UNEMPLOYMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 136, 9 June 1926, Page 10

UNEMPLOYMENT

EMERGENCY MEASURES

LOCAL LOANS WITHOUT POLLS

BELIEVING THE- POSITION IN

WELLIxVGTON.

Local members of Parliament waited on, the Primo Minister (tho Eight Hoii. J. G. Coates) and the Minister of Labour (the Hon. G. J. Anderson) to-day to discuss the question of unemployment, and to see whether any means could be devised to relieve tho present position. In the course of his reply, Mr. Coates stated that Cabinet had this week agreed to reintroduce tho legislation of 1922, which empowered local bodies to raise loans without the authority of a poll of the ratepayers. This had been done at the request of local bodies in Auckland. Tho legislation did not give local bodies carte blanche to spend money, but it was intended to meet an emergency. Mr. Coates undertook to call a meeting of representatives of various Wellington organisations at once to coordinate relief measures. The members of Parliament present at the deputation were Sir John Luke, Messrs. P. Fraser, T. Forsyth, E. M'Kccn, and W. H. Field. Sir John Luke referred to the Tawa Flat deviation, and said the deputation would like to know whether any of tho preliminary work in connection with that undertaking could be put in hand. There wero also the Point Halswell road, the Thorndon Eeclamation, and the new railway station yard. It might be possible, perhaps, for some of these works to absorb a number of men. , Mr. Eraser stated that up to the end of last week 298 men had registered at the Labour Department's Wellington unemployment bureau as being out of work, and there wero also 97 men on the Corporation's books. Of men suitable for heavy work G5 were married men with 159 dependants, and 36 were single with 48 dependants. There were 149 single men without dependants. Altogether, there were 250 men with 207 dependants capable of doing heavy work. Of men able to do only light work, 26 were married men with 59 dependants, and 5 single men with 4 dependants. There were also 17 single men without dependants. Thp total number of men able to do light work only was 48 with 63 dependants. Taken as a whole, there were 91 married men with 218 dependants, and 207 single men with 52 dependants, or a grand total of 298 men with 270 dependants. Within the last fortnight 119 men had been placed on various works, some 65. having gone to work of a permanent character. Tho majority of those out of work were labourers, and it was satisfactory that there was such a number able to do heavy work. His own impression was that tho position in Wellington was worse than it had been for three years, but not so bad .as it had boen in 1921-22. He supported what Sir John Luke had said about various works which could perhaps be put in hand, and suggestod that the Town Belt could bo improved considerably in dangerous places. A PERMANENT CONDITION. Mr. M'Keen thought that a bettor mothod of registration could be introduced. The present system did not afford a true index of the position. Up believed that unemployment w-as becoming a permanent condition, as even at the best of times the records showed that 80 to 100 men wcto registered. He recognised, of course, that some men could not be put on to heavy work. Mr. Forsyth said he had endeavoured to secure a subsidy from the Education Department for funds which the headmaster of Wellington College had in hand for ground improvements at the college, but the Minister had informed him that the Act would not allow such a subsidy to Ye paid. He wanted to know whether Mr. Coates could see his way clear to make the money available. He had encountered a few cases of unemployment, but did not think the position was acute. Mr. Field said there was not a great amount of unemployment in his district, although ho had noticed a few stragglers on the road. Ho sympathised with what the previous speakers had said, and stressed tho importance of going on with the Tawa Flat deviation. The Minister of Labour said that the figures for last year and this year could not be compared, because this year there had been an agitation which had had the' effect of causing men who are unemployed anywhere to register their names. In Auckland tho position was bad, but over the rest of New Zealand there was nothing to be worried about, the position being only one-third worse than it was last year. ADHERING TO PROGRAMME. The Prime Minister said he found it difficult to depart from a programme which had been laid down, for' the carrying out of publics-works. There were approximately 9000 men employed in the Public Works Department, and he had to make perfectly certain that he did nothing which would have the effect of throwing any of them out of employment at some future time, as might occur if a definite programme of work was departed from and a dislocation was thus caused. The Public Works employees had given good service, and not only that, but they had enabled costs to be reduced. He did not care how much more money they earned so long as costs wero reduced. In mapping out a programme for the future he had endeavoured to see that men were available for new works as others wero finished in order to avoid any possibility of a large number of men being suddenly thrown on to the labour market. He wanted to avoid interfering with the future programme if it could be avoided; but he recognised the responsibility of the Government when bad times came along. They had then to do their level best to help tho community. After saying that at tho request of the local bodies in Auckland Cabinet had agreed to reintroduce the legislation of 1922 empowering such bodies to raise money without a poll for emergency purposes, Mr. Coates said that the Auckland bodies were prepared to start their programmes of work a year ahead, and would do so at once. Men would bo sent by the Government's Labour Bureau to these works. With regard to the Tawa Flat deviation and the Wellington railway station yard, Mr. Coates said that he would go into the matter at once with the officials of the Public Works and Railway Departments to see if some men could be put on. Until more filling was done at the reclamation he was afraid that it would be uneconomical to commence tho tunnelling as tho two works were correlated. They wanted the highest expenditure to come in the last years, so that they would not have a lot of capital lying idle. They wanted to earn interest on their money as soon as possible. "We will do what we possibly can," continued. Mr. Coates: "we can place more men on certain roads hero almost at once." CO-ORDINATED POLICY. The Prime Minister then asked if it would bo feasible, in view of tho fact that the Government had decided to

reintroduce the 1922 legislation previously referred to, to ask the Wellington local bodies interested to meet for tho purpose of seeing whether they could .not place their programmes ahead slightly. In answer to Mr. M'Keen, Mr. Coates said that money raised under the 1922 legislation could bo recovered from the rates. Of course, it would be only a temporary matter, as after the end of the winter more work would be available. It was not .proposed to take money for unemployment works out of the ordinary Public Works allocation, as it would bo unfair to charge the whole cost to a department which was expected to pay its way. In regard to tho men who were not physically fit for heavy work, the Forestry Department would have to take some of them. Mr. Coates said that he sympathised with married men with families who could not find work, and the best must be done to help such people. They could not for a moment allow them to go unassisted. In assisting the unemployed, however, it would be wise to co-ordinate their efforts. So far as the relief of distress was concerned, Mr. Coates said that the hospital and charitable aid boards would supply estimates of their requirements, and tho social welfare committees would then make their recommendations. The funds would be handled by tho boards in conjunction with the social welfare organisations. If it was necessary for the Government to assist that would be arranged. After further discussion it was agreed that Mr. Coates should at once communicate with the Mayor, the chairman of tho Harbour Board, the Trades and Labour Council, the Employers' Federation; social workers, the K.S.A., and other organisations interested, including the Labour Department and the Public Works Department, with a view to arranging a coordinated programme of relief in Wellington. Mr. Fraser and othor members of the deputation said they thought; that the proposal which Mr. Coates had made ' would bo the proper way to .deal with the situation.