UNEMPLOYED PROBLEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19612, 14 April 1927, Page 14

UNEMPLOYED PROBLEM.

RATES ON RELIEF WORK. OBJECT OF THE GOVERNMENT. LABOUR ALLEGATION DENIED. [BY telegraph.—own correspondent.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday A deputation organised by the Alliance of Labour waited on the Prime Minister, Mr. Goates, and the Minister of Labour, Hon. G. J. Anderson, to-day, and raised questions regarding unemployment and immigration. Mr. B. Davidson claimed that the Government's immigration policy was directly responsible for unemployment and urged its abandonment. The postponement of works not immediately necessary, with the object of having them done at a slack period at cheap rates of relief pay, was alleged against the Government by the secretary of the alliance, Mr. J. .Roberts, who urged that standard rates of pay should be given to men on relief works. In his opinion, importations of timber from the United States were economic suicide. The deputation, he said, wanted the Government to assist the Labour conference in organising a bureau so that the unemployed could be assured of work at trade union rates of pay. Mr. Anderson, replying, expressed astonishment that the Government should be blamed for unemployment. He emphatically denied that the Government was postponing work in order to get it done cheaply later. If standard rates of pay were given for relief work, workers would not seek work elsewhere. The object was to provide the men with food and shelter until they secured some better position of permanent nature. He trusted that the country was a long way from giving out doles. There was a general cry of protest from the deputation when Mr. Anderson suggested that everybody was living higher than he should. The Prime Minister said the difficult question of unemployment was exercising the mind of Cabinet Ministers day and night. He affirmed that the last thing Hie Government wanted to do was to lower the standard of living. If we were to ■ expect better times, we must have more people, more industries and more encouragement for them to develop along natural and sound lines, he said.

HARBOUR BOARD ASSISTANCE. STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN. An assurance that tha Auckland Harbour Board would do all that it could do to relieve unemployment was given yesterday by Mr. H. R. Mackenzie, chairman of the board, to a deputation of unemployed. Mr. Mackenzie said that in addition to its permanent staff, the board was now employing 464 men. Its policy was to put in hand during the winter as much work as was possible in order to relievo unemployment and, to that end., it had engaged an extra 100 men last winter. Mr. Mackenzie pointed out that the board's funds were limited to the revenues of the port and its endowments. It did not possess rating powers and it had to cut its coat according to the cloth available. When the estimates for the ensuing year's expenditure were under review he and the other members of the board would see what they could do to help the men who -were out of work.