Work And Unemployment Surveyed

Northern Advocate, 30 July 1938, Page 4

Work And Unemployment Surveyed

! S/H'dal In "Northern Ad> Oraie ' I WELLINGTON. This Day. Th.e annual rcpori. of the Employ - i ment Division of the Department of | Labour was presented in the House ot !Representatives yesterday by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T, Armj strong. i The report states that possibilities , which exist for the establishment of ] enterprises capable of economic operi ations have been encouraged by grants land leans from the Employment Pro- | motion Fund. Indiscriminate Aid. | The report states that indiscriminate ; aid to all and sundry who required 1 financial assistance for any commerI cial ventures 'was carefully avoided, j Grants and loans from the fund were j made available only if the objects of j the proposed expenditure complied (with the following principles: The fin- | ancial assistance must be for the dei velopmcnt of primary and local ini dustries in New Zealand, and the es- ! tablishment of new industries, so that I an increasing number of workers will ibe required for the efficient carrying jon of such industries; the expendi- | ture must not mean the bolstering up :of uneconomic enterprises by subsidies or tariffs, but must incorporate intelligent control and development jof industries, which the Dominion j should be able to carry on to meet the requirements of her own population. "Financial assistance to industries in every case was preceded by a thorough and impartial study of each application by the Bureau of Industry, which requires to be satisfied that the I economic welfare of the country would I be advanced by the provision of State j assistance," the report continues. “The ' absorption of unemployed men into I gainful occupations in industries fos- | tered by State assistance must neces--1 sarily be an unhurried process. Until , absorption is fully achieved, the State i is faced with the problem bow best I to maintain the faculty and ability of the fit worker." After referring to the efforts made during the past twelve months to eni courage the provision of work by State i departments and public ' employing ' authorities, the report states it was j fully recognised that works for the reI lief of unemployment were frequently ,in some degree unproductive. That ! did not mean that the worker’s labour j added nothing to the community | wealth. The able-bodied unemployed j constituted a labour resei’ve of indusi try, and the loss in consequence arose j out of the necessity of retaining the quality of employability in the everchanging personnel of this reserve of 1 manpower. 1 Unemployment Reduction. “It is the responsibility of the State to minimise unemployment to the greatest degree possible, so that the population will be maintained on as high standard of living as is practicj able,” the report adds. “In the past I the failure to see what was really happening to the unemployed man, and the non-availability Of sufficient funds for expenditure purposes, caused many wrong courses to be followed, and the ! unemployed did not receive to the full | from the rest of the 'community the ! help which they needed. The provision and good and useful work at normal full-time rates of pay is intended to rectify this.”