UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21362, 16 June 1931, Page 8

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

VIEWS OF CHAMBER OF . 1 COMMERCE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT In a report which he submitted to the Council of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce last night on the recent Unemployment Conference in Dunedin the president (Mr A. C. Cameron) strongly advocated the expenditure of unemployment relief funds on more productive works. He stated that owing to certain reasons, the meeting had not been a successful one. On behalf of the chamber he had uttered an emphatic protest against the way in which certain of‘the unemployment funds were being spent, and although his motions in this connection had been carried by the meeting it had been evident to the chamber’s delegates that many members of the local bodies did not realise, the seriousness of the position. In the first place, he would like to reiterate that he believed it was their duty to find work for every man and woman who was without any means of subsistence. He wanted, however, to emphasise the fact that the country was in the throes of the most serious economic crisis in living memory, and if primary produce did not show some considerable improvement during the next two years they would not only have to alter the whole of their present ideas of living but would have a stern fight to prevent national bankruptcy. “ I don’t want to be an alarmist,” said Mr Cameron, “ but I want to emphasise the fact that the position is so critical that it behoves every organisation of thinking men and women to consider whether we can afford frittering away the unemployment funds on such things as trimming and clipping the grass on the sides of our suburban streets and reducing the height of roadside mounds for no other purpose than to provide work for unemployed men. We have all seen something of the trivial work which some of these unemployed men are"*engaged upon. Let me mention the case of one man whose house faces the town belt. The road curves away from the house, and this citizen had taken the trouble to level and mow the grass as a playground for his children. Imagine his chagrin when returning for lunch he discovered a gang of unemployed busily clipping up all the grass. This spot has since been left a quagmire and a fine breeding ground for weeds. A bank upon which Mr Tannock’s men have with difficulty succeeded in growing grass has been neatly clipped bare, and this for no particular reason such as road widening or improving the look of the bank.

“ At the meeting already referred to a delegate from Port Chalmers stated that the unemployed there had loaded a dray with £lay, unloaded it and reloaded it again for something to do. Is it any wonder that men find work of this nature degrading, and do their best to dodge doing more of it than they can help ? “ The fault lies in the fact that the Unemployment Board will not make the funds available for work which any city council, county council or the Main Highways Board might reasonably bo expected to do themselves during the next year or two. The result is that the only schemes being suggested are works of secondary importance Or works of no importance' whatever —work such as the road at the back of Flagstaff, upon which some £75,000 is being spent. The Unemployment Board' reports that its income is approximately £24,000 per week, and its expenditure has been at the rate of £40,000 per week. Does the public realise that this is coming out of the national purse, no matter how the purse is being replenished?”

The Unemployment Board supplied the funds, Mr Cameron continued, but the local body had to supply supervision and drays if they were required. Owing ti -depleted funds the local bodies (including the City Corporation) were supplying wheelbarrows in many cases where the work could be done more expeditiously with a dray.

He had spoken to county councillors, who quite frankly said they were on a “ win.” They received the funds from the Unemployment Board and were getting a lot of odd jobs done which would never otherwise be done and were incidentally keeping their unemployed quiet. All they were supplying were shovels, wheelbarrows, and often inadequate supervision One case had been noticed recently where seven men had been loading two wheelbarrows which two other men had wheeled 200 yards, emptied and then wheeled back. Needless to say, little work had been done. Many of the gangs wore taking so little interest in their, work that on these cold mornings few of the men removed their overcoats. In view of the position which he had outlined and in view of the critical position of this country, it seemed to him that the time bad been reached when a halt should be called and stop this method of expenditure. Every local body should bo asked to submit to a central provincial committee a list of the work which had to be done in order of importance, and the central committee should allocate the unemployed to each body in accordance with the importance of the work, costs to be adjusted by the central committee and the most economic method of doing the work to be adopted. No works of secondary importance should be gone on with until those of first importance were completed. The country was not in a position to stand uneconomic expenditure, and the chamber should sternly discountenance it. The Government had controlled many things during the war, and he seriously suggested that the time had arrived when some measure of control should be exercised over local body expenditure, particularly in regard to giving such a central provincial unemployment committee power to enforce the cooperation of local bodies and of giving them power to allocate the cost of such work as might be done with unemployed labour.

