The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1946. SCOTLAND’S NEED OF MORE WORK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21997, 15 April 1946, Page 2

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1946. SCOTLAND’S NEED OF MORE WORK

(CONCERN for the future of Scottish industry, with its vital bearing on the unemployment situation, was recently expressed in a brief cablegram which stated that, the country had over 70,000 workless people on the Labour Exchange registers at the moment an increase of 200 per cent since last June. The current fear was the danger of a drift back to the dismal atmosphere of the years between the two wars.

There should be general agreement on the point that a country whose war record was second to none and whose people have made great sacrifices to shower hospitality on visitors is worthy of speedy progress in post-war reconstruction. From background information furnished through the latest newspaper mail, however, it would appear that there is a changing Scotland ahead, with problems to tax the stoutest, ingenuity. The total unemployed is expected to mount steadily until at least the middle of the summer. Lanarkshire. with .10 per cent idleness, is suffering more than any other spot in Great Britain, considering the number of workers involved. But there are other places in Scotland with a higher percentage rate. Stornoway, in fact, must qualify for the all-British record with 75 per cent, idleness.

The position is highly disturbing and does not augur well for the long-term outlook. Employment in the United Kingdom is lowest just now in the industrial belt of Scotland, in South Wales and in the North of England. Of these three centres Scotland may have most, to fear. The blunt truth is that there arc more workers than jobs in Scotland—in spite of the formula for full employment—and the problem is bow to restore the balance. Limited Industrial Range.

The Edinburgh Evening News is frank in its comment. It states: “Government planning can do much, but more is required. Scotland must stand accused of not doing enough to help herself, and her industrialists of a serious falling-off in initiative. It is a grave indictment, but if it helps us to get to the roots of the matter it must be levelled. Scotland lias still to find the proper alternative to her heavy industries, which built up the prosperity of the West but are too prone to cyclical fluctuations .... The limited range of Scottish industry is not always fully appreciated. .We have no share in the making of motor cars. Our contribution to the aircraft industry is bumble, as is also our share in the electrical industry. By way of additional humiliation, there is not a Scottish firm capable of making the machinery required by the Hydroelectric Board.”

No doubt the Evening News takes too gloomy a view of Scottish initiative. Scottish initiative has been a tower of strength to the British Dominions and indeed to the whole of the Empire. It has even been declared that Scots are largely responsible for running England—hence the wartime joke. “There’ll always he an England as long as Scotland stands.” If there is now a lack of enterprise north of the Tweed it may be due to the heavy drain on the country’s manhood caused by migratory tendencies. The war sacrifices have also been severe. A country whose population is small by European standards may experience difficulty in making its voice heard when works of national reconstruction are being apportioned. A more vociferous campaign for attracting attention to the country’s plight will not go amiss. A bigger share of the new and lighter industries should be pressed for. At present the percentage of new and purely Scottish ventures is small and these are intended mainly for female labour, which in Scotland has a great reputation for skill and reliability. Lanarkshire’s Problem. Ample work for men is the worry. Naturally the official concern centres primarily on Lanarkshire and the West. The Lanarkshire coalfield is being rapidly worked out and the extreme estimate is that it will he finished within 15 years, which, incidentally, is approximately the limit forecast by New Zealand’s Mr. Semple as the remaining life of certain coalfields on the West Coast. What, then, are the Lanarkshire workers to do and what is to happen to the local industries dependent on coal? It is an extra complexity that the mining industry is. declining sadly in popularity. Young men show no desire willingly to enter it. The same disinclination is reported to be observed in. the shipbuilding industry, which has been one of the industrial belt s mainstays. Fortunately the outlook is not all black. Eleven industrial estates arc planned for different parts of Scotland and, although the majority of them arc still in the blueprint stage, there are indications that they will make a useful contribution to full employment in the areas concerned. Development of the Highlands as a result of new liydro-clcctrie schemes is another welcome prospect. The present, press agitation for more enterprise on the part of industrialists and for a more vigorous policy on behalf of Scotland by the country’s members in the House of Commons should have a good long-range effect. _ If unemployment is still in evidence when the Dominions feel able •to absorb migrants, Scotland merits particular attention. Scots and New Zealanders have always had a great deal in common and the ties have been hound more closely than ever through close association during the recent war. Scottish immigrants will always find a warm welcome here.