THE UNEMPLOYED CAUSE SUFFERS

NZ Truth, Issue 1286, 31 July 1930, Page 5

THE UNEMPLOYED CAUSE SUFFERS

A Split In Ranks of The Dunedin Citizens' Committee Hampers Work

WHAT IS THE POSITION OF O'DONNELL ?

Disharmony, apparent for some considerable time between the Labor members of the Dunedin Citizens' Unemployment Committee and Mayor R. S. Black and the representatives of other organised bodies on the committee, has culminated m these latter walking out of a meeting, after the mayor had been called an " insulting blackguard." . '' ' " This remark was made by Mr. W. W. Batchelor, secretary and representative of the Shop Assistants' Union, and, irrespective of whether he did or did not receive any provocation, there can be no question that his ill-considered remark has given a totally unnecessary set-back to the cause of the unemployed m Dunedin. But things generally are not as they should be, and there is imperative and drastic need of an immediate overhaul of the machinery for dealing with unemployment m the southern city.

Unemployment Committee, with headquarters at. the Trades Hall, by the trades unions at the end of last year. To make the committee more representative, they invited other bodies, such as the Manufacturers' and Employers' Associations, the Chamber of Commerce, the R.S.A., etc., to send delegates to the meetings.

THE origin of the trouble traces back to the formation of the Citizens' Unemployment Committee, with headquarters at. the Trades Hall, by the trades unions at the end of last year. To make the committee more representative, they invited other bodies, such as the Manufacturers' and Employers' Associations, the Chamber of Commerce, the R.S.A., etc., to send delegates to the meetings. About March of this year the first offers of food,- coal and clothing were received by the committee, consequent on the publicity given to the amount of distress m Dunedin, and a subcommittee of ladies, comprising Mesdames Bullen, Herbert, Jones-Nellson and McFie, was appointed, under the charge of Mrs. Mclntyre, to investigate cases and distribute relief m kind. Later, the whole organisation of the St. John Ambulance Association, was offered to the committee to take over the investigation and distribution, but this proposal was flatly turned down by the votes of the Labor members, who numbered sixteen to the nine nonLabor members. His Subsidy The next s,tep was the formation of a body calling itself the Unemployed Workers' Committee, organised' and presided over by Mr. Bryan O'Donnell. O'Donnell, subsidised from somewhere to the extent of £4/10/- a week, became the representative of his own organisation on the Citizens' Unemployment Committee, and It is since that time that matters have not run smoothly. Rightly or wrongly, the Mayor and representatives of non-Labor bodies on the committee claim that O'Donnell is a distinctly stormy petrel, and that with ♦him oh the committee, the public will not , contribute with nearly as much open-handedness as . would otherwise be the case.. It is difficult to explain altogether satisfactorily how this alleged antipathy to O'Donnell has arisen, but at least one cause lies' in the fact that it is known he has turned down jobs offered him by the R.S.A. and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. On lists being made out of men to

be given jobs with the proceeds of Poppy Day, O'Donnell's name was one of the. first. The R.S.A. did not even receive the courtesy of a reply informing them he would not be taking the job. When tackled on the matter he at first denied receiving the notice, but finally said that he was of more use to the unemployed m organising them than if he took a job, and this apparently created the feeling that he was not genuine. A more serious matter concerned a suit of clothes handed m to the depot for distribution to a deserving case. At the time of this gift, Mrs. Mclntyre was still m charge of the distribution. That day a request was made to her to hand over to another member of the sub- committee the key of the room m which the gifts of food and clothing were stored. Eventually, Mrs. Mclntyre compiled. Two days later the donor of the suit was astonished, on visiting the Trades Hall, to find the manly form of O'Donnell proudly resplendent m the gift suit of clothing. The only remark the astounded donor made' was: "That's a fine suit you have on, O'Donnell. It has a familiar look, too. You and I must be much the same build." No reply was forthcoming, but other more pertinent inquiries were made, and it has never been denied that this was the identical suit. Is it possible that this man stooped to avail himself of a gift designed for someone not m a position to purchase his own clothes, at a time when he was m receipt of an excellent sum of money weekly? This was at the end of May, and < when "Truth" inquired . from O'Donnell last week how long he had been receiving his £,4/10/-, he replied that ' it ;had started about seven weeks ago. He agreed that that would be about the middle of May or a little later. Allegations that O'Donnell has taken advantage of gifts of coal presented by : well-wfshers for distribution among i the really needy have also been inves- 1 tlgated by "Truth." |i

