UNEMPLOYMENT

NZ Truth, Issue 869, 22 July 1922, Page 4

UNEMPLOYMENT

AN APPEAL FOR MORE HELP. That this winter has witnessed more distress due to unemployment than we have seen m New Zealand for many years we need not stress. Slump, war's aftermath, retrenchment and immigration have all been contributing factors. Although we hope the country will profit by experience, we do not propose at this stage to attempt to allot blame to anyone or to any policy that may. have contributed to create the conditions that exist to-day m the Labor market. It. is a time for seeking remedy and relief, not causes. Among us there are many better situated than others. They can assist to relieve the unemployment situation. To the credit of some of them be it said that they have helped and have not wearied m well-doing. The Government has done something by allocating more money for public works upon which it has 7000 men engaged. In most of our large towns municipal bodies have allocated special grants for relief works— important works, too, many of them— and have appealed for the assistance of private donations which have been forthcoming m fair measure from tho generous-minded. .. But many pockets have remained tightly closed. "Truth" appeals f or ?a still wider, response. It may take th'e shape of money or. goods. Many private citizens could afford to give employment, if only for a few days, to de- { serving men recommended by the mv- I nicipal authorities, the Labor Department, or by the Returned Soldiers' Association. Every little helps. We hope our appeal will not fall on deaf ears. Nor must the generosity of business people and private citizens be seized upon by the Government and local bodies as an excuse to avoid doing their full share m overcoming the unemployment difficulty.