SOCIAL DISTRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22144, 25 June 1935, Page 12

SOCIAL DISTRESS

MEASURES FOR RELIEF INEFFECTIVE IN RESULTS CLERGY'S CALL FOR ACTION b A manifesto stressing the ill results v of existing social relief measures and ' calling for decisive remedial action was i issued yesterday by a number of Angli- - can clergymen of Auckland. Addressed » to "men of goodwill," the manifesto 1 states:— "Determined to rrouse the public con--1 science to the dire need for drastic 1 alteration in the existing methods of * dealing with unemployment, with its appalling suffering and injustice, we, the undersigned, emphatically declare: ( J "In this city we know that on every . j hand there is suffering that is abso- | lutely unnecessary. In our daily con- , ! tacts we are constantly confronted with . j cases of distress that need not exist. , . j Widespread malnutrition in a primary producing country is nothing short of a national scandal and calls for immediate remedy. Housing and Clothing "The fact that whole families are living in one room or, perhaps, two rooms in an apartment house, eating, sleeping, washing, etc., within the confines of a single apartment, needs surely j only to be known to be condemned j without hesitation on Christian as well | as on hummitarian grounds. While our j social workers are faced with the des- | perate necessity of attempting to cope } with the demands for clothing, boots, j blankets, etc., we feel, that shortage j of new clothing should be unnecessary | in a Christian country. To expect men, j women and children to have to depend | permanently upon the supply of cast- ; off clothing is a prostitution of Chrisj tian charity to which we cannot subI scribe.

"We know that through inadequate old-age and military pensions, and the hopelessly insufficient income from relief work that barely relieves, and that deadly thing called sustenance which cannot sustain, unspeakable suffering is endured by thousands of honest and respectable citizens who should not be placed in this humiliating position. Constructive Programme Urged

j "We call upon all Christian people jto demand from those in authority ! closer attention to the fact that present measures are, at best, only palliatives. We urge the immediate undertaking of a constructive programme to deal effectually and permanently with the distressing conditions we have outlined. "It is quite clear that, from the Christian standpoint, the present impossible state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. Too long have we understood the words of Our Lord, 'lnasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of'these My brethren, ye hare done it unto Me,' to refer only to the distribution of charitable relief. Surely in these modern days they must equally refer to the pressing need for the reconstruction of our social fabric."

The manifesto is signed by the Revs. A. J. Greenwood, vicar of St. Alban's, Dominion Road; W. W. Averill, vicar of All Saints', Ponsonby; Jasper Calder, city missioner; J. Adams, vicar of St. George s, Kingsland; G. E. Moreton, prison chaplain; H. A. Johnson, honorary chaplain, Dock Street mission; M. G. Sullivan, vicar of St. Columba, Grey Lynn; and A. J. Beck, acting-vicar of St. Matthew's.