WORLD DEPRESSION

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11327, 3 October 1930, Page 2

WORLD DEPRESSION

iDNEMPLOY.M KNT PROBLEM

DISTRESS IN UNITED STATES

Air. M. Ciirfil la, of Con-w, on returning to Sydney recently, said ilial ho had visited practically every country* in. the ‘world, and flu- only places free from unemployment were Ffanco, Belgium and Czccho-Slovak-ia. In America many .peopie were on t.fio breadline, and .in England the dole seenre<l to Imvo become a regular institution. Mr. Carotin, who is a supporter of the Labor rnovemei'.t, said be made ft* special study of industrial conditions while he. was abroad, and was surprised to find ..that the United States was honeycombed • with Communism. '■(

’’“A- recent inquiry revealed that there are about half- a million avowed’ Communists in Apiere-a, ’ Air. Curotta said. ‘'lt was also discovered that the money paid by Anmri.fcnn business men in respect ot Russian trade was not being sent to Russia, but was being distributed by aif agency- for tile dissemination ot propaganda throughout the world. The-whole trouble with the United States is the presence- of a. large foreign element, whioli- is responsible fn> most of the crime and a good drtil of the industrial.; trouble.” Tjh Now York Mi*.,’..Curotta saw m'/icli evidence of distress and unempiijyment, and it was' finite customary, lie said, lor as many as 3060 men, some of them -still, well dressed, to-; take their places in a bread-line.; Tlt’ey lind lost their jobs; hut ha<l retained their decent ..clothes. In the midst of the crisis a conference between manufacturers .and industrial leaders took place with - the object ot devising means of stemming the flow of, unemployment. The chief oi police was present at tho meeting to pass judgment on, Hie morality ol individual cases. ’As tho result, of the conference, 129 firms agreed to part-time work, 'IS’ agreed to transfer employees to other fields of industry, 66 to manufaerturo for stock, and 57 to “forward planning.” ’.Tlie general tendency was to reduce working hours without any spec Hie decrease in -remuneration. although there was a nation-wide movement to bring about, a -wage reduction of 10 per cent. Commodities, however, were cheap throughout the country. The cattle men and packers had -reduced their ..prices .TO per cent., anil wore bringing pressure to hear on retailers tn bring clown the cost to tlie public to a.proportional degree-. “America is now importing wood pulßsfrom Russia,” said Air. Cm-rot-ta.' “Canada seems to have been definitely dropped in that respect. The re* ha’s', nevertheless, been a great deal.of trouble as a- result of a statement that the pulp was produced bv prison'labor. One of the surprising tilings I discovered was the uses tn. which the despised prickly pear plant is:, put. I saw enough in make me realise that- we have much to learn of" its commercial possibilities. In .Mexico ah immense trade is done in prickly pear candy and gin, and there is.also a ready, sale for “silk” handkerchiefs made from the fibre.”

Questioned as to the prevalence of “graft” in the United 'States, Air. Curotta said there was evidence ol it ten all sides. In the course of Ins short stay ho had read of'eight .judges and 25 magistrates who hud been deprived of then' olltces on account of,'.corruption.' Crime was correspondingly • rampant, and it- was no uncommon, .thing for witnesses to he shot dead on-entering a court.

describing Inti impressions of dormany, Air. Curotta said that the were an industrious and highly organised people. Their present ohjectiyp, was to capture the \Vhrld riiin'lcbts in-spite of all tan It obstacles. Wages had been reduced in' order to bring down costs, and were to he reduced still lurt-her. ThCrc -was, however, a great deal ol unemployment throughout the country.