THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1935 UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22010, 17 January 1935, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1935 UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS

Although it is serious enough that on December 22 a total of 54,707 men remained a charge, wholly or in part, on the unemployment fund, yet a comparative examination of the Unemployment Board's latest return discloses -several highly encouraging features. Most important is that the decline in numbers, begun last July in the depth of winter, still continues. The trend has been uninterrupted, and, although seasonal influences are at present a favouring factor, is now so well established as to afford convincing evidence of general economic improvement, with the natural corollary of increased demand for labour. The peak of unemployment was reached only 15 months ago, at the end of September, 1933, when 75.134 were a charge on the fund. The latest figure represents a reduction of 20.427, or of about 27 per cent. A little imagination will show what it means to 20.000 individuals, their families and dependants, and to the community, that they should have returned to regular work again and are possessed of normal spending power. A fairer measure of progress is given, however, by comparing the figures with those for December last year, for in December emplo3'ment is nearing its annual peak, which occurs in February. The total shows a reduction of 13,033, or almost 20 per cent, a remarkable rate of progress toward the solution of a stubborn problem. An important point to keep in mind, moreover, is that not all the remaining 54,707 should rightly be dubbed "unemployed." Over 20,000 are in full - time employment, although assisted by wages subsidies from the unemployment fund. Thousands more are relief workers employed under the No. 5 scheme, so that the absolutely unemployed—those in receipt of sustenance—can be only a small proportion of the whole. Incidentally, the board used to separate those engaged under No. 5 scheme and the sustenance men. It would be instructive if this detail were reinserted in returns, thus disclosing the number for whom no work could be found.

While credit should be freely given to the Unemployment Board, local bodies, private employers, social organisations and individuals for the impression made in reducing the waste of unemployment, it must always be remembered that a large, immediate and pressing problem remains. There comes a stage when an abnormality, if it persists long enough, is accepted as the normal. Provision is made, complacency or even indifference supervenes, the position stabilises. That condition has not yet been reached in New Zealand. Indeed, positive gains are' being made. But congratulation should give the impulse to renewed effort rather than turn into smug and inactive satisfaction. To revive phrases from the third and fourth years of the war, the "offensive spirit," the "will to win," must be kept alive. That applies not only to the unemployed, but to every citizen and public body. The danger cofiies in accepting unemployment as a permanent rather than as a passing phase, and ceasing to strive. The unemployed get more than their share of blame for this acquiescent mood. Individuals and public bodies are as culpable, either through passive indifference, or through accepting the position as fixed, and, sometimes. without due cause or valid excuse accepting moneys as subsidies from the fund which, did it not exist, they would find themselves. The problem will never be solved so long as that obtains. Neither will it be cured if its victims are allowed to degenerate into slackness, to regard relief work as a regular, normal and, finally, an acceptable way of getting a living. As one local body member noted this week, the term "relief worked" has been adopted as a settled denomination by many men. The mood of which this is the evidence is all wrong, tfhese men haVe lost heart with the reduction in their economic status. Some have ceased to try. They are content with subsistence and the easy round on ,i relief job. They are several stages on the way toward becoming unemployables. But before censuring them, citizens should try to imagine v the effect on morale of months and years out of regular employment, with the added influence of long periods spent under the enervating conditions of relief work of the common type. That prejudicial influence has been recognised by the Unemployment Board, local bodies and social organisations. By unremitting effort they have overcome many obstacles until to-day a large proportion of the "unemployed" are engaged in full-time jobs, representing necessary or useful work, and paid at standard rates. That is the best way to restore the self-respect arid working capacity of those for long unemployed. Like most real solutions it is neither easy nor cheap, but when board and local bodies or Government departments combine, the financial burden can be cased and real value should be returned to taxpayers and ratepayers. That, in general, is the recommendation of the new loan proposals of the Auckland City Council, concerning which fhe Mayor has placed a report before ratepayers. It is questionable whether capital should be used to meet current needs, thus mortgaging

the future to relieve present distresses. The method can, however, be justified if the loan works proposed can be fairly held to be reproductive and if full value, including labour value, is returned for the money 'spent. The utility of the Mayor's proposals varies considerably, and, as they are grouped in one loan, ratepayers will be required to pass a common verdict on them. To take one instance, however, the proposal to make a municipal golf course at the Stone Jug—here is a work that, with efficient labour supervision, 'should prove reproductive, if the profitable experience of Wellington and Sydney can be taken as a guide. Considering the purpose of the loan, more details could relevantly have been supplied of the labour to be absorbed on the works, but at the motive, "to engage unemployed at standard rates of pay," there can be no cavil. Such a consummation could be taken as a national as well as a local objective.