MODERN PIONEERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21546, 18 July 1933, Page 10

MODERN PIONEERS

RETURNED MEN'S SPIRIT

HARDSHIP ON GUMFIELD WIVES AID IN DIGGING That the spirit of the pioneers persists in New Zealand is evident from the story of two families whose hardships .lately came under the notice of the Hon. C. J. Carrington, M.L.C.. in a district at no great distance from Auckland. Neither family has sought assistance of any kind, from the Unemployment Fund or otherwise, but Mr. Carrington and Mr. J. N. Massev. M.P. for Franklin, have taken up their cause in the belief that people with so much self-reliance are entitled to a libera] measure of help. The facts aro set forth in the following extract from a letter Mr. Carrington has sent to Mr. W. Slaughter, officer controlling unemployment in the Auckland district: —

"While inspecting a church mission block, 1 came across two returned soldiers .who, through unemployment, for the past 18 months have been endeavouring to sustain themselves and their wives and families bv digging kauri gum. One man has three voting children and the other one child, who is paralysed. Tho wives help tho husbands to dig gum. and their united efforts result in a remuneration of about £1 a week for each family. These men are 'triers.' They have left tho city, have built their own shacks, and have saved tho Unemployment Fund a large amount already by helping themselves. They aro not asking for relief, but the harassed looks of their wives and their obviously poor living impels mo to join Mr. J. N. Massev. M.P., in asking that some help should bo given to these deserving people." Mr. Carrington has since estimated that the families have saved the Unemployment Fund about £l5O by their selfreliance. "Pioneering should bo encouraged because it is sadly lacking in the makeup of modern society," Mr. _ Carrington stated in a letter to Miss J. A. Mowbray, president of tho Victoria League, in which ho suggested that the organisation might be interested in the cases. "These people are modern pioneers. They aro so imbued ith the spirit of self-reliance that, on being thrown out of work, they moved with their families and their small remaining capital to a gum field, sooner than run the risk of being forced to accept relief or the 'dole.' " The families lived in tents at first. When these became uninhabitable because of wear, tho two men obtained the right to use some pine trees growing on tho property, and after felling them, pit-sawed them into building timber for their present'habitations, which, though small, have been neatly fashioned. The families are now in tho position of being forced to accept help, although they have not asked for it. Mr. Carrington came across them by chance l and he was instantly impressed by their thrift and resource. . When tie families commenced their endeavour, they were, able to carry on at the prices then ruling for kauri gum. but there have since been reductions of some 25 per cent. They receive 8d a pound for the gum. but freight costs substantially reduce their returns.