The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1927. RELIEF OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 12 March 1927, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1927. RELIEF OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Delivered every evening- by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa Kltham, M.angntoki, Kaponga. Hurlcyville, Patea. Waverley, Mokoia. Whakamara, Ohangai, Merernere. Fraser Road and Ararata ,

The announcement by the Prime Minister that work is to be found for some 2000 men in an effort to relieve the distress caused by unemployment will make welcome reading for those who have been genuine sufferers, and it also offers proof, when considered with' the decision to restrict immigration to skilled workers after May 1, that the Government is fully alive to the existing conditions and determined to do its utmost to relieve the position. Mr Ooates is aware of the burden which the employment of 2000 additional men is going to place upon the resources of the country, but he has realised that common humanity demands that something should be done for those who, through no fault of their own, find it to obtain work in the normal market. He has explained that the Public Works Department. is already employing 2000 men in excess of its regular quota, and that this has not been possible without incurring expenditure over and above the estimates for the year, but that while the Government should not be required to shouldei the whole of the responsibility for the present condition of the labofir market, it recognises that the situation calls for bold treatment. At the same time it is gratifying to find that the iGovevninent lias not been stampeded into a reckless policy of “relief at any price’’ and has been, courageous enough to aim at giving relief to the greatest number possible for the money expended. The Prime Minister and his colleagues knew full well when they limited payment to 12s a day for married men and 9s per day for single men that their Labour opponents would make .political capital out of a situation which is not at present peculiar to any Government or country, and none knew better than they that Labour, or those representatives of Labour in politics who assume the re-

sponsibility of speaking on behalf of workers, would immediately raise the well-known erv of exploitation of the workers in the interests of “capital.” Already the cry has been raised in Christchurch, where,, at a meeting of the unemployed who gather daily in that city to hear the addresses of their lenders, a resolution was passed declaring that, they, “the representatives of the unemployed of Christchurch,” would not accept the wages offered by Mr Coates, as it meant the reduction of the workers’ standard of living. The proposal of the Government to provide half a loaf for those workers who have been, so.it has been alleged by (he “leaders” of the unemployed, without bread'at all, was described by the principal speaker at this meeting as “scandalous,” and once again the well-worn phrases alleging that the Government had deliberately encouraged the present position in order to “bring the workers to heel” were employed. This leader is one ’of those who, until this opportunity to attack the Government arose, had advocated the acceptance of any kind of priv-ately-offered employment, and had lashed his hearers with' his Itongue whenever they had shown reluctance to accept such temporary employment as canvassing and other occupations which offered no more in the way of remuneration than the worker was able to earn by his own efforts. So long as the political issue did not enter into the problem of providing work for the workless he asked no more than that every endeavour should be made to provide relief for those who were suffering want on account of the failure, of the ordinary channels of employment, but immediately the State, in response to an insistent demand for relief, enters into the field he cannot, resist the temptation to make capital out of the situation. The average man who, though employed, has not escaped the consequences which less prosperous times have brought him, finds it difficult to remain sympathetic with the man who believes that no good can come out of the efforts of his political opponents to assist him and his class. If Labour is sincere in its expressed opinion that the existing conditions in regard to unemployment and the hardship it has brought in its train are the direct outcome of tlie' considered policy of the other side to reduce permanently the workers ’ wages level, then its outlook is not; only cause for regret, but for pity; but if those who most persistently attribute this evil intention to all those not of their own political colour, do so knowing that it is not true, but valuable as propaganda with which to win the support of those who look to them for guidance, then their methods cannot Vbnt alienate the sympathy of .those who are ready to give it. In either case the Government need expect no credit from those who take such a jaundiced .view, and it will have to be content with the knowledge that it has done its duty, and, in doing so, has won the admiration of those who understand how much easier it would have been to purchase popularity ,with the public’s money and the thanks of those, who, having no bread, are prepared to accept the half-loaf to tide them over until such time as they can again enter into the full enjoyment of that standard of living to which their labours entitle them.