They all realised the difficulties confronting the board. They realised that many of their schemes were constructive and that they were doing good work, but in his opinion uneconomic expenditure must be kept to a minimum. Most of them could name work of importance waiting to bo done, but he felt that before further funds were spent the policy of the board should be altered in the direction he had indicated. Mr W. G. Kindlcy said that the regulations were now more elastic than at the start and more productive works could be carried out. The chairman stated that he placed no blame at the door of the Unemployment Board. Mr C. B. Barrowclough supported the chairman’s remarks. The chairman added that he believed that the unemployment relief scheme would go into the melting pot during the next session of Parliament. After discussion motions were passed endorsing the resolutions carried at the unemployment conference and_ urging the Government to continue the No. 5 schem' until Parliament has an opportunity of dealing with the matter. After further discussions on the possibility of expending unemployment funds more profitably in Dunedin the following resolution was carried: —“ That with a view to utilising unemployment labour as far as possible on economic work this chamber urges on the Dunedin City Cor poration and Otago Harbour Board the advisability of ascertaining if it is not possible to make a start on the Leith flood protection works.”

CESSATION OF No. 5 SCHEME

APPEAL BY UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE Although no advice has yet been received to the effect that arrangements would he made to continue the operation of the No. 5 scheme of the Unemployment Board, instead of suspending it from) June 20, the Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) and the members of the local Unemployment Committee feel that in view of the gravity of the situation no other course is open. During the previous suspension of the relief works for a fortnight local bodies were able to come to the rescue, but their funds are now so strained that it is impossible for them to do the same again. In the meantime’ the Central Relief Committee in Dunedin js organising relief measures to deal with the inevitable distress that will follow the cessation of the relief works.

The local Unemployment Committee makes an urgent appeal to individual citizens, where possible, to give work to unemployed men after June 20 if the No. 5 scheme is suspended. The Mayor stated yesterday that there was a quantity of timber cut into lengths at the corporation works at Ross Creek. It was intended to set up a saw in the locality, cut the trees ■ into suitable lengths for firing, and distribute the fuel to needy cases in co-operation with the relief depot. It was also hoped to secure more wood for firing by thinning out some of the plantations about the outskirts of the city. GROUPS TO REPORT.

The following groups will report at 8 a.m. to-day:— 13—St. Clair Baths. (Those men who worked on Tuesday, June 9.) 36 —Balmacewan road, at golf links. 40—Riselaw road, at Corstorphine road.

49 —Intersection Wharf street and French street.

57 Fraser’s road, at baths. 58— Intersection Queen’s Drive and Preston crescent.

PROBLEM OF FINANCE BOARD’S FUNDS EXHAUSTED GOVERNMENT ACTION AWAITED. . (Peb United Press Association.! WELLINGTON, June 15. One of the first questions to bo submitted to Parliament upon the opening of the session on June 25 will be that of unemployment. According to a statement nlade by the Prime. Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) in an interview to-day, an impossible position has been reached by the Unemployment Board, whose weekly expenditure of £40,000 is double the revenue received. The suspension of the No. 5 scheme from next Saturday will mean that thousands of men will be left without relief work. The Prime Minister said to-day that more money would certainly have to be found for unemployment relief, and Parliament would be asked to consider the question during the coming session. He said he was not in a position to say at present whether the levy would be increased or not or whether some other way of finding the money required would be attempted. Suggestions have been made that a temporary scheme to assist the unemployed until Parliament can deal with the situation will be drawn up. However, it is understood that the securing of finance to do this will be a particularly difficult task. Unless the Government takAs steps to meet the serious position that will be created practically no relief cau be afforded until the question has been placed before Parliament and a new method of meeting the position devised. It was estimated that the unemployment levy would produce about £600,000 a year, and that with the Government subsidy of £ for £ on expenditure the board would have about £1,200,000 a year to spend. On the basis of its present outgoings the board would spend over £2,000,000 in a full year. According to the last official returns of unemployment supplied by the Minister of Labour (Mr S. G. Smith), a total of 30,425 men were placed in work under the No. 5 scheme for the week under review. This scheme is regarded ns the board’s major relief project at the moment, and with its cessation the greater part of the board’s relief activities may be said to cease for want of funds. The stoppage of work under this scheme will mean that about 30,000 men will be forced to seek relief from charitable aid and other bodies already heavily taxed in this respect, and it is certain that the great majority will bo unable to find help.

POSITION IN CHRISTCHURCH LOCAL BODY CONFERENCE CALLED. (Per United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, June 15. Means of meeting the situation created by the suspension of the Unemployment Board’s No. 5 scheme were discussed by the Christchurch City Council to-night. While protesting to the Government that the scheme must be renewed immediately or some substitute provided the council decided to call a meeting of the representatives of all the- local bodies concerned in the operation of the scheme and to delegate power of action to the combined works and finance committees.

