THE UNEMPLOYED

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 220, 18 August 1931, Page 9

THE UNEMPLOYED

CURTAILMENT OF WORK. NECESSITY FOR MORE MONEY. At yesterday’s meeting of tho Unemployment Committee tho secretary presented a list of men, who have hitherto been receiving four days’ work per week, but who are to be reduced to three days in future. There were present at the meeting Messrs J. A. Nash, M.P. (in the chair), Hansford, Batchelar, Collis, Jacobs, Hodgens, Graham and Lowden (secretary). In presenting tho list Mr Lowden commented that there were in the neighbourhood of 175 men involved. Mr Lowden: While I realise that every married man has fixed charges by way of rent, lighting and firing, there aro many who have children working who arc appreciably better off than tho single men. Mr Hodgens: These men will now be required to live on an average earning of £1 8s ljd per week and pay at least £1 per week for rent. It can’t be done. Mr Lowden: Every circular issued by the Unemployment Board stresses the need for retrenchment and I must not on any account exceed the amount granted. Thanks to the efforts of the chairman, wo aro better off than some centres. ~ . ~ , The chairman: The trouble is that only £50,000 per week has been allowed the board and they have to cater for approximately 50,000 unemployed in tlio Dominion. The board has not sufficient money. Mr Jacobs: Surely the hoard has a good idea what to prepare for. The chairman : The board has oecn hoping that seasonal work will help them out. . , ~ Mr Batchelar: There is a doubt about that. • ... Mr Hodgens: We are a committee set up to control matters locally, yet we have no powers. Our hands ar tied. It seems a waste of time. The chairman: Don t say that, v - have done a lot of good. However, I lvill see the commissioner to-morrow ana see what can be done. Mr Mansford (to the secretary): Could vou keep these men going with an additional £9O or £IOO per week? Mr Lowden: It would be necessary to have our quota extended by another £125 to do so. , The chairman: The trouble which has been confronting the board is that it lias to make up tlie £250,000 expended during the period following the stopping of the scheme, but which had been carried on pending Parliament meeting.

RETURNED SOLDIERS. Mr Jacobs, in outlining tlie acitivities of the local It.S.A. in subsidising City Council works out of Poppy Day funds, explained that it had been decided by his association to replace the 24 men so engaged by a further batch, but to their consternation it bad been found that the men coming off tlie City Council works were being required to stand down for 14 days prior to participating under the No. 5 scheme. The men had applied at the local labour office only to be advised that no authority had been received from tlie Unemployment Board to waive tlie rule, yet the RilA. had received notice to that effect from tlie commissioner, and that official had stated that notice had been forwarded to the local officer. Mr Lowden stated that tlie first lie had heard of the change in the men had been last Thursday, when he had been in touch with Mr Rutherfurd, the R.S.A. secretary, and he had then advised him that the necessary authority had not come forward. However, it had come to hand, in this morning s mail. The speaker assured Mr Jacobs that be was very sympathetic to tlie It.S.A., and lie could promise that returned men would always receive fair treatment. However, in this instance lie could not act without authority. The chairman reported that lie had seen the Minister on three occasions in respect to transport matters, but nothing had been done owing to the board not having men. Mi' Furkert had been away and that had delayed matters.

GARDENING SCHEME ADOPTED

■ The Palmerston North City Couni cil decided last evening to co-operate, , on an equal basis of cost, with the | Hospital Board in the provision of one day’s work per month (on the fourth i week in which no other relief work , is granted) for single men in the grow- . ing of vegetables on a suitable area | as a further means of providing as- | sistance. About 50 men are expected ; to benefit and the estimated cost to the city ratepayers will be about £l2 per month. | Referring to the relief schemes, the Mayor .stated that the expenditure ' to date by the council was £7854 13s ' lid under the No. 5 scheme and £5580 . Is 5d had been refunded by the Government, the council having found £2274 12s 6d of its own money which, . with £BOO provided for R.S.A. workers, made a total of over £3074, although the provision in the estimates for unemployment relief had been only £2OOO. The point now was that the council could only employ men on three weeks out of four, a circumstance which was falling very hard on some of the single men. He had interviewed the chairman of the Hospital Board and put a proposition to him and it had been discussed by the board that day. It was proposed to give single men one day’s -work in the “off” week which would assist them to pay something towards their rent and food, c 'The cost would be shared equally by the City Council and the Hospital Board. The whole problem of unemployment was a difficult one, but there was another difficulty in that the local bodies were paying out for material and tools under the No. 5 scheme. It was all very well for the Government to say that' the councils were deriving benefit, but they were being asked to find money which in some cases amounted to 10 to 20 per cent, of the relief work costs. If the council were to continue operations under the No. 5 scheme the works committee would have to consider some sort of proopsal at its next meeting. Not only were the unemployed now reduced to work on only three weeks out of four, but the men getting four days were now to receive only three and they had very little money to come and go on. As for the single men, there had been talk of their plaAing vegetables and the arrangement with the Hospital Board would give an opportunity to see whether such a scheme could be carried out. The vegetables would be used through the relief depots, and in the event of these being closed when tlie vegetables were ready the produce could be used by the Hospital Board. Palmerston North was recognised as being one of the best organised places for relief and the proposed scheme would cost the council—at 50 men for one day each every fourth week—about £l2 per month. Or Fitzherbert moved a motion on the lines required to giVe effect to the proposal, saying that the council had just passed an interest account payable in Sydney which would show a saving of £395 in exchange. Cr Aitcliison seconded Cr Fitzherbert’s motion, stating that it was their duty to help the single men also. i The motion was carried unanimously.

The proposal was mentioned by Mr Hansford at the meeting of tho Palm-

erston North Hospital Board yesterday afternoon when unemployment relief was discussed in committee. The hoard appointed a committee comprising Messrs Hornblow, Hansford, Nash, Boyce and Howell to go into the matter, and it met subsequent to the general meeting. CHRISTCHURCH COMMITTEE. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 17. The Christchurch Unemployment Committee to-day protested against the action of the Unemployment Board in advising, after tho men had started work to-day, that the allocations for the week had been reduced. Tho following telegram was sent to the board : “The Christchurch committee is very perturbed at the action of the board in reducing the vote without notice, causing insuperable difficulties, as the men have commenced work. Can the vote be reinstated this week P IVe urge that in future a week’s notice of alteration in the vote bo given.” NEW PLYMOUTH COMPLAINT. Per Press Association. NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. 17. In order to provide for unemployment relief during the remainder of the current financial year, the New Plymouth Borough Council was compelled tonight to vote another £2OOO out of the street works fund for relief purposes. The council will notify ratepayers that this means not only tho complete cessation of all new work on streets, but also a reduction of the usual maintenance. Councillor Robertson said that while this was the only step possible from a humane point of view, the position was most unsatisfactory in that the council had been compelled to shoulder no less than 20 per cent, of the total cost of unemployment relief owing to the large proportion of supervision, employers’ insurance and haulage costs, which were all payable by the council. Assuming that the Government was going to expend £3,000,000 next year on unemployment relief and that all local authorities liad to find 20 per cent, of the total expenditure, as in New Plymouth, this would mean that the ratepayers of New Zealand must find £600,000, apart from tho ordinary unemployment levy and wages tax. It was too heavy a burden altogether, and there seemed no hope of relief in the future.