PUBLIC WORKS AND THE WORKLESS

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 92, 19 April 1921, Page 6

PUBLIC WORKS AND THE WORKLESS

This letter, received from a wturned soldjer by Mr. G. Mjtchefl, m.P., secretary of th,e. Central Progress League, explains itself :

Up. till three weoks »go I was employed by the Public. Works Department am a labourer on the Upper Hutf-Waikanae road. This road was closed- completely, as far as work waft concerned, about; that time, throwing, as near as I can judge, forty men out of work." This question was brought up in the House by Mr. Field, member fqr Otaki, and the Minister for Public Works stated that this work could easily wait a while, and that ifc would be a means of relieving unemployment after the winter. I ask you what are thoso forty men, going to dp in the meantime? As far oe I can sec, they have only helped to swell tfia ranks pf fhe unomplojed. For myself, I may cay that I am a eingie man, a. flourmiller by trade; but owing to elaokneea of that line I have had to take on manual work. I have hunted the towji for work for this last week, but havo had no success. lam on tho books of throo firms for employment, inoluding Public Works, but have had no word from any of these up to date. Needless to say, I am still one of tho rank of unemployed.

Tho Post feels quit* aa puzzled as the writer of the letter. To provide against, the contingency of future unemployment by adding to the actual present unemployment $eem§ to be a. roundabout way of achieving the purpose. Also, it is a

fact that earthworks are more efficiently carried out in dry weather than in wet weather. When the labour market is bare, and when roads or other earthworks cannot be manned in summer except by diverting labour from the farms, the paramountcy of the pastoral interest may provide some shadow of excuse for a Public Works failure to take advantage of the dry weather. But when there are already some unemployed, with a prospect of more to coma, is that a. time for dislocating the organisation of a, yrork #iat is, a going conpeTn. ? Reports from the district indicate thstt, in the middle of a dry autumn, the men on the Upper Hutt-Waikanae w>ad have been paid off, as stated above, leaving only a few chains of gap between the formations on either side—that is, between Wellington and Waikanae. Is it public wo,rks economy to stop work on an arterial rpad at this of its progress? The Minister's opinion that this road is of secondary importanoe is not a Wellington opinion, nor does the policy of discontinuance-with-a-vie^r-tOTContinuance appear to be in the interests pf economy, or efficiency, of concentration, pr any other of the constructive virtues.

If relief works for unemployed become necessary, they should be designed with a view to usefulness and efficiency of construction, as well as to relief of the labour market. It follows that the Public Works Department and the local bodies should have well-considered plans ready for dealing with the situation. Far better thus than to be swept unprepared into a panic, and then waste money in relief works pi doubtful value. The usefulness of a third artery in and out of Wellington, between Upper Hutt and Waikanae, cannot be contested. Other necessary worits are the sea-wall ?J»d reclamation beyond Pipitea Point, which ie an essential antecedent pi the new railway station. From the re]i?i point of view, \ye do not know .whether this sea-wall will absorb much, unskilled labour, but the leading items o,n the Citj Couripil'p ratepayer-sanctioned loan programme, especially the road-construction and road-reconstruction items, should go a long way to absorb surplus general labour this winter, Of course, the necessity of relief may not arise—we hope it will not —but the prospect is sufficient to raise a question, aa to the Government's wisdom in paying off the Upper Hutt-Waikanae men, and to also raise the very important suggestion that the City Council should prepare plans (if they aTe not already prepared) for a possible early start of constructive operations, and should consult with, the Government a« to the financing ■pf wprks that represent not pnly relief but productive, investment. Every consideration of efficiency, progress, and social-political contentment constrains the Government aad the local bodiu to b« vigilant, uid

we hope that tbi? phase of the situation is not being lost sight of by the civic authorities in the strife of the local body election campaigns. Lastly, it must not be "forgotten that returned soldiers like the writer of the above letter have a. claim upon the country. The cases of some soldiers, physically unfit, 'qr unsuitable for general labour, are difficult, but what is the Publjc Works Department doing to meet the comparatively pimple case of soldiers willing and able to go on public worlds? Statements on tht whole subject by the Public Works Department, and by the City Council, would be timely. There is uvgentvneed of a policy and a plan.

[Since tha. above was. written, Bfl Auckland telegram announces that trie Minister for Public Works is stressing financial etringency as the. (rrqui|c! for a. new public works policy of cqijcentratiori," which word now seems to be equivalent to curtailment. If that ia so, the ebpner the Government takes the country completely into its confidence on the subject the better r Anj dqubt pn tho point ie calcu.la.tfid. ta, increase rather thari tf> diminish the prospect of unemployment above VOferred tq.l • .