King Country Chronicle. Thursday, February 20, 1936. LABOUR ON FARMS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4811, 20 February 1936, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Thursday, February 20, 1936. LABOUR ON FARMS.

The Minister of Employment is to introduce a new' system in the administration of his Department. The Employment Board is to practically disappear, and the Board will be absorbed by the Labour Department and the men will be offered new rates of pay and new conditions. The change is in conformity with the Government’s intention to have all administration activities under its immediate control, with as little resource as possible to independent or semi-official Boards. Mr. Armstrong says it is the intention of the Government to “cure” unemployment by national development, and to provide “gainful employment to those who are on-relief.” It will be conceded that in dealing with the unemployment problem a huge amount of money has been frittered away during the last three years, but under the proposed new system another problem arises, and one that involves a serious economic question.. There are over 50,000 men on the unemployment register of the Dominion, and it is no exaggeration to state that there is a demand for at least 5000 men to work on farms. The demand has not been met, however, because the men have found work in the relief camps much moi'e congenial and under the new regime this class of work will be even more inviting. The men cannot be blamed for their attitude, but it raises a serious state of affairs for the primary industries of this Dopninion and one that must be faced. It was 'the policy of the Coalition Government not to make the relief camps too inviting, so that the men would use every effort to obtain employment on farms when offered. It was realised that the rates of pay were only sufficient, and barely that, to provide a mere existence, but even then there were hundreds of men who preferred the camps to taking up work on farms. With the new policy of the Government the position of the farmer in regard to labour will become very much worse. This system involves a huge expenditure on public works, but it can be asked whether this is going to provide a permanent cure for unemployment. ”It is quite certain that this country is not in a position to employ 40,000 men on public works indefinitely. The Minister of this Department stated that he hoped to double the number of men on public, works. According to recent figures there "are 13,000 men employed on public works. It was estimated that in 1931 approximately 12,000 men were employed under the Public Works Department, the cost being somewhere about £9,000,000 a year. It would be pertinent to ask what will be the cost to the country with 26,000 men employed on public works at standard rates of pay? It can be taken for granted that there will be an increase in the employment tax to meet this policy. What is to be the position of the unemployed who are not physically capable of manual labour? Will they be placed on sustenance? The Government’s policy is a bold one, and even dangerous. An increase in the unemployment tax will not go far in financing the Government’s back-to-work policy, though it seems certain such a step can be expecetd. If the new Government can solve the unemployment policy of this country it will have solved a problem that no other country has yet been capable of doing, but it will be galling for those who have to pay an increase in the unemployment tax when there are hundreds of jobs offering on farms from one end of the Dominion to the other. Mi\ Semple has already stated that “money does not grow on mulberry bushes,” yet he does not seem to realise the significance of this statement.