CALL ON MINISTER

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1932, Page 14

CALL ON MINISTER

£10,000,000 A YEAR

DEMANDING IMPOSSIBILITY

Ahout.a, dozen. ( representatives of the unemployed subsequently, ;interviewed the Minister in Charge of ■ Unemployment (the Bight Hon. J. G. Coates) in his room at Parliament Buildings. The proceedings' Were "quiet and' orderly. The deputation demanded the abolition of the No. 5 Scheme and the substitution of a' scheme whereijy all relief workers would receive ' award wages' and be assured work on five days a week. As an. alternative to this, it was asked that full sustenance be paid to all unemployed, it being urged that under present conditions ' men, women,' and children were practically starving. .Associated with Mr. Coates-was Mr.' W. Bromley, of the; Unemployment Board, and the member for iHutt , (Mr. 'W.- Nash)-was present for part of the -proceedings., ;r ! ■■•■;,■••■ r- : ■ •'; In Mb reply, Mr. Coates said it wo«ild be an. impossibility to meet the demands of the deputation.. To pay standard wages.would cost £10,000,000 a year. He asked the relief workers to await his 'scheme^-which he said would bo far -than, .the present s. scheme- and would lead to permanent employment. ; Mr.' A. Sergent' said' there "had been many deputations ..to- the i Government on. the samoi subject, but the unemployed had; never been, able ?to get a satisfactory answer. • The conditions under which the unemployed were working at present,were absolutely im' possible. What they wanted was a definite- assurance that the Government would do something to, ease their burden. "We want the abolition of the No. \ 5 Scheme and the substitution of something better," he declared. Mr. G.;Watt mentioned that relief workers and their families were being ejected from their homes because they could not-keep up their payments to the State; Advances Department. - Mr. Coates said his experience had been that the State Advances Department had been very considerate. .: Mr. Watt said he knew of, specific cases where families had been put out. Ho went on to state that the relief scheme in the Hutt' Valley was most unsatisfactory, and there was- untold suffering in the district. "A DEGRADING SYSTEM." Other speakers from. Petone referred to the misery which" was being experienced in the Hutt Valley. One said that, the system, of charitable aid. was. degrading' to' decent men and women. i'."-I,am not a criminal," saiil one speaker,...ff but you. are driving me to crime, and if L become a criminal I will be a good' one." Ho. warmly attacked the Fzess, which he declared was misrepresenting the whole position. . ■ ;. Another speaker declared that it was absurd to refer, to the farmers as the: backbone of the country. Farmers were the most stupid, lot of business people it was possible to imagine. It was the thrifty people who were the backbone of the country, but the Government, by its system of regulations and "red tape," was penalising thrift. Still another speaker referred to the possibility of being driven to the point of revolution, and Mr. Sandf ord declared it would be better if the relief workers and their families were sent to gaol. They would at least have somewhere to go. and they might be able to take charge : of the gaols.! : Mr. Coates: ."Oh, I don't think you want to go to gaol. Nobody does." _Mrg v Vaughan' spoke on behalf of the wives of relief workers, and urged on Mr. Coates the urgent necessity of doing something to relieve the Buffering that was .going on at present. MO QUICK REMEDY. ... .In replying, Mr. Coates said he had never refused to hear any organisation which had approached him, and'he was glad to hear the views of the deputation on what" had been done to relieve unemployment. It. was all very well for the deputation to say they wanted a definite assurance from him, but the unemployment problem could, not be dealt with as quickly as that. There were so many different angles to discuss and so many people to discuss them with. w° doupt/thcy had become ■ exasperated, but he wanted to assure them that so far as he was concerned a great deal of headway had been made in arriving at a scheme which, he believed, would do a great deal more than had been done, an-the past in the direction of finding employment—ho hoped permanent employment. He knew that various schemes had been advanced, but after ah theory waa not of great use. Somebody had to take the lead in dealinjr with the problem, for he was certain they could not get very far by discussing the matter in- a general way. OOVEENMENT'S SCHEME. Mr. Coates said he was working on a scheme at present, and although it was not possible for him to give the details at that stage he was certain it would

be invaluable. All he asked-was that the people of New Zealand should give his proposals a fair trial. The demand that standard rates should be ptiid was an impossible one, as it would run the country into an annual expenditure of £.10,000,000. That, of course, was impossible under present conditions. All the Board had at its disposal was £2,500,000 and half of that came out of the incomes of the people. If further taxation were imposed private enterprise would bo stifled and that would be disastrous to the country. "We are in a storm at the present time," said Mr. Coates, "and the best we can do is to take shelter from the storm."

The Government in its wisdom had decided against the payment of sustenance, but it should not be overlooked ihat relief workers were not receiving wages. All they were receiving- was relief. . He suggestd that the • relief workers should go back to work and carry on. as best they could until the Government had finalised its scheme.

A member of tho deputation asked Mr. Coates if he would make available out of the relief • funds a sufficient amount to pay for the transport of the deputation back to their homes.

Mr, Coates said he could not agree to relief money being used for that purpose. He thought it might have been wiser if the unemployed had sent a small delegation to Wellington. However, if there were women in the demonstration who were : unable to get back to; their homes he would see what could be done about, it. ■'."..