UNEMPLOYMENT

Grey River Argus, 5 October 1934, Page 5

UNEMPLOYMENT

West Coast Members’ Appeals FALLS ON DEAF EARS. (Our Own Correspondent. - ) \V El,LI\( ;T().\. Octobei 3. On Wednesday al'iernoon. Aleinbers of Parliament wen* given live min ules to deal with replies tn questions which they previously had asked. Although tlic time was very 'imited. Messrs J. (I’Brien and I’. C. Webb, M’s.P., took the opportunity to appeal for tlir unemployed rel'ef work ers in their uon.T it Henries, Mr Webb for those engaged on the GreymoutliWcstport road, and Mr O’P.ien. calling attention tu the cuts made in the relief pav for single m«m and married men. without fami'v. Mr Webb went so far as to say the rates of pa v for the work done were a disgrace to the Kiovernment. while Mr O'Brien slated thal as no notice was being token of the appeals made on behalf of the unemployed by Members of Parliament. it was fai” v o'..ions that some drastic actio.: l >. tlio unemployed was necessary before any relief .would be gra; ted them. Herewith a uomlensed report of Mr Webb’s and Al: '•Brien’s speeches: — Air Webb ( Buller » inferred to Ques'ion X>. 12 in which he had asked the Minister of Public Works to make inquiries into ‘.he /emlitions under twhich relief workers were employed ■ m the West port (trey mouth highway. !'he ?dinister s replv was that the work wabeing carried on by the Main Highways Beard, but the improvement of the highway to wa-s a national 1 work, and if it had not been w'idened and graded it wou.'d be unsuitable for i modern motor traffic. The men are being paid only 2!d per hour, and in t-ie course of their work It hey had to have ropes tide ar"um| uhem when picking down earth from overhanging cl'iffs. The public Works Department had spent thousands of pounds in constructing the ma.in highway from Brighton to Greymouth, but on the section from Brighton to \\ estp f; rt travellers had to depend upon the old road which was unsuitable for motor traffic. The work should be paid for at higher rates than were being paid atf present. The men were widening the road to make it. siritablo for motor and oitlier heavy traffic, and yet. the Minister met’e'y replied that the matter wa-i under the Highways Board. Bow hmg was qßat class of work to be done under such conditions? He would appeal to the Minister to give the young men a chance. Their average earnings over (the last three years had been not- mure than £1 14s per month. Xo doubt it would be said that they got .their keep. What a o'-ospeM lor the 12.0(10' or 14,00 boys leaving school aunuallv to think t’liey niigh< be in those single men’s jobs at 2nd pci hour! It d'id no't reflect to. the credit of anv Government that men should be retained on thalt class of work at •meh :i miserable rate of pay. If the Mi"i.-ter would only inspect the work, 11 "* would at once see that it was a ••• tional work and should be paid ’<>r •>t a national rate of wage. In no other pant of Australasia would the work be regarded as other than a national wnrk. Air O’Brien (Westland) referred to Question No. 3c. asked by the (honourable member for Hutt a.s to whether the Minister of Employment would this session amend ithe Unemployment Act so as to extend the definition of ‘ * dependent ’ * and increase the allocation to ensure an adequate standard of living for the unemployment worker and his dependents. Single unemployed men bad had the'ir pay reduced from 10s :to 7s 6d per week, while married men with no children had had their pay reduced from £1 to 17s 6d. The excuse given was that men with large families must be given additional wages. Even with the 5s per week extra the men with large families were not receiving sufficient to keep Ithem

and their families in the necessaries of life. The single men and those married men who had no children were not getting enough to. provide them with the shelter and clothing which was necessary in such a. rigorous climate a.s the West Coast, and for food and clothing they had to depend on charitv at present.

It was obvious that the relief pay provided in the cities was far from sufficient; but in the country there was a very much lo.wer scale of re lief paid, and relief workers there were in a desperate plight. He aud other Members had appealed to the Minister of Employment and the Prime Minister time -’.nd time again on behalf of the unemployed relie! workers, but their appeals had fal'en on deaf ears. Afust the relief workers do something drastic before tlieir appeals received consideration? MnM Afembers advise them that desperate action wou*<l he necossnrv before the Government would assist them? Mb.v was wet time denied to tb.<‘ Vest Coast men. whe’e Ih n climate wm< so severe, when it was allowed 1,1 the cities? It appeared tha' not • l( ’ Member on the Government benches was listening to his appeal, and he wioulfl lake steps bo inform the unemployed iworkers thi'j tha< was ho»\ his p’eas on their behalf were being received in Parlihment. RACING FIXTURES. (By the Del ver.) October 4, 6 —Dunedin J.C. October 5, 6—Otaki-Maori R.C. October 12, 13 —Masterton R.C. October 13 —South Canterbury J.C. October 13, 15 —Auckland R.C. October 20, 22 —Wellington R.C. October 22, 23 —Gore R.C. October 22 —Waverley R.C. October 22—Waikato R.C. October 22—Waipawa C.R.C. October 22 —North Canterbury R.C. October 25, 27 —Poverty Bay T.C. October 27 —Banks Peninsula R.C. October 27 —Rangitikei R.C. November 3, s—Avondale5 —Avondale J.C. November 3,5, 7, 10—Canterbury J.C. November 8, 10 —Whangarei R.C.