HOMELAND UNEMPLOYMENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 June 1930, Page 12

HOMELAND UNEMPLOYMENT

MR L. GEORGE’S OFFER.

[BY CABLE —PBESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.]

LONDON, June 17.

An offer by Mr Lloyd George to the Government, of the whole support of the Liberal Party for the ensuring of a sound and dependable majority for emergency measures necessary to wage a war on unemployment, is contained in an exclusive front-page interview with Mr Lloyd George in the “Daily Herald.” Mr Lloyd George declares that the problem of unemployment must be treated as a national emergency. There was need of a session for the enactment of emergency measures. It might require half-a-dozen pieces of first-class legislation to be devoted wholly to winning the war against unemployment. A unite deffort on the part of the whole nation could save the situation. Mr Lloyd George declared that he would make the duration of these Bills five years, which was long enough to cover the period of emergency. Mr Lloyd George expressed himself as opposed to subsidies on wheat, and on cereals, which measure, he said, had been tried in the war time and had been abandoned, because it had proved to be over costly. Mr Lloyd George described Labour’s land, coal mines, and slum-clearance programmes as being over-modest The Liberals, he said, would give the Government a majority for more drastic schemes to be discussed by small committees round the table like a Cabinet or a Directors’ meeting. He did not want any position himself. He was tired of office and of its cares. He only wanted to do something to help. “I’m an old man, but I’m hot dead yet,” he concluded. The “Daily Herald,” editorially commenting on Mr Lloyd George’s proposals, dismissed emphatically any idea of a Liberal —Labour Coalition, which, it says, Labour would not have, nor is it possible for Labour to avoid viewing Mr Lloyd George’s new orientation without a certain degree of suspicion. It says: “The gifts that the gods have showered upon him do not include the sovereign virtue of consistency. In vain has his interview been scanned for clear, concrete ideas on any of his emergency proposals.”

POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND. MR FORBES’ APPEAL TO FARMERS WELLINGTON, June 17. The Prime Minister, in opening the Farmers’ Union Conference, alluded to unemployment, which he said was one of the biggest difficulties at the present time. This was world-wide and had been put down to different causes, but one of the chief was improvements, in labour saving devices. The best brains in the world had been striving continually to find- means of cutting out labour. These labour saving devices had been introduced in nearly every country, and it was now difficult for many people to obtain regular employment, thus they were reminded of the Biblical quotation “Beai’ ye one another’s burden’s.” Unemployment was the responsibility for all, and all would have to assist in solving the problem. The commission appointed in N.Z. to investigate it had made a- very thorough and valuable report. They had faced the position and the Government intended to introduce legislation this season, to deal with the position. Relief works were only palliatives. They were necessary because they could not allow people to suffer from hardship or starvation, but it w r as their duty to place the problem on a more satisfactory footing. He knew that during the conference, they would discuss the unemployment problem. One of the difficulties was the bringing of land for improvement and idle labour together and anything the farmers’ parliament could suggest for solving the problem would be gladly received and carefully considered. There -was no need for pessimism. They had a wonderful little country, and as far as production was concerned, they had by no means reached the limit. While he had been Minister of Agriculture, he had been most hopeful of great progress that could be made, and in the last five years, substantial progress had been made. Further applications of improvements gave opportunities for almost unlimited scope. In regard to lower prices for produce they should endeavour to get the most out of their land, in order to counteract these.