EMPLOYMENT FOR BOYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22165, 19 July 1935, Page 13

EMPLOYMENT FOR BOYS

APPLICATIONS DECLINED MAJORITY FROM COUNTRY "We are declining about sis applications for boys every day/' said Mr. N. G. Gribble, at a meeting of the executive committee of the Auckland Boys' Employment Committee yesterday, When the placing of boys in positions in the town and country was being discussed. "Most of these are for the country, but there is a shortage of boys," continued Mr. Gribble. It was reported that at present there were 61 application's from country employers which had not yet been filled. Fifty boys had been placed in the town during the last month, and 24 in the country. Sixty enrolments had also been received during the month, and about 30 boys called at the town depot every day. Mr. J. A. C. Allum asked whether there was any disposition of employers to take on boys in place of men. "We have constantly struggled against this." said the chairman, Sir Joseph Smith. "Whenever we hear of it we keep the boy away from the place. In one or two cases there have been instances of this, but these applications have been declined. The boys in the city are encouraged to visit the office and acquaint us of the conditions under which they are working. In the country we have seen the conditions of over 100 boys in the past year, and we are doing all in our power to prevent the boys from being exploited. Lately the farmers have tended to give the lads a squarer deal."