"ABSURD RATES"

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 52, 2 March 1934, Page 8

"ABSURD RATES"

RELIEF CAMP PAY

TWO HOURS FOR 2AD

SPIRIT OF THE MEN

In an interview with "The Press," Mr. George Lawn, Lecturer in Economics at Canterbury College, formerly a member of the Christchureh Unemployment Committee, said, that he had spent part of .his holidays in a relief camp, to learn what life in the camps was like. He did this because of his interest in unemployment problems, and because the only information otherwise available about conditions in the camps came either from disgruntled relief workers or from the authorities. There had been no report from an independent observer. In going into the camp Mr. Lawn took every precaution that his real identity should be unknown to the officers in charge and to the relief workers themselves, so that he should be one of them, and subject to the usual conditions. In every way he acted just as a worker in such a camp would do, except that on leaving he did not collect the pay due to him. PRAISE FOR THE MEN. The men In the camp, he said, were generally of a good type. They were of various ages and occupations. Some of the young men in particular were splendid examples of physical fitness, and moat of them worked stripped to the waist. The work was road construction, and considering the limitations of the equipment provided and the pay received, the men were making a very good job of it. In spite of the reasons they might appear to have for taking no interest in what they were doing, in practice they showed the nsual interest men have in doing a job' well. "The man in charge of my gang had previous experience in road work, and he laid his level and supervised, the job as effectively and with as much interest as if he were receiving standard rates of pay," said Mr. Lawn. "When the men. were at work they worked hard. Those who are scornfully critical of the attitude of relief workers to their jobs, and who accuse them of wholesale slacking, would change their opinion if they worked beside the men I was with. "I found a good spirit in the men in spite of their disabilities. There Was no grumbling and no bitterness, and in fact they seemed to be quite normal. It was possible of course to raise minor complaints about the food, the tents, the sanitation, etc., but these have always been made where men are grouped together." RATES OF PAY CRITICISED. Mr. Lawn had no complaints to make in regard to' food or accommodation, "but," he said, "the two important features of the camp which are quite unsatisfactory both from the point of view of the relief workers themselves and the public are: (1) Tho absurdly low rates of pay, ana .(2) the lack of efficient equipment for the work being done. The first of these is more important from the men's point of view. "Apart from the food and shelter provided they have found by experience that no matter how hard they work they do not receive on ah average more than 10s a week. The result is that they react to this by taking rest periods. The scale of payments established, if it were fully enforced, would necessitate the men working as hard as navvies normally work in public works camps, and still they would not receive any more than 10s a week: - ''' "The old public works rate fov shifting loose earth was Is 6d. a yard, while- the relief camp rate is 2Jd a yard. A yard of earth, I gathered, was 16. barrow loads. When one has shovelled,, loaded, and wheeled 10 loads—taking about two' hours to do so—one feels that 2-} dis a ridiculously low sum to receive for so much work. "The..low rate of pay results in' .tho men hot' earning enough to keep themselves in the ordinary necessities of life- other than food. The effect is particularly noticeable in the men's clothing, on which the wear and tear is naturally severe in this type of work. I saw the most wonderful examples of patched garments. Trousers, shirts, and singlets were patched and repatehed, and . thero wcro patches on top of patches, and socks were practically romade by darning. NATURE OF EQUIPMENT. "The second main complaint I have to make —and this concerns the interests of the country—is the lack of efficient equipment for the road undertaking. All the work is done with pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow. There is no doubt at all that if there was the usual provision of road-making machinery, with power shovels, motorlorries, and even horses and ' carts, the same number of men would do far more work at a lower unit cost. At present the work is being done in tho most laborious and expensive way possible. To those who say the object is to give; the maximum^ amount of employment my reply is that it would be more logical to do away with even the picks, shovels, and barrows, and to let the men do everything with their hands alone. The jobs would then last for. ever. OUT OF TOUCH WITH JOBS. "The remoteness of the camps places the men right put of touch with possibilities of -regaining employment at their own trades. They hear of opportunities too late. They work with the feeling that so long as they remain in the camps they will never be roabsorbed in industry. They cannot save enough both to keep their clothes in order and to pay their expenses out of camp, and they can. never have enough to keep them while looking for work while out of camp. "If they wove given regular rates' of pay sufficient -to enablo them to do this it would be more satisfiietovy to them and to ;the country, whieli desire."? them to be' reabsorbed in industry. Failing this the men should receive from the Unemployment Board some concession enabling them, after spending a specific time in camp, to get relief work in town, whore they will bo in contact with opportunities for getting back into industry.