AID FOR FARMERS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 53, 26 November 1930, Page 12

AID FOR FARMERS

Unemployment Levy MINISTER EXPLAINS Not Something for Nothing The object of the Unemployment Tax was not to extract 30/- from the community to give something for nothing to the unemployed, said the Hon. S. G. Smith, Minister of Labour, in the course of his remarks to the deputation of ‘Matamata farmers yesterday. He indicated how small farmers, having work to do and no finance, might secure help through the Unemployment Board. Mr. Smith thought there was a good deal of misconception in regard to the unemployment levy. It was conceived, he said, with the object of finding work for the workless, including land settlement and land development. There was no idea in the Bill or in the minds of the Government of going to the farmers or any other section of the community and extracting 30/from them to give to the workless for doing no work. He realised the small farmers’ difficulties, and . had endeavoured to promote and protect their interests, and he could tell them that on the register were dozens of small farmers who had had to walk off tlieir farms, and had nothing to do. The Government could not tell these men to go to the Charitable Aid Board and get a little ticket for some rations, for that would be degrading to the men who had helped to produce the wealth of the country. Therefore the farmers must provide their share of the fund in order that everyone who could pay should pay.. Those on the farms had fresh eggs and milk to give to their children, while the men out of work in cities could not give their children even that amount. The movement was a brotherhood movement, in which they asked everyone to help. Finding the Money. The total spent on relief works in six months was £701,775, and the country could not go on borrowing money for that purpose at that rate. If £500,000 was raised in twelve months and subsidised £1 for £1 by the Government that money could be spent on works on which there would be no interest to pay. There were men. in the city who would find it more difficult than farmers to pay 6d. a week, and he was glad to hear that farmers would not refuse to pay the levy. The Government was in sympathy with them and wanted everyone to co-operate. What was in the mind of the Government was how the moneys were to be disposed of. There were 85,000 farmers, many of whom had work to .do on the ’ farm, but lacked money. It might be £lOO that was wanted, and the Unemployment Board had the power to give it, lend it. without interest, or lend it for five or ten years say at 5 per cent. They wanted to get many men now employed on road works brought on to the land in useful conditions at a rate of wages arranged between the farmer and the worker or by contract. There was something to be said for giving it a trial. . Cadgers Caught. In regard to men employed by farmers leaving for relief works, such men should not be employed on public works, he continued. However, he could say that in the six months, April to September, 4300 men had left the relief works for other jobs, so that they did not stay on all the time, possibly not finding it so attractive as they thought. Regarding the sundowner and the professional cadger, he believed they would be dealt with under the The Unemployment Board was not an employer of labour, said the Minister, and it the men went to the farmer demanding high rates the farmer would say he could not pay them. The question of the amount paid on relief works was one for the Government as a whole. Mr. P. Hawke, a member of the deputation, said some people thought the scheme was going to be the same as that in the Old Country, and that it would lead to economic ruin. Mr. D. B. Higgins: We want to raise the farmer from rolled gold to 22 carat, for it is the essential industry of this country, yet there is something about it which makes it cease to be attractive. As long as there is a financial return we shall have capital and labour prepared to go into it. The cost of the necessities of life are too high.