The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1930. A JOB FOR PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 284, 27 August 1930, Page 10

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1930. A JOB FOR PARLIAMENT

Parliament settled down yesterday to the consideration, in Committee of the Unemployment Bill. As it stands it ogn^ d as a crude production, even by its framer, the Goveinrnent ine Minister of Labour implied as much when he described the Bill as a non-party measure, expressed willingness to accept amendme , and placed it “in the possession of the House . Government It is a sharp reflection on the ineptitude of the Government that, on one of the leading questions of the day, it is unable to shaoe a policy on which it is prepared to stand. Nevertheless the e is sometimes wisdom, especially when invol /? d . ,n of a problem such as unemployment, in not claiming to be ornnisc. e . Although the Government is evading its responsibility or, onus on the House, members themselves should welcome the opportunity of actually working on a problem about which they haVe in a ’fact it° tes C been “put up” to members to devis ®. s ? m ? thl better than the Government has placed before them and it for the House to do it. The. country is very much m earnest about this question of unemployment, very troubled about it, an d looks to Parliament for a considered answer. It must be something better than the expensive palliatives and makeshifts so far used and, that is to be achieved, the House will need to eliminate faction and pool its brains and practical common sense to reach a working solution. Members for once should try to look at the issues not as politicians but as administrators.. A hopeful augury at the opening of the debate was the repudiation by the Labour Party leaders of the Alliances intransigeant attitude of all or nothing. That sort of de Valera posturing was renounced both by Mr. Holland and Mr. Savage. If they cannot get all, then they are going to try. for something.. Mr. Holland also made it quite plain that the workers did not object to being levied for their less fortunate fellows although he stood strongly for the principle of graduation. , , . . How Mr. Holland can reconcile the idea of a graduated levy with his reiteration that its proceeds will constitute an insurance fund” against unemployment is not clear. People in sure against a risk and pay according to the nature of the risk. Mr. Holland s principle of graduation requires those to pay least whose risk is greatest while he would look for the heaviest premiums from those whose risk is nil. In fact he would make the scheme nearer akin to the “dole” and further removed from insurance than it is at present. , He would do better not to stultify himself by talking in the same breath of insurance and graduation unless he wants to be consistent and graduate the levy according to the risk of unemployTo argue that the Bill proposes to finance the operations of the board by a purely flat levy is also fallacious. . As was stated in the House yesterday, those in. receipt of larger incomes will also pay through direct taxation to make up the Government subsidy of zU/in the £l. And, as everyone knows, income and land taxes and death duties are all steeply graduated. The well-to-do will therefore pay much more than the individual levy of 30/-. Apart from these objections, the Minister of Labour has stated the practical objections to a graduated levy. It. would cost almost as much to collect as it would be worth. The thing for Parliament, therefore, is not to wrangle over these questions of fiscal principle but to set to work and try to make a practicable scheme. There is too little definition in the Bill as it stands and too many generalities. The board has been given wide functions but may prove to possess very little power. If something is to be done immediately to replace makeshift by organisation—and that is universally desired—the Labour Party, instead of concentrating on selling other people’s, blood, should settle down with the rest of the House to fashion a piece of legislation on which to base a workmanlike scheme.