THE UNEMPLOYABLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22955, 5 February 1938, Page 14

THE UNEMPLOYABLES

Of the 12,000 men drawing sustenance from the Employment Fund, only 4000 are employable, according to the Minister of Labour, The remaining 8000 have been medically certified to be "unable to render any return at all for sustenance." Such being the case, it is pertinent to ask why Mr. Armstrong continues to accept responsibility for these men. They should not be a charge on the fund at all, because they cannot benefit from any scheme for employment promotion. Neither should the money derived from wages tax or levy be diverted to their assistance. It is collected to help the unemployed, not the unemployable. In other countries the distinction is carefully drawn, and unemployment funds reserved for their proper purpose. Moreover, so long as these 8000 men are considered as unemployed, inquiries into and remedies for their plight as unemployables will be delayed. Their case is one for the hospital boards or the Health Department. If these bodies were made to accept the responsibility that is theirs, the men's condition would not be perpetuated, as at present, for lack of examination and treatment. Much physical salvage might be proved possible, to the advantage of the individuals themselves and of the nation. Cases found to be chronic would be put on a legitimate basis by the provision of invalid pensions. The present system of keeping the 8000 on the unemployed rolls amounts to inhuman neglect of a big problem. The payment of sustenance may be an easy way of disposing of it, but reflects little credit on a Government that makes a continual parade of its humanitarianism and social benevolence.