UNEMPLOYMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21040, 31 May 1930, Page 14

UNEMPLOYMENT.

arrs LOAN PROPOSAL. i, REJECTED BY RATEPAYERS. STRONG ADVERSE VOTE. The poll on the proposal by the Dimhdln City Council to raise a loan of <20.009, primarily for the purpose of providing work for the relief of men who •re now unemployed, was taken yesterday between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. As usual, the ratepayer* evinced little interest in the proposal, and out of about 21,000 wbo were entitled to vote only 2807 exorcised Iheir privilege. It became evident very soon after the •lose of the poll that the proposal would be lost by & substantial majority. Twelve returns were received within 10 minutes after the voting had ceased, and in oniy one case—that of Qppho—was there a majority in favour of raising a loan. The majorfity in that case was only three votes. At practically, all the other 19 polling booths the verdict of the ratepayers was, decidedly against the proposal, and when all the returns had come to hand it was found that the loan had been rejected by a majority of nearly two to one. The figures were as follow; For the proposal .. .. 947 " -Against the proposal .. .. 1816 There were 36 informal votes and eight declarations. • STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. In conversation with a reporter after ■fiie result had become known, the Mayor r(Mr R, S, Black) stated that it was evident that the people had not taken much interest in the poll. To him the result was not surprising, but it was certainly very disappointing. If the loan had been carried, it would haye carried a Government subsidy of £7OOO. “ The position now,” said Mr Black, "is that we still have to face the problem of doing what is passible to relieve -the distress arising from unemployment. If the loan had been carried we would have been able to put on a fair number of men immediately, with more to follow, but the decision of the ratepayers means that we shall have to give food and clothing instead of work to the unemployed. The money would have been spent in the city, and would have meant so much more for the tradespeople and others." RELIEF DEPOT’S WORK. APPEAL FOR BLANKETS. The distribution depot at the Trades Hall had a busy day yesterday providing necessities for those of the unemployed who made application for help. The organiser (Mr B. O’Donnell) stated yesterday that gifts of money, vegetables, groceries, and other goods were coming to hand, and he emphasised the need for blankets for distribution, many people being greatly in need of these. The Stella Preserving Company had sent in 20 cases of fruit and jam, meat had been received from Messrs Barton, Duke and Sous, and W. Smith, two tons of coal from Mr MKay (Caversham), and parcels from Messrs Gardiner • and Brown. Orders to the value of over f 17' had been given out during the day.

. THE SOUP KITCHEN. The work which ( was commenced oh Thursday under the guidance of the Salvation Army at the soup kitchen .’in Dowling street whs continued yesterday, when even more people were supplied with food than ’on the opening day. Everything possible is being done to alleviate the distress of those who are out ,of work, and it is intended in the near future to supply those who are most in need with more substantial food than soup; > Captain E. A. Chandler, officer in charge of the kitchen, stated last night that the Army officers were now busily engaged getting into touch with necessitous cases,, and he expected next week to see the organisation on a much larger scale than at present.' He also expressed the'thanks of the Army, for the numerous and generous donations that had come to hand in response to the appeal made during the week. CONDITIONS. UNCHANGED. HOSPITAL, BOARD CHAIRMAN ALARMED. THE GOVERNMENT’S - RESPONSIBILITY. (Special to Dailt Times.) AUCKLAND. May 30. “To say that I am alarmed at the state of unemployment in Auckland would be putting it mildly,” said Mr W, Wallace, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, this morning. “The board,” Mr Wallace added, “ has called a conference of all local bodies in the Auckland hospital district—from Mercer in the south to Rodney in the north—to consider the position, and that conference will be held on June 10. “We hope,” said the chairman, “ that representations will be made to the Government indicating its responsibility in the matter and pointing out’ that it is considered to be a national affair. We maintain that unemployment relief should come out of the Consolidated Fund.” , On inquiry at the City Council offices this morning a reporter was informed ■ that 72 men were now employed on relief work, and it was possible that others would be taken on shortly. The Returned Soldiers’ Association, it was stated, had voted the sum of £2OO towards giving relief to returned soldiers who were unemployed, and at the last meeting of the Finance Committee of the City Council it had been decided to give a £ for £ • subsidy, . The Government had also been’ approached with a view to giving a similar subsidy, and that would make £6OO available. POSITION ACUTE IN WELLINGTON HOSPITAL BOARD CONCERNED. (Peb United Peess Association.) WELLINGTON, May 30. Unemployment is becoming so rife in the city that it is questionable whether the Wellington Hospital Board will be able to continue meeting the heavy demands for maintenance. This statement was made at a meeting of the board yesterday by the chairman of the Social Welfare Committee, Mr G. Petherick, who reported that during the period from April 1 to May 0 a total of 452 cases had been attended to, of which 127 were new cases. A total of __ 639 cases remained on the committee’s -bands at the end of the period. Of these 175 were due to unemployment, which affected 790 persons. Cash grants had totalled £571. Reference to the City Council’s efforts to interview the Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) in regard to unemployment was made by Cr M. F. Luckie (Deputy Mayor) at a meeting of the council. Mr •, Luckie said the council's repersentations jpoocscqing relief of unemployment would

