PEOPLE ON THE DOLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21596, 14 September 1933, Page 6

PEOPLE ON THE DOLE

MANY FRAUD CASES MAN WITH OVER £ISOO . \ 'f There has always bfeen a belief that some Sydney families on the dole are not qualified by poverty, says a correspondent. Exposures in every large town in New South Wales, , and also, of course, in Sydney, hA'e proved the opinion to be well justified. Some strange stories'are in the possession of the police and of the Chief Secretary's Department. The fact established by the united records is that State has been robbed of hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is this unscrupulousness that has led to the severe questioning that precedes the granting of relief. Questioning is usually followed by police inquiries when there is any reason whatever for doubting the bona fides of the applicants. Suspicion if naturally created by the frauds that have been uncovered, and all this is to the disadvantage of honest indigents. The case of a Parramatta man who received the dole for a year and eventually disclosed his true financial position by reporting to the police that he had been robbed of £228, which he "happened to have in the house," is not a solitary instance of .the compara- ( tively well-to-do drawing sustenance from the Government. Most of tho others are too wary to disclose their $ actual position. This man had £4OO at current account in another suburb and £940 at fixed deposit. _ Years hence someone may write the history of "the depression of the early thirties." Stories of frauds on relief funds may then be fully exploited.