UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 March 1927, Page 2

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

CRITICISED BY MR HOLLAND. \ REPLY TO MR COATES WESTPORT, Last Night. Replying to Mr Coates' last statement re unemployment Mr. H. E. Holland, leader of the Opposition, today said that Mr Coate s had made no reply to his criticism that married men would not be able to maintain ordinary families on the relief work work wage offered, nor had he attempted to deal with the objection that unemployed workers who are members of Unions with agreements providing standard rates would be required to accept wages far below agreement standards. , The Government's defence that they are not in any way responsible for the causes which have led to unemployment was completely -answered by the promises contained in their own election promises and in any case the . plea of shrinking income did not seem to square with the Government's lavish expenditure in other channels and their still more lavish promises s of future expenditure.

The. Prime Minister was quite entitled to ask for constructive and practical proposals from his opponents notwithstanding that it was no part of an opposition's work to frame a policy for the Party in office. Mr Holland contended his suggested that the most urgently needed roads and railways should be put in hand at once and the unemployment given work thereon at standard wages was both constructive and practicable. Mr. Coates was making the mistake of regarding* unemployment problems as something of an evanescent nature to be met with by a temporising policy, and he seemed to desire that the relief work provided should be viewed in the light of charitable aid rather than the recognition of the right to work and adequate remuneration for work done. From circulars that were now being sent out to retail houses by wholesale firms urging the curtailment of credit It was clear that the latter recognised the serious nature of the present economic depression; and when Mr. Coates demanded from the workers that they should place their reliance on individual effort they were en-titled-to ask him to explain how employment could be created by the individual effort of workless men who owned neither land nor machinery and had only their labour power to sell.

The present position could not be met by any half measures. What was really wanted was a healthier collective self-reliance which would enable them to get things done.

Finally Mr Coatos would not help his own case nor would he be likely to help the unemployed by abusively describing perfectly fair criticisms an "senseless attacks."