UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20618, 17 July 1930, Page 12

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

GOVEBIiCENT'S SCHEME

POLL TAX ON MALES.

LEVY OF 30s A YEAR.

REGISTRATION SCHEME,

PENALTIES FOR DEFAULT.

[by telegraph.—special reporter.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday.

The method by which the Government proposes to deal with the unemployment problem was revealed in the House of Representatives late this evening, when the Unemployment Bill was introduced by Governor-General's Message and read a first time.

The bill follows the principles laid down by the Unemployment Committee of 1928, but the methods tbero recommended for the financing of the scheme are not precisely similar It is proposed to establish an unemployment fund, into which will be paid the net proceeds of an unemployment levy,' a subsidy from the Consolidated Fund, and any other moneys which may be appropriated by Parliament for tlio purposes of the fund. Under tlio bill every male of tlio- age of 20 years and upwards will bo liable to an annual levy of 30s as a contribution toward the prevention and relief of unemployment. The levy is to be paid in equal quarterly instalments, the first of which will be duo on December i, 1930. In the case of persons reaching the age of 20 after the commencement, of the Act, the first instalment will be due on the first of March, June. Septem ber, or December, as the case may be following tlio birthday, except that those whose 20th birthday falls in March, June, September, or December, will bo liablo as from the first of that month. Consolidated Fund Subsidy. From time to time as the Minister of Finance directs, there shall bo paid into the Unemployment Fund from the Consolidated Fund, by way of subsidy, an amount equal to one-half of tha expenditure out of the Unemployment Fund. Any person liable to the levy who makes default for more than one month will be liable to a fine of £5 and to a penalty of sixpence a month for the period during which he is in arrears. All fines will form part of the Unemployment Fund. Certain exemptions from the levy are made. Those wholly exempt comprise those in receipt of war pensions in respect of total disablement, old ago pensioners, and certain members of the native race. Inmates of public hospitals, charitable institutions, mental hospitals or prisons will be exompt while they arc in those institutions and for at least one month thereafter. Exemption is also extended to students of university colleges and other educational institutions who-are not in receipt of salary or wages, .In addition, the Governor-General by Order-in-Council may wholly or partly exempt other persons on the ground, of public policy. Establishment ol Boards. Every male resident over 20 years of age will bo required to register his name with his address, occupation and other particulars at a post office, whether tho person is liable for the levy or not. In exchange, a certificate of registration will be given. For failure to register or for supplying false information, a person is liable to a fine of £2OO. To assist in the administration of the scheme, it is proposed to establish an un. employment board of eight members. Tho chairman will be tho Minister of Labour. Two members, one of whom will be deputy-chairman, will be appointed on tlio recommendation of tho Minister. One will bo appointed by employers engaged in primary industries, ono by employers engaged in secondary industries, two by organisations of workers, and ono by the Returned Soldiers' Association. The members of the board other than tho Minister will be appointed for a term of two years. To assist tlio hoard in the performance iof its duties, tho hoard may associate with \tself one or more persons possessed of special qualifications of advantage to tho board. Provision is made for tho payment to the members of the board other than tho Minister of reasonablo allowances and travelling oxpenses

FUN!) OF A MILLION.

SPECIAL TAX AND SUBSIDY.

LEVY ON 450,000 MALES

Tho cost of tho proposals in tho Unemployment Bill may bo approximately calculated as involving over £3.000.000 a year in additional taxation. According to tjie . Government Statistician's estimate, the male population, including Maoris, at March 31 was almost 760,000- Iho 1926 census reports show that over 60 per cent, of males are 20 years of age and over Henco approximately 450,000 would bo liable to the proposed levy. On this basis, tlio annual proceeds of the levy would bo £675,000, and the contribution from tho Consolidated Fund, at 50 per cent., £337,500, making a total of additional taxation of £1,012,500. In tlio last financial year, the Govern mcnt s expenditure on unemployment relief works was £1,412,500, but almost tho whole of this amount was drawn from loan funds. The Railway Department spent £IBO,OOO, this amount having been charged against its separate account., . Only £112,500, paid in subsidies to loeah bodies, was drawn from the Consolidated Fund. Even this amount was not charged against tho current revenue, but was deducted from the accumulated surplus from previous years. The scheme proposed by the Committee on Unemployment also contemplated an annual fund of about £1,000,000. of which £700,000 was to bo obtained by special taxation, and the balance by a subsidy from tho Consolidated Fund equal to one-third of tho expondituro by tho proposed Unemployment Board. Tho committee rocommended annual taxos of both mules and females—lßs in tho case of males of 18 and 19 years of age, and 24s in tho case of those over 20 years; tho rates for females in employment being 12s and 18s respectively. Thcso poll taxes were estimated to yield' £505,000. In addition, tho committco proposed a flat tax of Id in tho pound on all individual incomes exceeding £3OO, to yield £BO,OOO, and at tho same rate on the undistributed profits of companies, and dividends of absentee shareholders, £22,500; a flat tax of 3-16 d in the pound on country lands, £67,500, and a levy of 1 per cent, of their general rates on Counties, boroughs and town districts, £25,000.