FINDING WORK

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 132, 7 June 1939, Page 12

FINDING WORK

FOR COMPETENT MEN

Any competent man, not necessarily a skilled worker, who was willing to work, would be found employment within a reasonable time if he applied to the State Placement Service, said Mr. A. J. Ridler, assistant secretary of the Department of Labour, to an "Evening Post" reporter today, when his attention was drawn to statements made at-last night's annual meeting of the Wellington City Mission regarding the number of men seeking relief.

Mr. Ridler said that it was difficult to reply to generalisations about men out of work, as there were different factors associated with each case.

Though it was not the function of the Smith Family or of the Metropolitan Relief Committee to provide work for people, said Colonel A. Cowles, the administrator of those organisations, it was his experience that no skilled man had difficulty in finding employment. Those who did appear to have difficulty were young men and middleaged men with no skill at any trade, and although the Smith Family dealt with eight to twelve applications for relief from such men every day the men were usually only temporarily unemployed. They had to be provided with food and clothing, especially as many of them came to Wellington from distant places and arrived in a destitute condition, but work was often, found for them by the Placement Service after a time.

The onset of winter and the abandonment of seasonal jobs brought a flock of unemployed men.to Wellington every year, continued Colonel Cowles. He did not think the prospect of the Centennial Exhibition had at-

tracted any workless men here yet, the principal reason for their coming being their idea that help was more easily obtained in the capital city and the centre of government.

The plight of these men while they were out of work was a serious one, said Colonel Cowles. Food and [ shelter were provided for them by various charitable organisations, which .worked in efficient co-operation to prevent any unjust imposition being made on them.