PUBLIC WORKS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 2 October 1928, Page 6

PUBLIC WORKS

UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM. GOVERNMENT’S POLICY. OPPOSITION CRITICISM. (By Telegraph—Press Association, j WELLINGTON, Oct. 1. When the Prime Minister moved m the Mouse of Representatives to-day that the House go into committee oi supply to consider the Public Works Estimates and Statement, Mr. Parry started a discussion on unemployment, which, he said, was becoming a malignant growth on the body politic. There were more men out of work today that a few months ago, and what the Government had done to relieve the situation was practically negligible. There were men starving, and nothing was being done to give them relief. He quoted instances reported in the Press, for the details of which he could not vouch, but he was perfectly sure that the method employed of registering and tabulating. the unemployed was totally misleading. Mr. T. M. Wilford said everyone sympathised with the unemployed, and he suggested that the Ministers, heads of departments, and local bodies should get together and evolve some general scheme of employment. Mr. F. N. Bartram chided the Government with not- having pushed on with the Morningside railway work, which would have given work to a large number of Auckland’s unemployed. He contended the unemployed should he paid full rates, and lie resented a paragraph in the Public Works Statement that Hie public works should not he made a dumping ground for the unemployed. The Hon Tv. S'. Williams (Minister of Public Works) said he had been urged to open public works to all and sundry, but there was another side to that question. They had men who were permanently employed on public works, and these men should be protected against the invasion of all and sundry on standard works. It was not possible to employ everyone on the public works of the Dominion, but a great deal could be done by the general co-operation of private employers.

Mr. 11. G. R. Mason wanted to know why there had been so much delay in settling the dispute regarding the Arapuni power-house with the contractors, and whether the contractors subsequently accented less than they originally demanded. Mr H. T. Armstrong said thp share of the petrol tax allocated to the cities was nothing like a “fair deal.” To that extent he did not think the Publlic Works Statement put the position accurately. The department had not done anything like its shame in providing work for the unemployed, and those they had engaged lrad been engaged at a, starvation rate of pay. Sir Josenh Ward said the Prime Minister should tell the House what limit he considered should be placed on Public Works expenditure this year. Some of the figures in the 1 Statement seemed to himi staggering.. He was greatly concerned about it: it was bulge and he doubted the ability of the country to stand the strain.

CO-OPERATIVE WORKS. Mr P. Fraser complained that when the permanent employees of the Public Works Department asked the Minister to review the agreement uiidier which they were working he . turned them down flatly and not a -single increase asked for was granted. Moreover, the department was not paying recognised tradesmen award rates, and' even that reasonable request was refused. There wansi also a grievance about . annual leave. There wa s a feeling that .the co-operative system was now being used by the department to exploit the men, for the harder the men worked and the larger the wages earned, was only an excuse for the engineers to reduce (the rates at which the work was donje. In that allegation there was a case for the department to answer, and lie hoped that answer would be given at once, because there was now general dissatisfaction with the co-operative system', whereas a few years ago it was the system the workers preferred. Mr It. Mclveen condemned the (prevalence of unemployment. The Government, he said, had lamentably failed to solve the problem and had lost its opportunity. for ft would not have another chance after November next.

The Hon. A. I>. AlcLeod admitted there had been a certain amount of unemployment in the Dominion, but not more than there had been in other democratic countries. There was no golden rule by which the problem could be settled, and in its settlement the Government had shown more practical sympathy than those sitting on the Opposition benches. Sir John Luke expressed the opinion that although the hydro - o cc-trie schemes were at present doing away with much old-fashioned machinery and so displacing many employees, when all .the 'scheme.? became linked up they would make a great improvement in tire earning power of the Dominion.

Air W. A. Veiteii said the cure for unemployment was a change of Government. -Tiro weakness of itlre present position was that no industrial system was being developed into which men engaged on public woirks could be absorbed.

The Hon. It. A. Wright denied that tire wages of the men engaged on cooperative work were being reduced’ by the Public Works engineers. Such a statement was a libel on reputable men who bad no instructions to reduce wages and who would lied do so on their own initiative. The Government was not taking 'advantage of unemployment to get cheap labour. The fact was that unemployment was here, and no Government in the world bad done more to successfully cope with the problem.

