DIFFICULT POSITION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 228, 26 August 1932, Page 4

DIFFICULT POSITION.

STRANDED RELIEF WORKERS.

Per Press Association

ROTORUA. Aug. 25. A difficult position lias developed in regard to 36 relief workers who refused work at the Kaingaroa Plains forestry camp on Tuesday on the ground that they could not face the intense cold. The men were paid off at Rotorua, but as a result of their action in refusing work the authorities state they cannot accept responsibility for returning the men to their homes. At present the men are stranded at Rotorua. They have very little money and no prospects of obtaining work. The local relief authorities have no additional resources beyond those required for their own purposes, and the difficulty will be accentuated unless something is done.

The member for the district, Mr O. H. Clinkard, has placed the position before the Minister of Employment, but no reply has so far Been received. Six of the men on arrival at Rotorua came to grips with the police and were arrested for drunkenness. They gave some trouble in the cells and a body of their comrades congregated outside the police station to interview the senior-sergeant in charge. However, they were considerably chastened when they made their appearance before the Court this morning and were convicted and discharged. As a precautionary measure, polico reinforcements from Hamilton arrived here to-dav, but it is not expected any trouble will eventuate. The men state that their clothing was insufficient for the intense cold of the Kaingaroa Plains. When the camps were first proposed representations wore made to the Unemployment Board to assist the men to obtain the necessary warm clothing, but the board stated that it was unable to do anything in this direction.