BUILDING SUBSIDY PAVES THE WAY TO EMPLOYMENT

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7250, 1 September 1933, Page 8

BUILDING SUBSIDY PAVES THE WAY TO EMPLOYMENT

Important Repercussions In Sawmilling Industry Day by day the metallic ring of the carpenter’s hammer, tho rasp of , his saw, and the twang of a nail driven to its home in new timber, are resounding through tho city. In old streets and new, houses aro talcing form under the masterly eye of the tradesman, or older dwellings are assuming a new air of smartness. Here and there, too. a new building is being added in the business quarters. And all because, or mostly because, of a Government subsidy which has created something of a revolution in the building world, and now shows indications of creating something of a record wave of activity. Tho large volume of building work induced by the Ho. 10 scheme of the Unemployment Board is revealed by the abstracts of figures compiled by tho local bureau. The summary for the week ending on August 26 shows the total estimated cost of work for which a subsidy is .claimed as being £86,000. This represents a labour cost of £35,000, on which assistance to tho extent of £IO,OOO is asked for. Of the total of 235 applications, IS4 have received official approval. A noteworthy feature is .that no less than 74 new dwellings are sought for among the applications, a sure token that Palmerston North is a growing community. No less than £41,000 is tho sum to be expended in this direction, including £II,OOO for labour, which will cost tho board £4OOO in subsidy. All but seven of these jobs are already authorised. Under the heading of commercial buildings, six applications have beer, made for assistance, all meeting with official approval. Together they arc expected to cost £28,000, and to carry a subsidy of £3OOO on a labouT appro priation of £SOOO. Alterations and renovations are the third distinct category, and'lll of the 155 jobs are Teady to proceed. The subsidy here is smaller, being reckoned at £685 on an outlay of £5831, for which wages will amount to £2OOO. Hence, of all approved works, the cost will be £74,635, the wages bill of £20,028, and the cost to the Government by way of subsidy £8205. A pleasing feature is that the scheme has by no means run itself out as yet, and applications to tho tune of well over a dozen a week are still being received at tho Palmerston North office. The figures are thus changing daily,' and it appears by no means unlikely that the £IOO,OOO mark will be compassed within a few weeks. More Men Employed

The scheme is after all intended to be one for the amelioration of unemployment, and it is therefore gratifying to note that on every hand it is now moving to this end. Every day more and more men are being transferred from the No. 5 scheme to the generally more constructive building work, and the move in this direction is stated to be growing more defined as time progresses. In the words of one citizen who has been following the scheme closely from the outset: <‘A few weeks ago the scheme seemed relatively ‘dead/ but now it is gathering momentum, and I anticipate that the number of men finding work because of it will go on increasing. There is no doubt that this lift will be felt throughout the building and allied trades, and there is a definite move towards more business. The volume of work being put in hand is growing fast, and this is now expedited by the fact that the local office of the Unemployment Board now 'receives approval on most jobs within a week of their being forwarded to Wellington.” This competent opinion certainly augurs well for the prospects in coming months. City Council Permits The building permit book of the Palmerston North City Council mirrors the affects of the subsidy as they govern Palmerston North. Por the month finished yesterday, the permits aggregated £10,208, a handsome rise over the 1932 tally of £7483. Of that figure £8333 is for 13 new houses, a smart rise from the corresponding figures of £3450 and five houses in 1932. New business premises will incur a cost. of £Bl9, and alterations £856. The improvement is therefore material, and chiefly the direct outcome of the subsidy in operation. “Quite Like Old Times’'

The scheme has now been in operation for a sufficiently long period of time to permit of its less direct benefits manifesting themselves. Particularly is it having a good effect on the timber trade, and a merchant engaged in the retail trade in the city spoke in a most optimistic vein yesterday when asked by a “Times” representative to express an opinion on this aspect of the subsidy. “It has certainly made a big difference, and our firm has been exceedingly busy for the past two months,” he declared. “Our business has more than doubled itself since the scheme was originated, and particularly there is a sharpened demand for timbers for dwellings. In fact, we have been obliged to put an extra lorry on .the road, and are kept going all the time; This is of course most gratifying, but is really only typical of the position obtaining in all departments of the trade.

“This is likely to hold good for some time, and the ‘fever’ has made itself felt in the sawmills, which now find themselves unable to meet their orders quickly enough, as the demand for wood has been phenomenal. During the bad times the prices obtaining have been well below normal, but .there is now every prospect of timber prices hardening considerably in the near future. This tendency is well marked, and the millers are being hard put to it to keep pace with the demand. One firm which was recently operating three mills in the King Country for three 7-hour days a week, now has its men going for five days of eight hours. In other cases, instead of operating the bush half the time and the mill the oth&i half, ,4e2ai|meaia m m 3

kept going full time. One has only to go to the railway station any day now and see the trains coming in with a good load of timber to see what is happening. In addition there is a laTge amount being drawn by motorlorry. , . , “I can tell you, it is good to be really busy again at last; it feels quite like old times,” concluded this philosophic tradesman.