MORE CARPENTERS ARRIVE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 30 June 1939, Page 3

MORE CARPENTERS ARRIVE

ADDRESS BY MINISTER “NO GOLD OX THE STREETS” “You will not be able to pick up gold on the streets in New Zealand any more than you can in England, but for young men like yourselves the opportunities are better than in the Homeland,” said the Minister of Housing, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, when he addressed 59 building trades workers, who arrived at Wellington yesterday by the Rangitiki, to take up work in Wellington. They are mainly carpenters, but includ-- plasterers, bricklayers, painters, electricians, and plumbers. Mr Armstrong said that it was learned that there was a surplus in British Empire countries of the skilled labour New Zealand wanted in connection with its housing plans. Accordingly the High Commissioner in London had been asked to select the most likely looking men offering for work in New Zealand and send them out. For many years to come there was going to be any amount of work in the building trade.

Because there was a shortage of houses there was to some extent a shortage of accommodation. That was the reason that it had been suggested that single men be sent. Arrangements were being made to accommodate them temporarily at no more than 25s a week; if it was any more, the difference would be paid for the men till such time as they were fixed up with permanent accommodation. This would possibly cost more than they were accustomed to paying, but on the other hand the wages were higher. Some hundreds of Australians had come to New Zealand to work and similar arrangements had been made for them. Every man had been allocated a job, and those who came independent of the arrangement through the High Commissioner were as welcome as the others, concluded Mr Armstrong. The men start work to-day; they come from all parts of England' and are all young men.