Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26, 1930. THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 77, 26 February 1930, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26, 1930. THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM.

The Minister of Labour (Hon. W. A. Veitch) had a somewhat uncomfortable time, when dealing with a deputation, introduced by Mr Peter Fraser, M.P., which waited upon him in Wellington on Thursday, in connection with the unemployment problem. For some reason best known to themselves Ministers have ceased publishing the unemployment figures and, as a consequence, information which the country has every right to expect has been withheld from the public. Mr Fraser’s comment upon the Government’s refusal to publish the figures was that its inaction in this respect was simply “a cloak to incompetence,” a remark w r hich the Minister is said to have taken strong exception to. It is not so many weeks ago that the definite promise w r as made, on behalf of the Government, that within a given period there would be no unemployed in New Zealand, and that work would be provided for everyone willing to work. That period came and passed and, while a great deal had certainly been done in the interval to relieve the position, the registrations showed that there were still considerably over 2000 on the unemployed lists throughout the Dominion. Then the publication of the numbers registered, which had been regularly given out week by wrnek, suddenly ceased, and, in the absence of statements to the contrary, the public could only assume one of two things: (1) That there were either no unemployed or that the number was so negligible as not to be worth recording; and (2) that the figures were being deliberately withheld, so that the public would not realise how far the Government had failed to grapple with the trouble. In each of the four centres —- Auckland,. Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin —it is now definitely known that, despite ihe engagement of men in the seasonable occupations, there are still comparatively large numbers of unemployed. In Wellington, according to Mr Fraser, the position has reached “unprecedented proportions. There were,” he told the Minister, “six hundred registered as unemployed, which meant that, at the very least, there were 1000 men out of work, as many did not register.” If that is the case in Wellington, where relief works have been in full swing right through the winter, and are still in progress, a better state of things can hardly be looked for in the other centres. The withholding from publication

of the registrations of the unemployed in no way diminishes the trouble, but has a contrary effect in that, in the absence of the official figures, employers and the public generally are inclined to treat the matter lightly, and to regard statements such as that made by Mr Fraser as exaggerations of the actual facts. The position, apparently, is a great deal worse than it was twelve months ago. The Government is not altogether to blame for that; for, both in Britain and Australia, much the same position prevails and, on the Continent of Europe, unemployment is seemingly on the increase. In Britain there is no attempt at concealing the facts; the figures relating to the unemployed are published week by week, the latest returns giving the number at some 200,000 in excess of the unemployed at the same period last year. While it may be said that the publication of the figures does not help the position, it is equally true that their non-pub-lication does not tend to bring about an improvement. There are so many causes leading up to the unemployment of the present day that no Government can be held responsible for the existing position, though it may do a good deal to alleviate it. . There are hundreds of men in this country alone, formerly filling clerical positions which are nowoccupied by women and girls; the same thing is true of shop assistants ; w’omen are holding positions in the teaching profession formerly filled by men; machinery is displacing labour to a very considerable extent both on loading-, railway and other public works, and there is scarcely an industry in which labour saving appliances have not led to a reduction in the number of workers required prior to their installation. All these and a variety of other causes have been operating to throw men and women out ot work, and the difficulty is to place them in occupations for which they are fitted. Seamen and waterside workers are affected by the changing conditions of transport ; bricklayers and brickmakers suffer from the increase in ferro-concrete building; carpenters and painters find their employment curtailed from similar causes, and it is manifestly absurd to blame the Government for its inability to deal with these and other causes, leading directly towards restricted employment. Still, people w-ill blame the Government, for they must blame somebody, and blame is likely to be more freely administered when facts essential to a correct understanding of the position are withheld from the public. Mr W. Bromley, president of the Wellington District Council of the Alliance of Labour, told Mr Veitcli that “while it might be a debatable point whether unemployment could ... be solved by Government action, a point that was not debatable w r as that since the present administration had assumed office unemployment in New Zealand had steadily increased.” He added: “The difficulty was not going to be overcome by refusal to publish the weekly figures.” Both Mr Bromley and Mr Fraser insisted that the publication of the figures was essential to a correct understanding of the position; and, wfien pressed by Mr A. Black, secretary of the Amalgamated Engineers’ Union, to give an assurance that the figures would be published, Mr Veitcli apparently could do.no more than promise that he would place the matter before Cabinet. “I will,” he said, “makejio promise beyond that.” The reply would seem to indicate that although actually holding the position of Minister of Labour, Mr Veitcli is so much under Cabinet control that he cannot even move in a small matter like this, without the consent of his colleagues.