RELIEF-WAGE CUT

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 43, 14 November 1932, Page 10

RELIEF-WAGE CUT

Deputation in Protest REQUESTS . TO MAYOR Appeal to Make Up Money Between 600 and 700 single registered unemployed comprised a deputation which waited on the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, on Saturday morning to protest against the cut in sustenance imposed by the Unemployment Board. Hitherto the single men, exempt from camp employment, were obtaining two days’ work under the No. 5 scheme, for which they received 15/-, but last week they worked only one day, for which they received 7/6 on Saturday morning, The interview resolved itself into a public meeting with Mr. M. Hildreth presiding. He and Messrs. G. Woods, J. Tait, J. Sandford, and D. S. Campbell represented that as the result of this 50 per cent, cut the men had been reduced to destitution, and as most of them had to pay something for their lodging during the past week they would be on the point of starvation during the week-end, and probably many would have to sleep out in the' open. Their request to the Mayor was that his distress fund should be made avail-. able to the men to tide them over. It was also represented to the Mayor that since the men were short of money they were being turned out of the Central Mission shelter, and that, being utterly without means, they would have to sleep in the' open if nothing were done for their relief. It, was suggested that the amount of money for the single men should be made up by 75 per cent, out of the Mayor’s, fund. Effect on Mayor’s Fund. His Worship said that he was prepared to help single men whose sltua- 1 tion was on a par with the particularly hard cases of married men. To do more would be letting down the bad cases among the married men. The suggestion to supplement the 7/6 by 75 per cent, would cost the fund £2OO a week, which would mean that it would be out of money in a month. He had been told only that morning by the Unemployment Board that in some places the hospital boards were meeting the situation. “I will arrange as soon as possible,” continued his Worship, “to get into touch with the Minister of Employment, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and the chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board, Mr. F. Castle, and see what they can do to meet the immediate situation. Ido not know how long that will take. It will probably be Monday. I hold that it is the duty of the Government to deal with this trouble. The City Council has no money and no taxing power beyond the rates, which are not coming in too freely. “This is a national thing, and I recognise that it has to be dealt with in a national way. The Mayor admitted that this was not giving the men what was asked for, but the council had not got the money to do more. All he could promise was that the bad cases among the single men would be treated the same as those among the married men. On this announcement the chairman repeated the Mayor’s decision and said that after the conference with the Minister and chairman of the Hospital Board on Monday morning a notice would be posted in the Trades Hall announcing the result, and on Wednesday a deputation would wait on Parliament. He also added that much depended on the behaviour and decorum of the men as to the amount of sympathy they could expect from the citizens of Wellington. . ‘■Don’t you think there are too many charitable organisations?” said' one of the men to the Mayor. “I agree with you,” said the Mayor. “The true remedy is not the Mayor’s fund or any other fund, but that wages should be paid to support a man while on the job.” . Mr. Sandford said in urging the right to demonstrate en masse that the trouble was that when five or six delegates interviewed Ministers they were kindly received and were generally so well treated that it was not until they got out that they realised that nothing definite had been secured. Request for Procession. “I want you as Mayor of the city to grant a section of your citizens the right to proceed in procession to Parliament,” said Mr. Sandford. “You say it is the Government’s business; well, we want to approach the Government in mass, feeling secure that we will not be attacked In the process.” One speaker interjected that if Mr. Hislop ■ had read history he would know that it was the Mayor’s duty to feed the hungry, and he wondered at the lame excuse put over that it was the Government’s job. “The men are desperate,” said the speaker, “and it is just as much your duty to provide sustenance as it is the Government’s.” Mr. Sandford suggested that the Mayor should at once get into touch with Canon Taylor and the Salvation Army, so that the ejected men could go back that night. “As far as I am concerned I will at once get into touch,” said the Mayor, “but what I know of Canon Fielden Taylor and the Salvation Army I cannot see how they could have turned out men without some good reason. I’m not going to take one side or the other, but will get into touch with Canon Taylor and get his side of the story. “Whether you like it or not,” con i eluded his Worship, “my first consideration will always be the general protection and good order of the city!” LODGING AT MISSION Refusal to Enter Camp REASON FOR DENIAL Only men who had refused to go into the single men’s camps had been denied board and lodging at the City Mission. Those in charge of the mission indicated this yesterday, replying to statements made at the deputation of unemployed that waited upon the Mayor on Saturday. It had been said that certain men had been turned out of the mission because they could no longer pay for food and lodging. The authorities of the mission state, that the fourteen men who had been turned out were those who had been given free board and lodging for a considerable time. Those men had been asked to go to camp, in accordance with the Government Unemployment Board’s dictum, and accommodation was offered them in a camp, but they had refused to go. As the City Mission depended upon the support of the public it was felt that the men could no longer be kept. The manager of the Salvation Army Home stated that no sober men in want were ever turned away; they were usually provided with a bed and a meal.