CONTRACT RELIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22090, 22 April 1935, Page 12

CONTRACT RELIEF

Sir, —The comparative value of contracts as opposed to relief wages is worth discussing. Some time ago I went into a single men's camp to improve farm land. On the whole the type of men in this camp were good, but after some time at the work a downward drift set in, until the best workers were only as good .as the weakest, which was poor indeed. This tendency to drift, backwards was quite unconscious on our part, and on thinking over the matter, I put it down to lack of incentive, the real stumbling block to all these schemes. In an endeavour to get out of the rut f gave the 4B scheme a try and for the past two years have been doing fairly well from a monetary point of view. But the even greater benefit from this scheme is felt in the recognition one gets from his employers, who, on the whole, give credit for service rendered. The value of contract schemes from a psychological point, is beyond questiou. Among relief workers on a small wage, without any incentive, discontent must be rampant, and children brofght up in this atmosphere must retain some of the impressions. To stem the drift whicft is setting in it is necessary for the Unemployment Board to create incentive in their schemes for unemployed. Johx Cleave.