WORKLESS RELIEF

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12703, 7 November 1935, Page 5

WORKLESS RELIEF

STATEMENT BY MR CQATES. ENCOURAGEAIENT OF PRIVATE 7/ V7' INDUSTRY. : .7. ' STATE CO-OPERATION WITH INTERESTED. GROUPS. i ■ i; i'M . • ONE BIG PROJECT MAY ABSORB . 1700 MEN, (Press Assocfttion.) PAPAROA, Nor. G. The policy of the Government to promote emplqymcnt through the encouragement of private industry, supported by some expansion of Public Works according to carefully devised programmes, was discussed by Air Coates at meetings iji the Ivaipara , electorate to-day..

Dealing with the problem of Public Works,- the Minister said that, even during the worst , years of the depression, .there had never been a com'piete cessation of activities.... However, in a time of acute .depression, a prudent Government was forced to take into account certain factors limiting the extent to which loan expenditure could be pushed with safety. The Government now felt the time was appropriate for a cautious expansion of Public Works activities, and provision had been made, in the estimates for the current year. He had already made a pronouncement relating to the Government’s Public Works programme and the scheme of works to be undertaken in co-opera-tion with the Unemployment Board. He wished to emphasise that the expenditure of loan money would be confined to such amounts as would be justified by financial returns. “The main attack on the unemployment problem must be in the direction of encouraging private employment,” continued Air Coates. The Dominion's employable population was increasing, and there was a tendency for labor to be displaced by the increased use of machinery and more economical methods of production.

“The reconstruction measures of the Government, havo been directed towards stabilising a sound basis on which private enterprise can expand,” he said. “The considerable improvement within the last two years shows that this policy has succeeded, while the success fo the Government in balancing the Budget has .removed the factor of uncertainty, it ensures that taxation will not be increased, and it offers the prospect of early tax reductions.

“For some time the Government has been working on proposals which should give positive encouragement to the development of private industry,” continued the Alinister. “A 1 ensures are already under procedure for co-operation between the Government and interested groups. In addition, specific schemes of industrial development are actually being discussed. If the negotiations relating to one particular project can be successfully concluded, permanent employment will be provided for 1700 men. The housing policy of the Government will also provide a strong impetus for employment in the building trades, while surveys into the natural resources of the country will provide a body of knowledge of inestimable value to those with capital to invest.”