DISTRESS IN CITY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 10

DISTRESS IN CITY

Social Welfare Work

COMMITTEE’S TASK Numerous Applications Probably one of the most sympathetic, patient, and diligent servants of the public in the domain of social welfare work in Wellington is Mr. George Petherick, who has been chairman of the social welfare committee of the Hospital Board for 17 years, and who this year is finding the conditions harder than he has ever experienced. At the recent meeting called by the I lyor to consider means of raising money to provide work for the unemployed, Mr. Petherick stated that the social welfare estimate for the current year was £30,000, but with eight months gone the committee had exceeded the estimate, for the two-thirds of the year, by £lOOO. Disheartening Conditions. Interviewed yesterday, Mr. Petherick said that the state of things in Wellington at present was disheartening. In November things were usually expected to brighten up with the increase of work in seasonal occupations, but that had not proved to be the case this year. The committee had to deal with 360 cases of indigency in June last, a mid-winter month, yet in the month of November the number of applications was 730, and it seemed as though the December demand would be even greater. “We have never been able to evolve a system that is absolutely proof against imposition,” said Mr. Petherick; “evidently that cannot be done. I should say that probably 85 per cent, of the cases are genuine. We give applicants orders for provisions on the contractors, the SelfHelp Co-operative Stores, and they realise upon them on presentation. Only recently we gave one family man assistance, and later it came to the board’s knowledge that his parcel was so large that he ordered a taxi in which to take him and his goods home, which was a bit over the fence, to say the least, of it. “Formerly we used to. run our own stores, and deal out the rations from them on the spot—really the ideal way. That was when our district was a mere blanket, for the most part a section of Te Aro Flat; but now it spreads all round—to Island Bay, Miramar, Northland, Karori, and even Kelburn. Under those circumstances we had to adopt other methods. and so we call for tenders each year from those with chain stores, so that the people may get their provisions as near as possible to their homes. It would be no ffse giving a man a couple of loaves of bread, when it would cost him 6d. for tram fares. “Occasionally we hear of people we help wrangling with the suppliers. We heard of one who recently asked for lamb, and when told he could not have it, argued that there was no difference between lamb and mutton. At the same time, our supplies to the indigent are on a more helpful scale than is the case with any of the boards in the other three centres. Applications Increase. Mr. Petherick mentioned that the committee had before it a fortnight ago 119 cases of unemployed married men, and the rations sanctioned for them cost £194. There were individual cases among them which cost the committee as much as £4 2/3, £2/6/-, and so on. These were men with large families, who were right up against it.' Then as late as Monday, last 94 new cases came before the committee, 75 per cent, of whom had never applied before, which was an indication of how things were at present. Last week, too, the committee had to disburse £BO to help single men, many of them fine fellows, too. “It is remarkable how people get used to applying for assistance —how it grows on them,” he said. “I remember a case being brought before me of a family which was ‘all out,’ but would not budge to ask for help. I sent Miss Kirk to their house to investigate, and she had great trouble in getting the man or the woman to appear before the committee. At last they came and we helped them. They remained on the books for eighteen months, and each month we found them asking for more, like Oliver Twist. Oh, it’s a most infectious thing.” Mr. Petherick’s work does not consist only of attending meetings of his committee or the board. He lives with his honorary task. Only on Sunday morning, he answered some fourteen calls, and.it is not unusual for people to knock him up at night and ask for assistance of some kind or other. “Yes, I am afraid it is going to be a sorry Christmas for some people in Wellington,” he said, “and I can’t see how conditions are going to be straightened out without a general levelling do.wn in wages, and salaries, and in the price of the necessities of life. People are inclined to demur at the ever-increasing rates for hospital and charitable aid. but what are we to do? We cannot allow people to go hungry, even if a little imposition is practised from time to time.” ’