SEARCH FOR MINERALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20819, 11 March 1931, Page 13

SEARCH FOR MINERALS.

GRANT OF £2OOO MADE,

PROSPECTING BY 100 MEN.

MARRIED MINERS TO BENEFIT.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday.

On the recommendation of the Unemployment Board, the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, has approved of the allocation to the Mines Department of £2OOO, to enable the department to engage up to 100 unemployed married men to prospect for minerals. Their wage is not to exceed 3s a day, and the grant must be expended by the end of "April. The board hopes that this will give an impetus to the search for precious metals, and at the same time provide unemployed miners - with work in their usual occupation.

DEPARTMENT'S STATISTICS.

OUT OF DATE RETURN 1 . Returns issued during the week-end by the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith, concerning the incidence of unemployment in New Zealand, are even more out-of-date than was stated in the report. In his summary, which was given as for the week ended March 2, it was said that in Auckland there were 6054 applications for employment, 293 men working temporarily, and 5761 unemployed. In view of the fact that, in the previous return, 3487 men were shown 35 being in temporary employment, and that work has continued to be prßvided under the various schemes, the figures were referred to Mr. W. Slaughter, officer in charge of the Labour Department at Auckland. Mr. Slaughter said that he had not yet been furnished with the latest details as to the number of men on temporary works, but examination of the return published on Monday suggested that it referred to the week of the unemployed riot which occurred on February 10. There were certainly more men in temporary employment during the week ended March 2 than was stated in the return.