RELIEF PAYMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 1 September 1934, Page 10

RELIEF PAYMENTS

EDINBURGH SCALE QUOTED

SPEECH OF MR ATMORE Speaking in the House of Representatives recently on Mr Sullivan s Unemployment Bill, Mr Atmore, member lor Nelson, sa-id : I think it is fitting that this bill should bo brought in by the Mayor ol a city wiiose principal local body refused' to reduce wages when asked to do so by the Government. 1 know that there arc one or two local bodies in the North island which acted in a similar way, but the Christchurch City Council stands out for its soundly economic and humanitarian attitude on tlie question of wages. I want to refer bi icily to one or two remarks made by the Minister of Health, who referred to the fact that large milk-drinking nations were not large meat-eating nations, and pointed out that tin- chemical constituents of the two foods were similar. Surely the honourable gentleman did not mean to imply that a- single man on relief pav in a town could be a laigc consumer of either meat, or milk and a man without any pay is in a more impossible position still. With regard to the question of boys not being available for farming, I wrote to the Minister of Employment recently at the request of the Nelson Committee for Boy Employment, asking that the 2s 6d per week now paid should be raised to ss, and the .reply was that it was not advisable to do so. “I shall make a contrast by quoting from the ‘Weekly Scotsman’ of the 16th June, a list of payments recently agreed upon in Edinburgh when a new scale oi relief payment lor necessitous people who were unemployed was approved at a meeting ;of the Edinburgh Town Council on the 7th June. The changes, approved by twenty-eight to twentyfour votes.” were for weekly payments and are as follows: —

“The 2s remains the same, Glasgow agreed to the same rate for adults, but decided lo give 3s instead of 2s fo>' each child. Let- mo quote the amounts that are paid in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Now Zealand respectively. In Edinburgh, a man, his wife, and one child receive, £1 l4s; two children, £1 16s; three children, £1 18s; four children, £2; five children, £2 2s; six children, £2 4s; seven, £2 6s. In Glasgow the figures would run thus —a man, his wife, and one child, £1 lbs; two children £1 18s; three children, £2 Is; four children, £2 4s; five children, £2 7s; six children, £2 10s; seven children, £2 i3s. I want to compare those scales with the new scale in New Zealand, which is as follows: A man, his wife, and one child, £1 2s; two children, £1 6s; three children, £1 8s; four children. £1 10s; five children £1 12s; six children, £1 14s; seven children, £1 16s. The maximum in New Zealand is £1 16s, compared with £2 13s in Glasgow, and £2 6s in Edinburgh, in spite oi the fact that in each of tile latter cities living is very much cheaper than it is in New Zealand Yet we are still asked the foolish question as to “where is the money to come from.” No such question is asked in regard to an increase in expenditure on our alleged defence. That is never questioned. No one on the Government side raised a question on Defence expenditure. But the moment any ons points out the huge abundance of foodstuffs, clothing and' .other essentials which we have in this country that should be represented by money to-day, the cry goes up, ‘where is the money to come from?’ The essential requisites we can produce in New Zealand are in such quantities that they have become ail embarrassment to producers. Surely, if we can produce foodstuffs, clothing and houses, and everything else that is required in overwhelming abundance, as the honourable member for Timaru points out, w e can devise means for meeting the real needs of those to whom at present we are giving bare sustenance.

Men aged twenty-one years'but under sixtys. d. s. d. "five years _••••• Young men aged eighteen years but under 15 3 17 0 twenty-one years Women aged twenty-one years but under sixty12 6 14 0 five years • • • Young women of eighteen years but under 13 6 lb 0 twenty one years 10 9 12 V Adult dependent 0 0 9 0 Dependant child 2 0 2 0