TO HELP UNEMPLOYED

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 10

TO HELP UNEMPLOYED

CONFERENCE.TO BE CALLED

RELIEF SUGGESTIONS

Possible schemes for relieving unemployment in Wellington during the approaching winter were suggested to the Government yesterday afternoon by a deputation from the Labour organisations which waited on the Deputy Prime Minister (the. Hon. O. W. Forbes), the Minister of Labour (the Hon. W. A. Veitch), and the Minister of. Public Works (the Hon. E. A. Ransom). Mr. Forbes acquiesced in a suggestion that he should call a conference of representatives of local bodies and social organisations to discuss the situation and endeavour to arrive at a co-ordinated scheme of affording relief. In introducing the deputation, Mr. G. H. Chapman, M.P., said that as far as could be, ascertained there were about 800 unemployed in the Wellington district. The various trades were affected somewhat differently; some had a large number out of work, and others comparatively few. WORSE THAN LAST YEAR. . The president .of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council, Mr. "VY. Bromley, computed the number of unemployed in Wellington at about 1000. One of the most distressing features of the problem at present, was the fact that many of the men wero experiencing unemployment for the first time, and a depressing feature was that there was so much real hardship. A good many married men were being compelled to go out of and by the time they got their proportion of pay it was hardly enough to provide a bare existence for those left behind. It was suggested that the Government should immediately provide more relief work. If the suggestions made by the Unemployment Investigation Committee were solutions for the problem, it was hoped they would be brought into operation without delay. The distress in the city at present was more real and worse than in the previous year. Stressing the seriousness of the present position of unemployment, Mr. Bromley said they did not think enough had been done to meet it. MEN SLEEPING OUT. Mr. F. Cornwell, secretary of the Trades Council, declared that more men were sleeping out of doors at night than many people realised. They were breaking the law, but the police were very tolerant, knowing the position they wore in. The secretary of the General Labourers' Union, Mr. P. M. Butler, said that the present inaction was only feeding the disease. The unemployed were becoming more and more uneasy, and the plight of the single men was worse than that of the married men. At the present rate of progress it would be about two years before the Government had a definite scheme in operation on the lines of the recommendations of the Unemployment Investigation^ Committee, etc. He submitted that no unemployed worker, married or single, should be evicted from his home. The/state'of unemployment in the building trades, said Mr. C. Baker, organiser of the Wellington Carpenters' Union, had become worse in the" last month, and he estimated that' 250 carpenters were out of work. The- majority of those were apprentices, but at least. 100 were skilled carpenters who had not been out of work for years. The position in the trade was caused largely through the curtailment of money going out through the State Advances Office. Mr. W:> Nash,. M.P., referred to the number of unemployed in Petone and Lower Hutt, and said he was certain the present situation was breaking up more homes than ,ever. before. ■ Evidence was tendered by Mr. R. Semple, M.P., that unemployed men were sleeping out and liable to be charged with vagrancy. He suggested that the Government should provide temporary relief for young men, who, once they got down and out, became outlaws of society. WORKS ABOUT TO COMMENCE. Replying to -the deputation, Mr. Forbes said he recognised the seriousness of the position. No one could close his eyes to the difficulty of the conditions throughout the Dominion, and it was contributed to by the heavy fall ml the prices obtained for primary produce. The Government was endeavouring to provide relief works, but it could not be expected to convert everybody who was out of work into a permanent State employee. If work was found for a man for there months, at the end of that time the Government was prepared to consider 'finding him other work if the economic position was still acute. They must have regard for the economic value of the work done on relief jobs. It would be suicidal for the Government to carry out works'that were not of permanent value simply to provide employment. Th.at was the difficulty in finding suitable work near' the cities. The Government had endeavoiired, and' was eideavouring, to make as much work available as possible. In the first place, those works had to be decided on, and then the Public Works Department had to make the necessary arrangements. It all took tinie. The Department was working overtime now in making such preparations. ■ A considerable amount of work would be available from now on. If men would riot take the trouble to register, however, they could not be regarded as cases of distress. They mustj know that the of supplying work were according to the figures on the books of the Labour Bureaux. Mr. Nash said that a large number of men did not register. because they knew the work was not of a fit nature for them to do. Mr. Semple: "We always appeal to them to register." . , 700 REGISTRATIONS. Mr. Forbes quoted' the following figures of registrations as at 16th May: Men with dependants—Fit for ' heavy work, 328; fit for light work only, 27. Men without dependants—Fit for heavy work, 318; fit for light work only, 24. Grand, total, 697. Ninety of those men had been placed.on Government relief works, and arrangements had been made for absorbing a further 300. The Minister said the Government wished to help in' every possible way finance would. allow; if the finances were easy a lot more could be done. They could not do the impossible and sweep away unemployment at; a stroke. The Government was doing all it could, and it expected individual employers to do their share as well. Mr. Frases suggested that the Gov; eminent should call a conference of representatives of local bodies, trades and labour organisations, charitable institutions, the Red Cross Society, and other social bodies to consider ways and means of relieving distress during the winter. There was a lack of co-ordi-nation between the various bodies. He suggested also that the' Government might consider completing the Parliament Buildings, demolishing the Mount Cook barracks in preparation for the National War Memorial, and laying out tho grounds, thus providing work for many men during the winter. A further suggestion was made by

Mr. Nash that the Hutt Valley railway deviation should be pushed to completion. Mr. M'Keen urged the erection of a permanent Government Building to house the various Government Departments at present accommodated in rented premises. Mr. Forbes said the latter suggestion depended on finance. . The Government would like to carry out the idea. | He undertook to look into the matter of State Advances, and agreed with Mr. Fraser that the time had come when there should be some better organisation in the larger centres for dealing with unemployment. Mr. Semple .urged the Minister to call a conference immediately so as to enable the position to be met this winter. Mr. Forbes said he would be pleased to arrange such a conference.