Government was still anxious to have Jand set asido for workers' homes, and was-furthor anxious, to the ox- ■ tent of half a million: sterling a year, to. enable workers to get money at a low. rate' of intorest and obtain homes of their own. :■ t - Politics and Employment. ■ .'--..-Referring to, a statement made by one of : the' deputaticmists, tho .Promier' said tho Govornmont l did not want'to interfere with. ; any man's political cpnvictions.., Ho would feel very much ashamed of himself,: of; the Government and of Parliament, if 'anyi'man were.prevented from earning a living, on ac-; . count of his political' views. He did not want political support, that was obtained by such means'as that. 1 . -'■■ , . Mr. Dowdall:-Mr. Laurenson can tell you' that I am at present being victimised ' by shipping companies for. my political opinions. 1 Mr. Laurenson, M.P.: Mr. Dowdall Has suffered ;n that way, but not at, tho hands, , of the Government. '' Mr; H.. A.:Campbell: I'havo been'.vic tim-ised-by tho .Government./'• The Premier: went on to say that he 'was anxious to give holp, but unless a start was made on a proper basis, the 'trouble ■ would: be made .worse. Ho was quite in, accordance with the deputation that rents were'too high in Wellington, and not for ,tho workers only, but . for everybody... .-Some . solution:; would have to bo found, and he thought the, only ,way was to'transfer people from the sluniß to a locality where there was more land to spare, and to place them there under proper conditions. ■( Tho Wharf Labourers. \ Roferring to. Mr. M'Laren's statement :as to the members,of the, Waterside 'Workers' Union, tho Premier asked, was it fair to the ; 1000 mon that thero should-be an.excess of . 600 more than lyere required to do tho work on" the wharves? , It was . unfair to {'them; and also to the, 6001:: They ought,not. to.be. ■ in tho union, and unless some system were adopted as a safeguard, the wages, would comedown. The remedy was to tell'those 600 men frankly that they ought not to expect thp impossible. : ; Where the .whole trade ofi the .port would not provide work. for, all, i the .right, thing was for some to seek- .occupation elsewhere.' . They; should find , out which of them were prepared to; take work; somewhere else.'

,A . stalwart, young man . here rose from: amongst .tho deputation and stated that he was ■ prepared .to take work at waiting at table,..driving, wharf-labouring, or anything else, but could; not; get it. ; " So .here's'one' out of:the 600," ho added;: : .•.....'.-v ■ The Premier: I shall he very.glad to take your name and try to help .you. , . Another depntationist told a story of scanty employment,: and Teceived a similar jeply. - ' :. Statistics of Unemployed. Resuming, the Premier statei,that, in England the unemployed averaged two millions all the year round; in America four,millions, and ■ in Australia, it wa3 statod, tWe were 26,000 to 25,'000 unemployed..■''•New-.Zealand'?was• thus, not tho only country that was suffering in, this way.. To 'show, that the Government . was trying to deal with'the probkm' iiva prac-' tical way, ho, would, give thiem some -figures he ■ ; had received that morning from; the. Labour Department in the; different centres,' showing, the number'of unemployed that had been'assisted to find work.;,' 'In' Auckland, between Jiily 25 and ,that day, 28 married-men and-119 single men had, been found'work, : and ,there were 124 still on the:books. /He recognised' that all-men could: not-takeitHe"class of work the Government had : but the '. Government wanted-men for road'and railway, work throughout the country.: l In Wellington during the past fortnight 216 men had' applied to the Department; 146 had-(been sent to employment '(128 single! and 18 marrind). There irere ;70i names on.' the. books; . and nearly]all-of ( . these said they- would take only local.work. -At the. present time the Government; had urgent applications for 70 men on two sections of railway, Gisborne and Nelson, djstricts.. 'It was also reported by the Department that' most of -tho applicants : wero -strangers, - who, had :been (flocking .here from , the South .-Island t .and the country districts of the North Island; and from Australia:' . At-.. Christchurch, tho : number, of., applications ■ from the: 13th to.ithe 24th inclusive was 303. Of these-'lOl--.were assisted. Since the 20th i 226 had - and all had been offered j work, but only; 80 had. accepted it; There -, ; were n0w.,.146 on the books;(64 married.and 82 single).;' Every one of them, had! been offered: employment on the.-railway works, and ' tho large majority/had said they wanted local wor]{. . ,Timaru ? wyre there, had been

