UNEMPLOYED ANXIOUS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 122, 25 May 1928, Page 10

UNEMPLOYED ANXIOUS

CITY COUNCIL CENSURED THE RELIEF -WAGE Dissatisfaction with tho dilatory manner in which tho authorities are tackling the problem, of relief works was expressed by tho speakers at a crowded meeting of unemployed in.the Trades Hall tins morning, Tho scant naturo of the,relief wage offered by the, Government was also criticised. • Mr. K. M'Kccn, M.P., who presided, said tlrat he understood that up'to the present Mr. Coates had definitely stated that he'would riot receive a deputation, regarding the insufficiency of'the rates.of pay offered by the Government for relief ..works—9s and 12s a day. Little ;had taken place since tho last meeting of the unemployed. He believed* that a number of men bad been offered work at Ohakune, but no policy that would deal with unemployment had.,been announced, Sorho weeks ago the District Engineer of the Public Works Department had told him that it . had been decided to employ 100 men on .the Tawa Flat work, but no public •announcement had been made by tho Government, though it was quite, possible that men had been informed of work in various places, without his knowledge. - .. 1 CITY COUNCIL BLAMED. As far .as tho City, Council was concerned, he must say that he was more disappointed with its activities than with those of tho Government, because the Mayor (Mr. G, A. Troup), knowing definitely that the Government was prepared to subsidiso the City Council, on'the same basis as last year, had clone nothing. The Acting-Minister of Labour (the Hon. R. A. Wright) had de- ' finitely stated what the Government was prepared to do, and Auckland had immediately taken advantage of it. On the same- date that Mr. Wright had made the statement, Mr. Troup had been asked to call a special meeting of the City Council to authorise the passing of a loan. Mr. Troup had said he would. Later he said that he had written to, Mr. Coates, but had Wad no reply from him. Tho Mayor, as a matter of fact, .could have acted at once, as other local:'bodies had done. .The- City Council had neglected its duty in regard to unemployment. "DICTATORIAL." Mr. R^jgemple referred to correspondence indicating that the Prime Minister would not smeet a deputation regarding tho 9s and 12s a day, but that he had before him Mr. Wright's notes and the matter would receive his attention. Mr. Coates had taken up an attitude that none of his predecessors had. taken up, in refusing to discuss the position with the Labour representatives. Ko other Prime Minister had take up so dictatorial an attitude; in fact, other Prime, Ministers had recognised that it ;was their duty to discuss such matters,' iii order to understand this - problems confronting the people. Mr. Coates'^""attitude was not the one to put wrongs' right, but that of an autocrat. It was not the attitude to adopt towards thousands of men ready to render . servico to the country to say "I will not hear you." They were not asking for charity. He wished to have nothing to do with any member of the unemployed who wanted charity, but the who were ready to give service,to the nation should receive iv return sufficient to keep them and their dependants in decency.' How could a ■ man keep his dependants ou.casual labour at 12s a day, making allowances for occasional, medical and.other expenses? • • ■ ' . . As regarded the City Council, he know that some weeks ago the Works Committee had' brought down a proposal to raise a loan of £25,000 in order to find work for . the unemployed. On . the recommendation of the Mayor, that proposal was taken", back. At a meeting of the Works Committee a coupJe of days ago, the committee had sent forward another proposal for a loan of £30,000. Mr. Wright had said that the Government would subsidise such loans £1 for £1/ ' , NECESSARY WORKS AT RELIEF RATES. Mr. Semple referred to the seriousness of the position if the principle apparently adopted by the Government of getting necessary works done at relief wages was to spread from the Government to the City Council. There was a distinct possibility of such an arrangement becoming a permanent one. The great bulk of the work scheduled by the City Council consisted of legitimate City Council undertakings, such as tho widening of roads. That work was usually done out of revenue, and should.be included in the estimates. In order to keep the estimates down, and acquire credit for shrewdness, such works were cut out of the estimates, and were set down to be done out of relief, money. That meant a reduced rate of pay.' Last year an effort was made to bring down the City Council rate of pay to tho Government rate, and it had been indicated in a letter from the' Prime. Minister that the 50-50 proposal was conditional on wages being brought down to the Government estimate. The £30,000 loan proposal would go before the City Council next Thursday. The Mayor had told him that he had not received any definite instructions from the Government as to' what it was prepared to do. Mr. W. Bromley spoke of the loss to. the tradespeople of the city through unemployment, and the consequent employment of men on relief works. If 1000 men were employed on relief works, supposing that 300 were married men at 12s a day, getting £3 12s and 700 single men at 9s a day, that meant a loss of £240 a week over the married - men—if they were paid 12s for the Sattirday—and a loss of £1190 a week over the singlo men. If these men were employed on relief works for thirteen weeks, it meant a loss to ■ the ' tradespeople in-Wellington of £18,530, and he urged tradespeople as well as workers to realise this. If unemployment became general throughout the year, the loss would be greater. "FLESH AND BLOOD FIRST." Mr. P. Fraser, M.P., said it was necessary for public opinion to be aroused regarding unemployment. Nothing at all appeared to have been offered by the City Council up to the present, though Mr. Troup had given the assurance that the work'would be-put in hand as soon as possible. While he wanted the city of Wellington to be as beautiful and as up to date as any other city in the .world, and while ho was anxious to see the Dominion Musoum and Art Gallery erected on the Mount Cook site, flesh and blood should come before tho beautiflcation of tho' city. It was ript to tho credit of those in charge of civic affairs, or the Government,, that so many men were out of work at the present time. Tho dilatoriness was.inexcusable. Mr. Wright a fortnight ago had expressed sympathy with the unemployed, and showed that he realised what it meant to bo out of work, but what had been done? He believed that a few men had been sent on to Government works, how many he did not know, but the Government had not done what it should have done, neither Jiad the Mayor and the City Councillors of. Wellington dealt with tho matter as it should have been dealt with. Work should be found beforo any scheme for the beautifying of the .city was undertaken, because no city, could be really

beautiful a largo proportion of whose citizens were in dire want. There should be some co-operation between the Government and the City Council in regard to finding work near at hand for the married men. Mr. W. Atkinson.spoke of the necessity for arousing public opinion in the matter of unemployment, and cited the result of an organised „ campaign in London in 188G, when £100,000 was raissed' within three days. It was decided to canvass the city in the endeavour to attract all classes of citizens to a meeting on Sunday.