UNEMPLOYMENT—MEANS INQUIRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21457, 3 April 1933, Page 13

UNEMPLOYMENT—MEANS INQUIRY

Sir, —Certain agitators, who can gen- Ss erally be trusted to stir up discontent, ft have been egging on tho unemployed gj to protest against the board's inquiry g into a man's means before ho can be if taken on to relief work. In England |§ and Australia as well as in New Zea- |f land many eases have been exposed ft where men, who have enough to live p upon, havo deliberately concealed the j§ fact in order to draw relief and §1 get a share in tho money provided for §| genuine distress. When the Labour g Party was in office in England they i§ decided, quite rightly, that tho income ffi and means of every applicant for work if must bo taken into account. The same jg principle has been in operation in prac- J; tically every country in Europe and % those men who are mean enough to jg try and get relief when they do not jg come under tho scheme, are robbing, not tho Government, but tho con- jj tributors, of whom a majority are wage II or salary earners. Not only this, they J aro indirectly robbing the unemployed,, g because the more men applying for relief m the less there is to go round. No fj genuine unemployed man, eligible under fi our rclici scheme, has any excuse for p protesting against the means inquiry, p It is only thoso who aro dishonestly p trying to sponge on their mates who g need bo afraid to answer the ij questions. An honest relief worker jg who helps the agitators to stir up g trouble on this means inquiry is merely |j helping to weaken the board's power fq to increase payments, and should reap lise that tho money available for their g assistance has been very largely contributed by men and women wage and salary earners, who find it very hard g to pay the Is in the pound tax. N.Z. Welfare League. .||