UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18174, 21 August 1922, Page 8

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS. . SIR JOHN LUKE'S IDEA. SEASONAL OCCUPATION PROBLEM. | [BI TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Saturday. A suggestion that the Government i should promote village settlements in the neighbourhood of the cities, with the obi ject oi' relieving unemployment.', was made by Sir John Luke in the House of i Representatives yesterday, when"he was reporting, as chairman of tho Labour ■ Bills Committee, upon Mr. P. Fraser's Unemployed Workers Bill. Tho committee was of opinion that the Bill oon* tained provision for appropriation/ and therefore could not proceed. Sir John Luke said that much of the unemployment in New Zealand waa due to the "seasonal nature of* some of the Dominion's industries. He believed that the difficulty could be solved in pare by the establishment of village settlements. He would like to &© this remedy applied to the unemployment on the waterfront. It had been said that the waterside workers had to keep dose to the wharves, so as to be ready when they were wanted. But this did not seem to be really necessary. Telephones and train services made it possible for men to be brought to tho wharves when they wore roquired. Village settlements had proved successful in the neighbourhood of British ports. 5 The establishment of such settlements in New Zealand would require the cooperation of the Government and the local bodies. He thought that the harbour boards and the shipping people should face the question, village settlements would help to solvo the problem of seasonal occupation in other industries, such as the freezing industry. Men who had homes with a little land attached could employ themselves profitably when their services were not required elsewhere He believed that the unitnnpioyment difficulty was being overcome gradually in a reasonably satisfactory way. The reduction of taxation was one of tho remedies required. Ho did not approve of the principle laid down in the Bill that the uo«eminent should bo responsible for finding work for everybody, but ho agreed that the Government ought to keep tho channels of employment as clear as possible, and do whatever could be done to remove the causes of unemployment. He felt that New Zealand could not expect a full return to prosperity until the farmers got an improved return for their produce. Mr. jP. Fraser (Wellington Central) said he would not qusirrel with the decision of the committer regarding the Bill. But the Government and Parliament ought to realise that every citizen of the country -was entitled to lioi opportunity to earn a living. Charity Was good for no one. It wae not a remedy for unemployment. The man who wanted a job ought to have it as a right. If the job really waa not available, then |;h« State should accept the responsibility for the maintenance of the worker and his family until the worker could eailn wages again. If New Zealand had adopted Sir George Grey's fundamental principle of the land for the people much of tne present difficulty '' would have been avoided. But tho land had bean allowed to become an article of barter and speculation, and the Dominion had its unemployment problem to» face. Tha Speaker ruled that the Bill could not proceed.