The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1930. UNEMPLOYMENT BOARD’S TASK

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 48, 20 November 1930, Page 10

The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1930. UNEMPLOYMENT BOARD’S TASK

No time has been lost by the Minister of Labour m a PP the members of the Unemployment Board and m calling the first meeting Apparently Mr. Smith is filled with a commendable desire to Sn with the Job and the country will hope that his energy wilfbe sustained and that he will be able to inspire his colleague, on the board with the spirit of practical endeavour , There seems no substantial reason to find fault with the p sonnel of the board. Like the new-born babe, everyone will wish it well and reflect rather soberly that all its tables are The board has to do what it can to solve a problem that m baffling the best brains in every country. It will certainly meet with d culties and discouragements and probably each member realises that he is likely to receive more brick-bats than bouquets. For all that there is great fund of goodwill for the hone trier If the board goes about its work with, resolution and vigour allowances will readily be made for inexperience and the = s of a new task. It must be recognised also that while the Act endowthe board with the most far-reaching and comprehensive functio ... it does not give it the necessary powers to fulfil them. How, for instance, is the board “to take steps to ensure pr p collaboration or co-operation -between departments of State, Ipra authorities, public bodies, and other persons and authorities carryin out public works, so that the employment thereby provided will be distributed as evenly as possible throughout the year without avoidable interruption”? It is true-that, the board is given authority to take steps” but it is not easy to see how it can persuade or constrain other bodies, including the, Government itself, to fit their plans and programmes into the board’s pattern. . . , This function, moreover, is only one of several which the boa d is supposed to exercise. Truly it is faced with a huge administrative task and but poorly equipped to meet it. -Much will depend on how the board tackles the job. If it comports itself in a way . command respect for its aims it will gain the prestige necessary o impose its will on those it will have to advise, a prestige strongly reinforced by the backing of the half-million payers of the levy whose interest will be enlisted in the administration of a fund to which they have made direct contribution. . One of the first decisions which must be made by the board will be as to the rate of pay on relief works. It will be storing up trouble for itself and making its task more difficult of accomplishment if it adopts the Government’s policy of paying standard wages. If relief work is made as attractive as private employ, men are encouraged to rely on it rather than seek billets elsewhere; what should .be a temporary recourse tends to become permanent; ano labour is diverted from the regular market. , . . . Failing work, contributors are under certain conditions to receive a sustenance allowance which in itself raises a whole crop of new problems. It should be the business of the board to devise immediately some scheme of registration and identification of those m receipt of sustenance to prevent any double-banking by itself, hospital boards and other charitable institutions. It will also be important to ensure that sustenance is spent on necessities and that, may involve payment not in cash but in orders for goods. In addition steps will have to be taken to see that benefits paid on account of dependants actually reach those they are designed to help, the wife and children of an unemployed beneficiary. These are only a few of the questions that will immediately thrust themselves upon the Unemployment Board requiring an answer. It will have need of all the wisdom and initiative it can command, and of sympathy restrained by the stern limits of practicability.