It was mentioned in the course of the discussion that the Canterbury Hospital Board is already spending at the rate of £30,000 a year in the relief of distress, although the provision on the estimates for this purpose is only £20,000.

THE No. 5 SCHEME TEMPORARY PROVISION URGED. (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, June 15. Auckland members of Parliament and representatives of local bodies, interviewed to-day, wore unanimous in the opinion that the Government could, and should, meet the emergency caused by the exhaustion of the Unemployment Board’s funds. They urge the Government to advance sufficient money to enable the No. 5 scheme to be continued for a further 14 days, by which time Parliament would have validated the irregularity and made fresh, provision for the future.

BRIGHTON COMMITTEE MEETS PROVISION FOR LOCAL MEN. A meeting of the Brighton Unemployment Committee was held in the Brighton Hall last night, Mr G. W. Bush in the chair. There were also present Messrs A; J. Allen, R. Lobb, J. Logan, C. J. Hobbs, D. M'lntosh, D. Miller," M. Stevenson, and D. L. M'Coll. Mr Allen read a communication to the Brighton Domain Board from the Unemployment Commissioner notifying the suspension of the No. 5 unemployment scheme as from June 20. Mr Miller said that there was 11 single and five married men employed on relief work on the domain, and five men on work under the Tajeri County Council, four of whom were married and one single. Mr Stevenson said that since the in-

ception of the scheme, the Domain Board bad given unemployed men as much work as it could with a view to helping the men and improving the domain. The work had now come to a dead end, and it was the committee’s duty to devise some means for keeping the men in employment as long as possible. Something would have to be done to keep them going. Mr Allen said that they had commenced under No. 1 scheme early in December, since when every eligible applicant had received his share of work from Nos. 1,2, or 5 schemes; moreover, every youth irf the district had been placed with farmers under No. 4 scheme —a record he did not think could be equalled in any district in New Zealand. At the meeting of public bodies convened by the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr R. S. Black) last month, they had been asked to relieve the situation in Dunedin by taking men from the city. They had interested cottage owners in Brighton, and had arranged to take a number of married men out and provide houses for them at 10s per week. Now, with the No. 5 scheme closed down, they would have these men idle, and they would not be able to find bus fares to go back to Dunedin to apply to the Hospital Board for relief. They must do something for the men in the district, and he had the authority of the president of the Brighton Advancement and Amenities Society to offer £25 towards improvement on the domain to tide the men over the suspension of the scheme if the Ratepayers’ Association would provide a like amount for the same purpose, and if the Taieri County Council would keep its men employed in Brighton in work for the same period. With a total of £SO available, they would be able to employ the men for two weeks as from June 22, and he was optimist enough to believe that by the end of this period a new scheme would be brought down. Mr Hobbs, on behalf of the Brighton Ratepayers’ Association pointed out that that body had only recently been formed, and he could not commit it to anything as yet. He would, however, lay Mr Allen’s suggestion before his association.

Mr Allen said that the Amenities Society considered that the men should be kept on the same work as they were doing at present. Mr Hobbs expressed the opinion that what work was to be done was not of paramount importance. The main thing was to keep the men in work. He thought that his association would object to providing £25 if the amount were to be spent on the Domain. Mr Stevenson suggested that the Ratepayers’ Association’s executive should meet and consider what could be done to co-operate with the society’s. He moved—“ That with a view to taking advantage of the Amenities Society’s offer, the question of the work to be carried out be deferred until such time as the executive of the Ratepayers’ Association meets and decides what amount of money it can make available.” —Mr Bush seconded the motion, which was carried.

Mr Hobbs said that there was very little time for the association to come to a decision, and suggested that some of the ratepayers, in the meantime, might be able to provide work privately. Mr MTntosh thought that the time had arrived when re-productive work should be considered. He was of the opinion that the Lands Department should lend settlers small sums at a low rate of interest —say 2 or 3 per cent., with I per cent, for a sinking fund—to enable them to put into cultivation land that was useless at the present time.

The chairman and Messrs MTntosh and Miller were appointed an emergency committee to deal with any urgent matters that might arise before the next meeting of the committee.

DISTRESS RELIEF FUND. We have received the following subscriptions in response to the Mayor’s appeal:—

Previously acknowledged “Helper” .. p £43 , 3 2 , i 15 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 “ Te Awa ” , i 0 0 I. B., Dunback i 0 0 A. M. A i 0 0 Ophir Sunday School, Central Otago , 0 18 1