UNEMPLOYMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1938, Page 15

UNEMPLOYMENT

LESS UNDER LABOUR

MR. ARMSTRONG'S CLAIMS

There was less unemployment in New Zealand today than in any other country in the civilised world, said the Hon. H. T. Armstrong (Minister of Labour) in an address at Upper Hutt last night in support of the Labour Party candidate for the Wairarapa electorate, Mr. B. Roberts. The Government, said Mr. Armstrong, had set out to provide/ employment for every able-bodied man and woman in the country, and so well was it doing its job that never had there been fewer able-bodied men unemployed in the j Dominion than there were today. j The Labour Party's policy was bring- j ing into production tens of thousands of acres of land that had gone to waste during and before the depression, said Mr. Armstrong. The Opposition had! said that all the Labour Party was doing was to "shanghai" the men on to public works when they should be absorbed into industry, but the actual position was that people were being absorbed into industry more rapidly than they had ever been before. In 1936 there were 16,400 factories in! New Zealand ; in 1937 17,126, and in: 1938 17,559. There were 1125 more factories working in New Zealand now than there were two years ago. Critics j claimed that any "one-man show" constituted a factory and that Labour had amended the law to make a Chinese laundryman a factory. The 1125 factories he had mentioned were new factories and not the result of Labour's factory legislation of 1936, and the Chinese laundry had been a factory since 1901. But what was of more importance, said the Minister, was the number of people employed in factories. In one year there, had been an increase , of 12,510 people employed in factories, and in two years the increase had been 25,276. In shops 16,000 more people were employed; and in offices, transport, and hotels 20,000 more. That made a total increase of 61,276 people employed in factories, shops, offices, transport, hotels, etc. Not or>ly that, but they were working full time in the factories now, where they were only working part-time before Labour came into office. State employees, including men on public works, had increased by only 18,000 in that time. TAKEN FROM HITLER? Mr. Armstrong criticised the National Party's proposed furniture loan to newly-married couples as having been taken from Hitler, who, however, required four babies to repay the debt as against the National Party's requirement of three. Statements that were being made that the State was going to assume control of all the orphanages and private hospitals were "mean, contemptible, and wicked," said Mr. Armstrong. People who spread that kind of propaganda knew they were lying but they would stoop to anything. They knew that such an intention had never been in the minds of the Government. / Mr. Armstrong spoke of the "poison" that was being spread among friendly society members. The friendly societies were not complaining, he said, and the Government would get their help and not their opposition. There were hundreds of doctors who would cooperate in the Government health scheme. Some of the doctors had been the prime movers in the scheme and the majority would fall into line when the time came. The Mayor of Upper Hutt (Mr. P. Robertson) presided over an attendance which gave the Minister an attentive hearing. Mr. Roberts briefly addressed the meeting. A vote of thanks to Mr. Armstrong and confidence in him, Mr. Roberts, and the Labour Party wasi carried without dissent. j