MORE MEN WANTED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21279, 5 September 1932, Page 10

MORE MEN WANTED

WORK IN THE COUNTRY COUNTY COUNCILS' EXPERIENCE PETITION TO PRIME MINISTER The inability of county councils to secure sufficient unemployed men from the city to undertake important developmental work in the country will be placed before the Prime Minister, the Rt-. Hon. G. W. Forbes, this morning by Mr. Balfour Dawson, chairman of the Coromandel County Council, 011 behalf of several other bodies, who have given their support to a petition being circulated among county councils.

" We desire that a distinct, clear preference be given to the essential work waiting to bo done in tho country as against tho non-essential work that is very largely being don© by the unemployed in tho cities," the petition states. " The country work, whether on the roads or over tho fence, will in all cases improve tho productive capacity of tho land and increase tho exportable surplus of our primary products. On tho other hand, in our opinion, most, if not all, of the work now being done in tho cities is creating liabilities rather than assets."

Mr. Dawson said that the experience of the Coromandel County Council was apparently typical. There were several camps prepared, but it wa3 being found impossible to secure enough men to fill them. Mr. Dawson said it was felt that new regulations should bo introduced, instructing unemployment officers to draft compulsorily a far greater proportion of married men into camps than was at present possible. In a very large percentage of cases there was no hardship involved. Farmers wero willing to help tho men in camps to the fullest possible extent. They provided milk, butter and meat, either for nothing or at a nominal cost. Near many of the Coromandel camps there was good fishing to bo had. In addition, meat pools had been established in the cities for the families, while arrangements had been made to supply them with vegetables.