THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1924. BRITISH UNEMPLOYMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18722, 30 May 1924, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1924. BRITISH UNEMPLOYMENT.

The* Britishx Labour Government is face to face with %i serious challenge on its policy to relieve unemployment. An adverse motion on ' the Labour Department : estimates' has I been adopted as a test of confidence. Latest forecasts leave -it very much in doubt whether the Liberals will rally to the support Of the Government as they have done in critical divisions heretofore. It is indicated that counsels : are divided. : ' Even where there is disinclination to vote with ; the Conservatives, . members may - abstain from participating in the division. With the present state of ; the parties that passive attitude may be sufficient to seal the fate of the ; - Government. Parliamentary opinion is naturally sensitive about unemployment,, because it is a question which the country takes very seriously. ■ The extent to which it occupied the foreground at last election proves this. The Labour Party then claimed that :; it had positive concrete proposals which would rid the country of unemployment. It has; been reminded of - this declaration since; as also of its insistence that it. alone could cure the evil. The Conservative Party also ' made claim to a remedy, which it stated in detailprotection of the home . market, * and development of Empire' trade. The country rejected . this' specific. It has since been waiting for revela- | tion of the Labour . Party' proposals, without, it must be confessed, receivI ing much light. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald answered questions , in Parliament \f. some weeks ago by saying that,|iis questioners seemed " to be under : some misapprehension regarding unemployment - in present social conditions when they refer: to 'a remedy' for it." Remedies, however, were promised during the campaign. The Government will ; be pressed to reveal what they are. The misery and discontent, bred bylack -of employment are too widespread for the question to be lightly dropped. - - . ~ - .

; The most recent available statistics place the number of unemployed —at March 24' last— 1,064,900. That was only 178,000 fewer than" at the same- date in 1923. The worst figures recorded were in June, 1921, when the; total was 2,200,000. There have been fluctuations since. The figures . have !been',; swelled; at different times by strikes, „ which have thrown out of work people engaged in industries other than - those directly affected. At no time, however, has the number . out of work, adults of both sexes and juveniles, been smaller than 1,000,000. One student of the position remarks that j to any given figure there must be added nearly! 1,000,000 : casually employed or on short time before the full measure of distress can be com-, prehended. As an additional complication, the continuity " of the unfortunate condition has resulted in all the reserves of those affected having been consumed long ago. It is ; a melancholy position to contemplate. As an indication of what it means to the country, official figures show that unemployed benefits paid out in the two and a-half years of emergency measures amounted) to £128,000,000. It has - been estimated that; of the ; total U( unemployed approximately one-third > ar.Q jae® under

30 or in the early thirties. Their presence in ' the list is . easily explained. The continuity of their employment was broken by war service, often before- they were fully qualified for a skilled occupation. Returning to civil life, failing to find a niche into which they could fit, they, perforce, enlisted againin the ranks of the' unemployed. The steady quota of juveniles among the total . shows also that thousands* finish their schooling yearly only to engage in a ' fruitless ' search for an occupation. % All told, the situation is sufficient to strain the furthest resources of statesmanship. . Various measures of relief have been proposed, and in part instituted. Government departments have been urged to expedite works in contemplation so that surplus hands might be engaged. Local authorities have been induced, sometimes by Government aubsidy, to adopt a similar course. Comprehensive schemes of roading, afforestation work, and land drainage have been planned. All these measures suffer the same defect. They can be classed as emergency relief schemes, no mofe. They are palliatives, not cures. They are useful in a certain degree, but as permanent solutions of the problem, are ineffective. Each one must come to its appointed end some day. Unless -in the ; meantime a way has been found to -employ those engaged, the whole weary search for a way out must begin anew. If a skilled engineer or ironfounder is.; set making roads, his" future has not been assured him. It must not be forgotten that the list of those without occupation includes many thousands highly 1 : trained in technical crafts. The engineering and shipbuilding, trades contribute a very heavy quota. Unless these men can find the work for which they are best adapted sooner or later they -will again return to the army of the unemployed. Such is the problem which the Labour Government is required to solve. It could perhaps be' excused if pleading that the task was too great. The Labour Party undoubtedly asserted, however, that it had definite plans to meet the situation, and that in its return to; power lay the only hope of a real solution. , So far ithas not done much to fulfil the promise. Its existence is threatened at present' on this issue. If it survives the test of 1 the • moment, it must make good its words, or the fate now hanging over it will be merely postponed, not averted.