The Loader of the Opposition (MV H. R. Holland) said one of the most .prolific causes of unemployment whs the bringing out of hundreds of. immigrants to a labour ’.market already overstocked by our own people. It was for this reason that the Opposition attacked the immigration policy of the iGovpmment. The Hon. 0. J. Ha when said if men were unemployed it was first-hand evidence that' their employers could not afford to pay them the wages they demanded. This wa.s the rosu’t of the courts fixing high wages awards. If a merchant could not sell his goods he must reduce the prices to meet the market, and the same thing applied to labour. He did not advocate a. reduction of wages, but ho did advocate greater production, and in inducing men to do this the Labour Party had as much responsibility as the Government. Mr J. A. Lee declared that out of the expenditure of £8,000,000 on public works the Government was finding £250,000 out of revenue, whereas, the old Liberal Government used to provide £BOO.OOO out of a total expenditure of £2.000.000. which was a much better performance, for tlm revenue in the old Liberal Party was. on'V a. fraction of what it was to-day. There was a

million sterling lying in the main highways fund which should he used in giving. employment to the unemployed. Mr H. G. Dickie disagreed with Mr Lee. The Highways Board, he said 1 , "could not profitably spend the money on road-making in the winter months, for to do so would simply mean wearing out one road to make another. Mr A. Be’l advocated the tapering off of the railway building policy and the extension of good motor roads on which tlie people could travel 365 days in the year. PRIME MINISTER’S SPEECH. The Prime Minister said he believed there was a responsibiluty on the part of the Government to deal with the unonrployod problem, but iso far no permanent solution had been found. The recent industrial conference discussed it from every point of view”. A great deai of information had been obtained and was Hung prepared for further investigation by the committee, which would be set up so soon as the employers and the employees could give the Government the men they wanted. The only remedy suggested by the Opposition was unemployment .insurance. That was no remedy and he had no hesitation in saving what the Government lrad done was of far greater benefit to the workers than any unemployed insurance tried in any part of the world. No one wanted to reduce wages, but what was wanted was more production during times of depression, and we could go on producing meat, wool, butter, cheese and other primary products to any extent without affecting tO' the slightest extent the world’s markets. He did not favour relying on pick and shove!, work as: a means of employing young New Zealanders. They ought to be absorbed in the industries. He also admitted that it was not wise at present to pursue tine immi-gration-policy, but it wais a wise man who could foresee its difficulties. Certainly, the Opposition did nett foresee the difficulties 1 which had arisen. Mr Coates defended the extension of the Rotorua-Tanpo railway on the ground that without it a great area of fanning and timber country could not be developed. So. far as South Island lines were concerned, they had listed the lines in order or urgency and were now engaged in filling uip the gaps so as to unite the disunited (sections into complete systems. As one section was completed' the men were being drafted on to other sections, and no one had done more to give those men good conditions than he. „ One of the most vital problems dealt with in tho Statement was the extraordinary development of the roads and the economic effect it was likely to have on the railways. That demanded a solution and the Government had definite ideas as to< how it should bis settled. On one point they were agreed —that wa- that the charges, in this country should not he thrown hack, on the land.

DISCUSSION IN COMMITTEE. The House then went into commitfee of supply to consider the Estimates. On the first item AH P. Eraser moved to reduce it by £1 as ail indication that me Public Works camps were unsatisfactory. On a division the amendment waa defeated by 30 votes to 11. On the item tor locomotives constructed in the United Kingdom. £45,000), ALr W. A. Yeitch moved to reduce the vote by. £1 a.s an indication that engines should he built in New Zkai'and. Tne Prime Minister explained that three of the engines were Garratt locomotives for the Alain Trunk line, which would take a train right through from WV.nlington to Auckland. These gines could not be built in New Zealand because of the patent rights held ny the makers. The remainder of the engines were electrical locomotives for the Lyttelton tunnel. When the new rai’way workshops were completed he anticipated this type of engine could! be constructed in New Zealand.

On a division, the amendment was defeated by 31 votes to 9. OBJECTION TO DM M.l ORATION. WELLINGTON, Oct. 2. After the Telegraph Office closed, discussion on the Public AVorks Estimates continued. Members of tlie Labour Party strongly attacked tlie vote for immigration, contending that before more public school boys were brought to the Dominion provision should be made to give New Zealand boys a chance to obtain education in farming. These arguments were replied ( to by several Government supporters, whq argued that the Empire spirit was 1 a livino- thing and one had no right to object to have our population increased by recruits from the British Isles. The vote was finally agreed to without division. In three hours votes totalling £8,753,500 were passed and progress was reported. Th© House, rose at 3.16 a.m. till 2.3 Q p.nr.