UNEMPLOYMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 120, 22 April 1931, Page 9

UNEMPLOYMENT

DISCUSSION ON BILL. When the motion dealing with unemployment was under discussion in the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon, Mr J. A. Nash' in expressing his views, said that ho was afraid the Leader of the Labour Party and a subsequent speaker rather misunderstood his interjection in regard to the legislation that they had on the Statute Book. It provided that sustenance “may” be paid; and it is unfortunate, in the speaker’s opinion, that they did not have the word “shall” inserted in place of the word “may.” He would like to see the Act carried out as it was, but with the word “shall” inserted there. The speaker held the position of chairman of the local committee in his own city, and they were feeling the strain in Palmerston North just ns much as it was being felt in the larger cities. They had there at the present time about one thousand men out of work, and were able to do little or nothing for them. It was anticipated that when schemes were brought in by the Unemployment Board, the social welfare activities of hospital boards would be relieved to a certain extent of the expenditure which had so greatly increased during the last year or two; but they found that the position was totally different from what they expected—that the number of recipients of charitable aid was steadily increasing—and now the men had been knocked off work. The Hospital Board in the speaker’s district anticipated that when the schemes came into operation the board was certainly going to get some relief. The board had overspent its estimates by a very large sum this year already, and it was hopeless apparently to expect the Government to meet the position as far as the hospital boards were concerned. In the district tliev had approximately 1000 flaxmill workers, who had been granted certain rates—very low it was true—by the Arbitration Court, and they had done their best to impress on the Unemployment Board the neees-' sity of doing something in the way of subsidising those figures. He pointed out that under the No. o scheme those flaxmill workers had been employed at a wage of 14s a day. If this small subsidy, had been granted to the flaxmill workers it was easy for any member of the House to see at once the large saving that would have been effected by the Unemployment Board. Tire speaker thought the proposal a very reasonable one, and a sensible one. There were other industries which would probably want to come into the scheme. If they subsidised those workers at the rate of 2s or 3s per day out of the funds of the Unemployment Board, would it not be better than paying out 14s a day? He was sorry the Unemployment Board did not give the matter the consideration it should have given to it. If the board could save such a huge sum of money every day. on the wages paid, then that would be conserving its funds. The position was that the Unemployment Board had no money to carry on, and it said definitely it was short of money. He was not raising this question with the idea of abusing the Unemployment Board. He realised that the board had an enormous task to undertake, and he thought it liad acquitted itself well. There was another matter he would like to refer to in connection with the flaxmill workers. They had to take into consideration the amount of employment that the flax-milling industry could give to other people in this country. There were owners of lorries, freights for the railways, work on the wharves, and there was the shipping, and on top of that they would nave money coming back into the country as a result or the operation of the iiaxmills. Where were the flaxmills getting to to-day? Practically the whole or the mills were closed, and the industry had about gone. The flax land was now being turned into dairying land. The people bad to do something with it. Continuing, Mr Nash said that the Unemployment Board had reduced the wages of single men to 9s a day. He wanted to impress upon the Minister that if the rate was to be 9s a day for the single men, they were entitled to earn enough to keep them in food. They could not do it on two days a week at 9s. That was a matter that they had brought under the notice or the Unemployment Board. The number of-days should be extended. Tire men must have sufficient to enable them to pay for the food which they consumed, he considered that was a reasonable request to make to the Government. It was difficult at the present juncture to know just exactly what they, were going to do with regard to the large army of unemployed that they had in Palmerston North to-day. The Hospital Board was besieged with applications from these men for sustenance. On behalf of the members of the board ho said that they were not going to allow these people to starve.