RELIEF BURDEN

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 293, 6 September 1932, Page 10

RELIEF BURDEN

City’s Depleted Funds APPEAL TO MINISTER Mayor States Position Finance in connection with No. 5 unemployed relief scheme was dealt with by the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, at last evening’s meeting of the finance committee of the City Council. Mr. Hislop reported that he had written to the Prime Minister pointing out that the funds of the council were becoming depleted, and that there was no provision for the 4000 men now engaged on these works after the end of September, by w-hich time the council would have spent £22,700 this year on its share of unemployment relief. There was an amount of £BOOO available, an unexpended loan balance, which was used under an agreement with the Government, otherwise there were -no other resources, so that at the end of September the 4000 men mentioned would be without work unless the Government made provision for the payment of the 15 per cent, of the total which the council had been finding, or to provide sustenance without work. Wellington’s Good Record. Mr. Hislop had also pointed out in the letter that the record of Wellington in this regard was a highly creditable one, but' the council was unable to do anything further this year. There was an unexpended balance of a water supply loan, the expenditure of which would employ 300 men ;outslde of that, the council could do nothing whatsoever. His Worship said he had met the Prime Minister casually, when he said that he had received the letter. He had suggested that Christchurch was doing very well and could not understand why Wellington could not do as well. Since then the Mayor had obtained figures as to what the four centres had done, which figures showed that the number of men employed in the other three centres was only 405 more than Wellington, and that in Wellington four times as many men had been employed as were employed in Christchurch. There had also been no appreciable reduction in Wellington in the number of men on account of seasonal occupations. Government’s Attitude. Since then Mr. Hislop had received a letter from the Minister of Employment, in the course of which he said that the danger was that the other centres' might follow Wellington’s lead and so create a position “impossible to cope with.” Perhaps the situation might be met by mutual discussion. The Mayor explained that at present the Minister was away. As soon as he returned he would discuss the matter with him. From the figures' produced it was quite clear that Wellington had been carrying far more than any other city. The council required assistance, and would have to get it. He hoped that the meeting with the Minister would take place this week.