Borne-misrepresentation of the position, there were; only 22 names on the books to-day, »■ being JO married men and 12/ single., Dur-: - ing the - past.;fortnight22 single -men /had been .-sent to . co-operative , works, but; the married, men' would accept onlyi local, work. At Dunedin 1 89 single/men- and'. 39 married men applied applied for; employment > within the last:>fortnight.'-. Sis married men were still on the books. ,• i ; v ■' ' . : ;f!' .;■■■< >'■ ; ~ ■: .- What the Government Has Done. ■' During the " past 'year ending with' 'the . jresent month, the Department had sent ::io9o men to;private"employment.and : 2768. Government works; total,- 5358, with 3537 ; persons depending oil them-. . The.total nuin--ber of men employed at the present time on ' Government works throughout .the country was 10,419.; ; The/ Department.'. of. .Roads Btated-thatthe', payment j.on co-operative .; Works .was '■ fixed 'so' that; the wages would'.bp at the.; lowest. Bs. : a day, and, it; ran up'' to' 1 10s. 'The Government and it's predecessor, the Seddon Government, had'sent/37,298 men who had applied, for work to Government em- . ployment and 21,484 to private employment. In regard to Sir. Dowdall's statement .'that he had not received'the money he'liad earnedon' co-operative, works;-"he would liave inquiries if Mr. (Dowdall would supply • him-with the particulars. If Mr.'M'Laren would give him 'ilames'of 600 members of the-: Waterside Workers' Union, ho was 1 prepared to see if they could be -put on some of the works the Government, was carryingout; or had the money to carry: out. • In regard- to State settlements in the interior, 20,000 acres had been -set aside' to enable .co-operative and other workers to settle on the'land, and other land was ; being found for the purpose.- All tho representations made by the deputation would be laid 'beforo . his'colleagues, and would riceivo the fullest . consideration. . " ' ; , ALLEGED VICTIMISATION. Mr. Dowdall said that his average, earnings, on tho wharf for the last ,two .or three mouths were»£l a week. . He had been,.told by .a Harbour Board official that ho-must not ex- .,< " pect' to earn his living at'the Queen's Statue and.omthe wharf, as well. He .claimed tjie ... right to,use_his spare timo as he'.pleased. ;,; • The Premier : I don't think-you ought to be victimised,; if yon ask me. . Another- deputationist ; said.he could corroborate Mr. Dowdall's. statement, as-ho, had accidentally/oyerheard a conversation on'ithe telephone'between two ..officials.; An attempt had beon madeto victimise,him too, bat . ho would not stand it, and appealed to the Har-, bour Board. He received fair treatment from' tho Board and from Mr! Munro' and Mr. Ferguson. Ho had, had no work for the last, \ fortnight. . _ \ Mr. M'Laren asked whether ■ the 'Premier , ' suggested that the Waterside Workers' Union should limit it's membership. Tho Premier saidtthat was not his idea at all. Tho waterside work could be gauged, and if there were 1600 men and only work for 1000, the position should be faced. AN EXPLANATION. With regards to Mr. ' Dowdall's remarks, Mr. 'Wilford (Chairman of the Harbour Board) denies that ho (Mr!- Dowdall) has been .victimised by tho Board. Mr. Wilford states "that Mr. Dowdall was last.employ&l at the •steamer Takapuna, and ho worked during the morning, but when requested to work during tho dinner hour he refused, saying that he ' had other business to attend to. He had not since applied for work, so there coiild not havo been any victimisation.. .'r,///. '

DRAINAGE WORKS TO BE STARTED. -m f STATEMENT BY -THE MAYOR, - ;In view of the' present, unemployed trouble, it- has'been suggested that the City Council should commence immediately the drainage of''tho ; 'outlying' suburbs for which the £100,000 loa,rt' money'is' now available, and a reporter* askPd', the, Mayor (the. Hon.; T. W. ;Hislpp) 'if 'it; was proposed to make 'an' 1 .early 'stari.'' 1 ' '"'-("-i" '' Tbe' Mayor replied that the ordinary work of'drainage would': be'.'started'at once. Tho Engineer -had ! the'' niatter. in hand, and he .would act'as, he'thought'best to:get.tho work done, so that": thp' drainago ..would bo given, "to Tttiir |»laps : 'mosli' - ;ujjgently in need of .it without-,'delay.V'Tho;'"matter'.had not i beon considered'from, the'point of view of the unemployed,' except " so' far -as to absorbing in that ,way. -;of; the men availableas possible. I :, He. thought it would bt> possible : tp'absorb'about'/as'many as would apply for workl ' ' ': The . Mayor cQritinued : ■"Wo don't encourage young fit to go to work in the country • to; .remain; about town.\l ijhink we should be able to take on. all the married mep'who'have; applied; 'except those who are physicallyincapable. Thero are a considerable, number; who ,can only ■do 'light • work, and there'is in; placing -them," OFFICIAL ESTIMATE. 70 "UNEJIPL.OYED' IN WELLINGTON. Tho Labour Department "estimates 'that .there - are about genuine unemployed in'Wellington,'of "whom probably .55 per 'cent! would not-go "to work-out-side the city.