RELIEF WORK

Grey River Argus, 22 September 1936, Page 3

RELIEF WORK

FOR ALL FISHERMEN On Stewart Island ' Per Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, September 21. Fifty-three fishermen of Stewart Island will earn their first penny lor more than two months, this week, when they will begin relief work, under the No. 5 Scheme. For the last six years, fishing on the. island has not been a remunerative job, so much so that, on the basis ol returns from the fish exported, eae.n fisherman has over that period earned an average of 18s 9d per week, and the end of 1936 season has been so bad into be the last straw.

Statements from the fishermen themselves, checked with export records ami bv other residents, disclose the lull extent of the plight of 80 odd men who are engaged in fishing from the island. Many of them have not. wet a line for fish for more than two months, becaus: of there having been worse weather than for many seasons past.

'Che Minister of Employment, Hou. 11. T. Armstrong, has authorised the granting of work under the No. 0 Scheme. It is only for those in urgent need of assistance.

Jlow widespread the urgent need is can be gathered from the action of the local Certifying Officer in listing almost all of the lishernien in Half .Moon Bay itself as being in urgent need of relief. The work that the men on the island will begin this week will be on the County roads, but there is a general feeling on the island that some big public works job should be undertaken to find work .for men from now until February next, when the next fishing season will begin. A representative of the “Southland Times,” who visited the island at the week-end, says I hat men of the island do not parade poverty, and it. was a difficult task to find Retails ol the position from them. All impression was everywhere gathered that assistance was urgently needed. He says that mainland residents can only with difficult v imagine some of the consequences of poverty on this isolated island. For instance, the birth of a child to a fishing family at the present time is a grave matter, and although friends and relatives will assist with clothes and other necessaries that are needed, and there is a District Nurse, those parents who have not had a penny come into the house for months at a time have far more serious worry than relief workers in a city would have. The community spirit engendered by the isolation of Stewart Island is an asset far greater than money. Every one helps those in need, but the whole community has never been so short 01. money as it is now. Any relief that, the Government can give is urgently needed.