UNEMPLOYED RELIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20986, 24 September 1931, Page 11

UNEMPLOYED RELIEF.

♦ CAMPS IN THE COUNTRY. ABSORBING SINGLE MEN. OVER 100 FROM AUCKLAND. Steady progress is being made in the Auckland district with the development of the scheme for placing single unemployed men in camps to undertake reading and similar works in the country. It was announced a fortnight ago that 310 men would be selected under the scheme from this district. The Public Works Department has been active in establishing camps and, as men are required, has called upon (he Labour Department, to fill the quotas. So far 115 single men have been sent into camps from Auckland, thus meeting the full requirements of the Public Works Department, and, as other camps are established, it is hoped to absorb the full quota of The camp scheme is somewhat of an experiment, and both departments arc anxious to ensure its success. Camps have already been established at Karangahake, Pokeno, on the ThamesCoromandel highway, and on the Pakiri block. As strong boots are required for the heavy work on which the men will be engaged, arrangements were made for the provision of footwear from the boot "pool" recently established in the city by the social service organisations. In response to a recent public appeal, donations of discarded boots were made to the "pool," and these are being repaired and strengthened so as to make them serviceable again. Men who require boots have been enabled to secure them on the instalment plan, but it is stated that there are not sufficient to meet all the demands now being made, and it is hoped that those in a position to contribute further donations will do so. One result of the initiation of the camp scheme has been a curtailment in the funds available to local bodies for the employment of men under the No. 5 scheme. There are aljout 7000 registered unemployed in Auckland, and about 5000 of that number are engaged on works under the No. 5 scheme. It is stated, however, that, included in the 5000 are several hundred single men. As the money available is not sufficient to provide employment for all the married men out of work, it has been suggested that local bodies should consider whether it is fair to retain single men who might well be engaged under the camp scheme. REFUND OF MONEY SPENT. RULES NOT CARRIED OUT. v Refund of an amount of £25 5s 6d alleged to have been wrongly spent in connection with unemployment work at the Mount Albert Grammar School was claimed from the Auckland Grammar School Board in a letter received from the unemployment commissioner yesterday. The chairman, Professor A. P. W. Thomas, said the board's officer supervising the work had not adhered strictly to the conditions laid down for work under the No. 5 scheme and there had been a variation in the times of employment. "The variation was made in good faith, but the commissioner will not alter his decision. Probably everything would have been all right only the original amount was overspent." It was decided to refund the amount. CASUAL WORK FOR TEACHERS. NO. 5 SCHEME UNSUITABLE. The proposal made bv the Education Department to give work to teachers under the No. 5 scheme has been abandoned, according to advice received by the Auckland Education Board. It was proposed that unemployed male teachers should register and that they should be employed at a school for so many days a week. They were not to be included in the ordinary staff. It is understood that the proposal found little favour with teachers and very few applied to the board for work under the scheme. "Teaching work is hardly adaptable to the purposes of an unemployment scheme," said Mr. A. Burns, chairman of the board, yesterday. "Work could be given on two or three days a week only and the schools would not benefit to any extent." REDUCED HOROPITO GRANTS. COMPLAINT BY COMMITTEE. Members of the Horopito Unemployment Committee state that not only has there been a cut in the relief grant for several weeks, but also there has been an unequal allocation, compared with other centres. In consequence of the shortage of grants, married men have been reduced as much as 50 per cent, in allowance. The committee holds that no justifiable excuse can possibly exist for a reduction being made which is of greater severity than that of other centres. Last fortnight, 51 persons, 22 parents and 29 children, had to be maintained on the sum of £l9 9s 6d. As there was no supplementary relief through tho medium of any hospital board, it is stated that such an acute position obviously causes keen distress and hardship among those concerned.