The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 22, 1929. THE UNEMPLOYED

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 253, 22 July 1929, Page 10

The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 22, 1929. THE UNEMPLOYED

- In the course of his speech in the House of on Friday last the Minister of Public Works devoted a lot of time to answering l -criticism on the subject of unemploy Ward Ransom’s chief concern appeared to be to show tha. the Ward Government had maintained wage standards; and incid yth t the rates of pay on Government works had been fixed on a which enabled the worker to earn an average wage ofl4s. a day The real problem of unemployment was not really touched oil The attitude of the Minister of Public Works suggests that he h~s failed to appreciate the fact that unemployment relief and ordinary public works are, or should be, m two distincpasses. Relief works are what the name implies—works undertaken emergency to find employment for men who obtain work in their ordinary avenues of employment. Such re works would not be embarked on in the norma course of events possibly for years. They are not carried out because they are immediately necessary, but merely to create work for wise would find it difficult or impossible for the time being to earn a I 1V Jt g must be plain that works prematurely embarked on in this way are, in most cases, uneconomic. That they ’nyolve a loss to the community. This loss is accentuated by the fact that many of the men engaged on them are not accustomed to hard physical labour or are an Sfrior class of labourer. Furthermore, rehe i works are not intended to be of more than a temporary nature. They certainly should not be of such a nature as to attract men to them from ordinary forms of employment. , .. . , Therefore, when the Minister sought to claim credit for maintaining the ordinary wage standards on relief works—a claim widely disputed—he was defending something which if tnie was unsound and unfair to the great body of citizens. In insisting tha standard wages instead of relief work wages should be paid on relief works (Government and municipal) the Ward Government is encouraging workers to seek employment in these undertakings, and m consequence reducing the amount available for the genuine unemployed who need assistance. That is partly why there are so many complaints of the failure of the Government to deal adequately with the problem in spite of the large sums expended. At Standard wages fewer men can be employed than at the slightly lower relief work wages. j. Another weakness in the Government s policy is its insistence that the £25,000 offered to each of the centres shall be given only on condition that a similar amount shall be expended on labour only. It has been estimated that local bodies carrying out relief undertakings in order to earn the Government subsidy of £25,000 would have to expend anything from £40,000 to £50,000 themselves in labour and material, and that this makes it difficult and in some cases impossible to accept the Government’s offered subsidy. Thus the alleged £1 for £1 Government subsidy becomes a subsidy of only £1 for £2, and work is held up or abandoned. The real troupe, however, is that the Government has shown no real grasp of the situation. It has simply drifted along, doling out a little here and a little there under pressure, and telling the local bodies that they must do their utmost; that it is not the obligation of the Government to carry the burden. It must be quite obvious that it is the duty of the Government to lead the way. The Auckland Star, a Government organ, discussing the position last week, after referring to. the gravity of the situation in Auckland and the need for further effort, added: But a n tiona! re?' f policy is the business at the Government, and it must be more than the application of palliatives. Land settlement and restoration of financial confidence are the two main remedies, and the Government’s policy on these questions Is now due. Many people hold the view that the Government’s policy on these matters is overdue. Up to the present the talk of its supporters has | comprised vague generalities of . what it is going to do. It is quite time that it brought forward its definite policy, and removed the impression that it is still dallying in the hope, that something may turn up to assist it to keep its pledges or relieve it from the embarrassment of striving to live up to them.