UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21935, 19 October 1934, Page 12

UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM

better methods urged COMMERCE COUNCIL PLAN Improvement in the working of the Unemployment Act was urged in a rejmrt presented at a meeting of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce yesterday. It suggested that liaison committees invested with spending authority under the control of the Unemployment Board and other wide powers, should be formed in locdl' areas to bring various bodies concerned into harmonious and active co-operation. The committees should consist of, say, three representative men of business and other ability, a representative of the Labour Department and an expert advisory engineer. "A considerable amount of the money spent on unemployment relief has been virtually wasted," stated the report. "This is not to be laid as a charge against the Unemployment Board, which has had to evolve machinery and policies for which there has been no precedent. The unemployed, who have hitherto received between 2os and a week, should be provided with work which would enable them to live reasonably on, say, a basis of the standard of the Public Works Department of 10s a day," The report was adopted and it was decided to send copies to other leading chambers.