On May 28 a coal merchant was instructed by a kind-hearted person to distribute 12 bags of coal m two-bag lots to six such cases, the names having been supplied from the Trades Hall and including that of O'Donnell. On arrival at O'Donnell's house, the merchant was surprised to be informed by Mi's. O'Donnell that she expected and was entitled to receive six bags As, however, his instructions were strictly limited to two bags, he delivered this quantity. Imagine his further astonishment when, on coming to the coaL bin, he found there was already a quantity which he estimates as at least six bags, m the bin. On inquiry by this paper as to whether he had informed the Alliance of Labor of the Mayor's suggestion that he should restore harmony by resigning, O'Donnell replied that there had been no meeting of that body to which he could report the matter. As it Is over two months since the suggestion was first mooted, the Dunedin branch of the alliance cannot be functioning too often. Their Best As a result of the key episode, Mrs. Mclntyre, m the course of a very strong letter to the Committee, resigned her position as . superintendent of relief distribution. * O'Donnell's organisation, wJtiich, of course, also had its headquarters at the Trades Hall, promptly stepped m and absorbed the ladies, remaining on the sub-committee, .and since then hap been administering the distribution of such gifts of cash arid kind as have reached the depot, but under the nominal jurisdiction of the Citizens' Unemployment Committee. It may be asked why the Mayor and representatives of non-labor bodies have not exercised a stronger supervision over the work of the depot. The answer is that they have" done their best to do so, but they are men with businesses of their own and other public work to perform. It was admitted by O'Donnell and the lady relief workers that Mrs. Black. Councillor Mitchell and Messr«. SqoU. Allen.

and Paterson . had worked hard and been of very great assistance. But any measures they introduced to institute mora adequate supervision were promptly outvoted by the Labor members. ; Reverting to O'Donnell's weekly subsidy, "Truth" enquired from him whence it came. The reply was that he did not know, but he guaranteed lt cimei. neither from funds for the relief of the unemployed nor from the unemployed themselves. This was confirmed by Mr. Mark Silverstone, a prominent Labor man m Dunedin, who also denied that any of the Trades Unions contributed to the amount, but he refused to disclose Its source. The utterances of Messrs. O'Donnell, Silverstone, Petrie and Neilson at meetings held under the auspices of the Unemployed Workers' Committee also call for comment. Class "Warfare Class warfare is preached at these meetings as the only solution of unemployment. Remarks on the degradation of having to wear second-hand clothing and line up for relief were interspersed with assertions . that the workers were entitled to anything they liked the look of m shop windows, and the amazing statement was made that the R.S.A., m offering 12/- and 14/- a day from th* Poppy Day funds, was m league with the employers to bring down wages. "Truth" does not for one moment believe that the mass of New Zealand's workers subscribe to such doctrines, but there is always a certain leaven of the disaffected, mostly drawn from the 'won't works,' who are dangerously apt to accept whole-heartedly the teachings of agitators. Such agitators and their dupes require stamping out. If O'Donnell really has the cause of the unemployed at heart and is not m search of- cheap popularity, he should accept the jobs offered hirh. He should advise the bodies he represents on the Citizens' Unemployment Committee that he considers matters would proceed more smoothly if they appointed someone else as delegate. In short, ha should remove the feeling of the citizens of Dunedin that the best use is not being made cf their contribution to relief. Unless and until he does so, this paper fears that the Citizens' Unemployment Committee, which, as Its name indicates, is Intended to be the ' effort of this city to alleviate the causes and results of unemployment, will not receive the help and support which the citizens of Dunedin are prepared to elye. Worst of all, the genuine cases of hardship, will not receive, except vicariously, the organised relief which must be jcivan jtheffl.