APPEAL FOR HELP

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11252, 3 July 1922, Page 8

APPEAL FOR HELP

600 MEN OUT OF WORK. The following letter has been sent to the Mayor by Mr G. Mitchell, M.P., honorary secretary of the Central Progress League:—■ “Dear Sir, —I again wish to bring the question of the unemployed before your council. As you are aware, the position shows no improvement. In fact it appears much more acute, and demands prompt action where we now have procrastination and delay. There are about 679 names on your register, and between 360 and 380 at the Labour Bureau. Allowing for the whole of the former to be also registered at your bureau, there are over 600 awaiting work on these two registers. Fifty married soldiers are now at work at the Prince of Wales Park, and we trust some more will be put on as soon as you are ready for them. Thu still leaves 70 or SO soldiers at least to be provided for. Besides these, numbers are calling here—l expect you have the ' same experience—who are hot registered at all. At the present time one has no option bnt to send some of these people along for charity, which is passed on to the public. They ask for work, which it is our united duty to - provide for them in rimes ouch aa these. In view of the amount of loan money which has been so liberally subscribed, the general feeling is that this money should be used now to employ these men to carry out the works on the loan schedule for which the money was raised. After providing - for as many as possible by this means, we will then know what farther steps are necessary to provide for the balance. “You will remember that at the last unemployment meeting held in your room, your report from the engineer was that the new Khandallah read formation would be ready to start men on in ten days. It is now over that time. I appeal to you to expedite these works oh the loan schedule which can be gone on with, and to call the citizens’ committee together -ipim so that we may take some steps to provide for other urgent cases, People a will forgive us for making mistakes in trying to do right, but we deserve their cenmire if we fail to act in the interest of those less fortunate than ourselves. This letter was placed before a com,mitteo meeting of the Returned Soldiers' Association, who support it entirely.—Yours faithfully, G. Mitchell.”