CITY'S UNEMPLOYED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19748, 22 September 1927, Page 12

CITY'S UNEMPLOYED.

ACUTE SITUATION EXISTS. " WORST FOR FIFTY YEARS." MAYOR'S APPEAL FOR FUNDS. "The worst for 50 years/' This is how the present unemployment situation is described by a carpenter who served his apprenticeship when the old Opera House was being built, and who has followed his trade in Auckland throughout the intervening years. This assertion appears to sum up th» general impression among those in trade union circles. Secretaries stated yesterday that in their experience, varying from six to 20 years, they had never known a period when unemployment was so rife and the prospect of obtaining work so remote. There are cases of men who have walked from place to place in the city and suburban districts on both sides of the harbour, seeking work in vain. Instances of men who have been unemployed for months are common. * In tlj case of men with dependants the position is particularly acute. Many of these men have borrowed money from the Government and other institutions for the purchase of homes but, being out of employment, are unable to maintain the payments. This, in the opinion of Mr. T. Bloodworth, secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, is one of the worst features of the situation. "There are over 400 men—members of the union—out of work, and the position is not showing any signs of improving,"' said Mr. J. Sullivan, secretary of the General Labourers' Union, yesterday. Relief funds could at the best be only a palliative, he said. There was need for Government aid in opening up comprehensive roading schemes to give men work. Millions were borrowed for war purposes. Why could not similar steps be taken to engage men in productive works ? The secretaries of various other unions had much the same story to tell. It is impossible to gain an accurate statistical record of the amount of unemployment, but the one apparently indisputable fact remains that the situation has never previously been so acute, and the hope of new works that spring usually brings is this year without promise. As far as general labouring is concerned, New Zealand appears to .have entered on a phase not unlike that experienced in England at the time of the industrial revolution of last century. Labour-saving machinery, particularly in such work as excavation, has reduced the market for manual workers. In this connection, one Trades Hall official pointed out that, whereas at one time in the work of preparing sites for new buildings, 30 men might find work for several weeks, a steam "navvy" operated by a handful of men now did the work in quicker time. That the urgency of the need is to some extent realised by the public is shown by the response to the Mayor's unemployment fund, opened this week. The total subscribed to date is £442 16s 6d. The following contributions were made yesterday :—The Campbell and Ehrenfried Company, Limited, £100; New Zealand Breweries, Limited, £100; Alfred S. Bankart, £SO; S. A. Smith and Company, Limited, £lO 10s; T. J. Mclvor and Sons, £5; Mrs. A. Judkins, £5; F.ILS., £2 2s; P.L., £2 2s. A SUBSIDY REFUSED. PROPOSED RELIEF SCHEME. UNDERTAKING BY DEVONPORT. "I regard the Government's action as a very serious bieach of faith," said Mr. E. Aldridge, Mayor of Devonport, when information was received at a meeting of the Devonport Borough Council last evening that the Government was not willing to subsidise the council's proposed expenditure of over £2400 on .an extensive reserve and park at Stauley Bay as a means of relieving unemployment. A telegram was received from Mr. A. Harris, M.P., stating the Government would subsidise only £125, which was to be spent on cemetery improvements. Mr. Aldridge said the Government had particularly requested the council's cooperation in devising schemes for the relief of unemployment, and then, simply because of a legal quibble whether the money was collected for the purpose of relieving unemployment, the Government had refused the promised subsidy, A sum of £IOO had been donated by the Returned Soldiers' Association expresslv for the relief of unemployment, and the remainder of the money had been made available for expenditure by the council for the same purpose. It was very disappointing, as the proposed work was suitable for the relief of unemployment. Mr. Aldridge said he hoped to be able to obtain donations to increase the sum available for expenditnra on cemetery improvements to £2OO. The council had considered the expenditure of £SOOO on another scheme for the relief of unemployment. This scheme had been submitted to the Public Works Department for approval, but nothing more had been heard of the matter. It was decided to communicate with the Auckland Unemployment Committee, and also with Auckland members of Parliament with a view to bringing pressure on the Government to reconsider its decision.