AUCKLAND'S QUOTA.

NZ Truth, Issue 869, 22 July 1922, Page 5

AUCKLAND'S QUOTA.

(From "Truth's" Auckland Rep.) Despite the assurance of the Premier and the flying of flags In furtherance of a Better Times campaign, there is not the slightest doubt that m Auckland, if nowhere else m the Dominion, the amount of unemployment prevailing at the present time is extensive, Rer trenchment seems to be the craze everywhere, and lucky indeed is the chap who holds down a decent and permanent job. In Auckland alone the unemployed must number thousands, and to them the assurances that the atmosphere of depression which has •for a tlrne ruled is now clearing is not at all comforting, All the talk about the better times coming is regarded as "kid,'' and though the writer has heard of people being next door to starving, as the saying goes, such a case 'haa not actually' come under our notice. People are not given to heralding their troubles from the house-tops, and, therefore, the hardships being endured by numbers of those out of work do not- reach the limelight. But it can be stated confidently that for the workers —and particularly the unskilled- man — the position generally is far from good, and the future by. no means bright. . But it is not very convincing to write of unemployment without getting down to facts, and "Truth" will quote a few instances which have come under our notice recently, and which should give those who hold down cushy billets and draw big salaries some idea of the position as regards work offering to-day m Auckland, In lhe first place It seemed the irony of Fate that the very first flags were flown from the Auckland Magistrate's Court m the furtherance of the Better Times campaign. There should he a record attendance of debtors. A few days ago a firm advertised for a packer, and within a couple of hours there were no fewer than' 139 applications. The offer of a couple of days' work at the Hippodrome Theatre saw a big crowd assembled, and anyone not aware of the true reason might have been .pardoned for thinking the proprietors had advertised a free showThe newspapers had hardly reached the street before there was a rush to try for a job clearing scrub from a section, and the advertiser lost count when 93 had applied. In the case of a lady who advertised for a girl to serve m a shop she. did not haye to wait till she went to business the next morning, because no fewer than 40 girls, all eager to get m early, called at her private residence that evening. .These are cases which the writer can vouch for. But though they reveal to some extent the unemployment position they do not .by any stretch of imagination make known the true plight of the worker at present out of toil, and his lot is far from a happy one. The whole trouble is that money is tight— tighter- and scarcer than it has been for many years — and it is fair to say that there is not a branch of employment that to-day is not feeling the pinch of unemployment. "Truth" knows of. men, married men with families, who are, and haye been, not for days or a week, but for months, seeking work. But to them it is always the same, "Nothing doing." A wellknown man of the city, speaking on the unemployment problem a few days ago, remarked to the writer, "I will give you an idea of how bad the position is. I am a man with a bit of influence, but my two sons are both out of work and promise to remain so." While optimistic and hopeful of the future there is no getting away from the fact that the unemployment question is serious m Auckland, and candidly the outlook for improvement m the near future is not encouraging.