UNEMPLOYED AT CHRISTMAS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 21 December 1933, Page 5

UNEMPLOYED AT CHRISTMAS

DUTY OF FORTUNATE CITIZENS APPEAL IJY ARCHBISHOP A striking appeal on behalf of fami lies in distress and a request for the inori favoured in the community to sluire tiiei: advantages with the less fortunate, wa: made by Archbishop Julius in an addresi at the Christchurch Rotary Club : luncheon (reports the “Press’ ). Hu Archbishop described the hopelessness of the outlook of unemployed men ani their families, which was made all the worse at this time by the remembrance that Christmas was traditionally a time of good cheer, and by the realisation that they were deprived of the means ol sharing in it. After apologising for the absence oi his son, Sir George Julius, Archbishop Julius said that he had agreed somewhat reluctantly to take his place in addressing the club. “I am reluctant because 1 am a past member,” he said, “because 1 belong to an age l as gone by, because lam old, and the newer generation think little .of old people, and because I can’t make head or tail of the present distresses of the world. lam one with tile Governor of tlie Bank of England in saying that I don’t know what it all means, and can’t see one step ahead. PARABLE OF THE BRIDGE “Many of von may remember bow Waterloo bridge gave way: how the piers failed and the arches began to fall in, how experts were brought in to advise, and how committees were formed. They have been going at it for the last 25 years, discussing whether they -should pull tile bridge down, or widen it, or underpin it, and so on. They are at it now, and they are likely to lie doing just the same for the next half-century. "Meanwhile they have put struts under the arches —unsightly masses ’of timber. “It seems to me that our position today is like that. Ipm not here to discuss the origin of the present distress. Many people are doing that, and the only ones who know all about it are those who write letters to the newspapers. The rest of us just don’t know. We hope that a better time may come, that we may find a way out, and that we may be able to avoid a similar position in the future. In the meantime we try to do something I to help. Tlie arches of our civilisation are giving way. It is just that position that Rotary and other organisations are doing their best to meet. BEARING ADVERSITY “I cannot think of anything that has cheered me more in these times of stress than the way in which the British race has stood up in trouble. I know we are accustomed to look with pride on tlie victories of our race, but it is at its best in a tight corner, such as it lias been in during the last few years, with millions of unemployed, and faced with the greatest difficulty in carrying on. Yet Britain lias kept her head up. I am more proud of my dear old land in these circumstances than in any other. 1 am not belittling other nations, but I am glad that we have done our part. “Among the unemployed there are some who arc unemployable,” be continued. “There always have been these uneniployables, and for the last 18C0 years mankind lias been trying to find out what- to do with them. As yet we do not know how to deal with the mentally weak, the physically wealc, the morally weak, and the generally weak". lam sure that our own system of dealing with them is rotten. Some day we may know better what to do with ‘wasters’ than to put them in prison and then to let them out again no better for being there.”

PLIGHT OF MANY MEN The great numbers of the unemployed were very little reduced, he went on. He did not believe that anyone was present whose imagination was equal to the .task of understanding the position of an unemployed man with a wife and three or six or 16 children, who loved work, who. was a food workman, and who vet could not procure work, and all for no fault of his own. Such men were to be found everywhere. “We have to do the best we can for them,” flic Archbishop continued. “Better times may come, but we must all do our part to help, not only with our regard and our sympathy, but with assistance. I admire the unemployed not merely for their steadiness anil quietness, lmt for the restraint that keeps them back —I almost said ‘from revolution.’ For their position is not their fault. They looked to kings and princes and governments, and all have failed them. I am reminded of the Bible saying, ‘Put not -our trust in princes, nor in any of the childrep of men.’

AN IMMEDIATE DUTY “Now comes our immediate duty—at Christmas. At this time of joy it is particularly difficult for those people with no work and no money. I hope you may have a merry Christmas and sort of Christmas dinner, but I hope you may nevpr enjoy it unless you help others to set a bit. The source of all joy is that we can share our happiness. “But think of these men. They are weary anfl sick to death of it all, and vet they cannot get work; the women cannot feed their children, and the children are denied the advantages that others enjoy. For God’s sake share vour privileges with those who Jack them. A SMALL BOY QUOTED “And for my conclusion, since old people are at a discount, I shall not quote from Mr Stanlcv Baldwin, or from any other of the elders, but from what was written by a. bov aged 13. A school master some years ago handed me this, written by the bov when he was asked to write the parable of the I’harisee and the publican in modern form. This was what the boy wrote: ‘Mrs Jones-Smith was a-very wellknown figure in society, and also one of the leaders of an unemployed relief movement. “ ‘One day when she was stepping out of her motor car a small ’-■oorlyclad child accosted her. and said in a tearful voice: “Please, I’ve lost mv wav. f| ud ..." Mrs Jones-Smith brushed her aside and walked on. “ ‘Later a homeward-bound labourer noticed the child crying bitterly at the street corner. He asked her what the matter was. and on being told, took her by the hand and led her home. 'Two nights later Mrs Jones-Smith addressed a crowded audience on the subject: How we can help the children of the unemployed.’ ”