While in this post Hislop had much to do with the establishment of the Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools in Dunedin, the Training- College, the School of Art, and the district high schools.' He was also first secretary to the Otago University Council and registrar of the University. In 1867 the Provincial Government employed Hislop to report on the re* sources of. the • province—pastoral, agricultural, and industrial—and a most interesting handbook was the result. When the industrial school wad established ■at Caversham in 1869 the task of organising and supervising the institution was entrusted to Hislop and St. John Branigan, the • inspector of police, and their joint effort produced a very satisfactory result. The passing of the National Education Act marked' the end of Hislop’s official career in the province. As early as 1871 he had a large part in the drafting of the Bill, which was read for a second time in the House of Representatives. It, made no further progress then, but many of its provisions were embodied in. the later BUI of 1877, which gave to the whole colony a uniform system of education, free, secular, and compulsory. It was. suitable that Hislop should be selected for the important post of secretary for education when the new system was brought into force, and he went to Wellington to inaugurate it. ‘ When he left Otago .the teachers of the province, who were destined to leave their mark upon the teaching profession of the whole colony during the next generation, paid him a remarkable demonstration of affection and respect in the form of an ad-, dress and a valuable piece of silver plate. Henceforward Hislop’s duties kept him mainly in Wellington, but again in 1882, when he was about to leave on. a year’s furlough in Great Britain, his admirers in Otago entertained him and handed him a sufficient sum to get his portrait painted by Horsburgh, the Scottish artist. This portraits hangs In the library of Otago University.

While he was in the Old Country on this occasion the University of Edinburgh conferred upon Hislop the honorary degree of LL.D. in recognition of his services to the cause of education in New Zealand. He also received the fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

When he retired from the Education Department in 1886 Hislop came back to live in Dunedin,., full of experience and still active enough to give valuable service to city and province. He became a member Of the Education Board, of the Hospital Board of. Trustees, and of the City Council; chairman of the Industrial School Board of Advice, a representative commissioner; a member of the committee of the Benevolent Institution, and ar visiting justice of the gaol. In the commercial world he was a director of the Mosgiel Woollen Company. A prominent Freemason, he was at one time grand master under the Scottish Constitution. He also took a keen interest in thtrCaledonian Society. Dr Hislop married in 1846 Miss J. Horne, of Caithness-shire, who died in 1903, He died on May 19, 1904. There was a family of four sons and two daughters. Fifteen years before hig death Dr Hislop had the satisfaction of seeing his son the Hon. Thomas William Hislop, administering the portfolio of Minister of . Education. ■ One daughter was the wife of Dr Hugh Macdonald, of Lyttelton; and another, Mrs H. Hare, of Christchurch, died in 1891,