THE UNEMPLOYED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2850, 28 October 1908, Page 24

THE UNEMPLOYED.

A GRAVE SITUATION. THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. LONDON, October 20. Wihile the House of Commons was dismissing the Children's Bill* an old Whitechapel Jew from the Strangers' Gallery taesed a bundle of papers on the floor of the House, exclaiming : " Bead my scheme dealing with unemployment." He was ejected after being admonished, October 21. The London County Council has authorised large works to help to ""absorb the unemployed. These include the expenditure of a sum of £281,000 for the electrification of the trams. The council, howlever, negatived a scheme brought forward fey Captain Hemphill (the deputy chairman) to expend £1,000,000 on electrical traction and street-widening. •Mr John Burns asked the council to facilitate useful schemes of providing winter work. • * y The Times declares that the Cabinet is divided as to whether the remedy for • iixnemployment shall be legislative or administrative. October 22. In tine House of Commons Mr Asquith informed a packed House that the Government intended beginning next seseion to deal with the permanent causes and conditions of unemployment. He admitted that a grave situation had arisen, necessitating direct and immediate treatment. This temporary dislocation of the (machinery of production had occurred -throughout the world, and not merely an the United Kingd -n. He admitted that the extent of the unemployment was substantially in excess of anything experienced 'for some time. He declared that Mr John Burns had ■worked night and- day to provide Telief. Between June" and October the Local Government Board had sanctioned loans for local 'works of utiKty ■to the extent of. £4,388,000, being ' much in excess of £he average. . .* - Other Heavy loans would likely be sanctioned, and -works were being accelerated in the metropolis and ibe'large piotyincial centres. - The," Water Board intended to construct a reservoir at a cost «f £520,000. The Government dad not intend to authorise the local • authorities to ■ l«vy a «eimy for relief votes. The municipalities Jiad not sought that power, but had'adVised the Government -to deal with the i jjbergency .on national lines.

l Mr Asquith (continuing) said that anyhow the expenditure loans would be tenfold what was possible under rates. The Post Office intended to employ 8000 extra men at Christinas, and the War Office would take 24.000 recruits foT the Special R«6erve at a cost of £200,000. During the winter 2100 men would be engaged "on the Government dockyards in repair work. Tenders had already been accepted for new destroyers co&ting £9,000,000, and tenders would shortly be accepted for five unarmoured cruisers at a cost of £1,500,000. All this navy work would be commenced six weeks in advance of the usual time. The expenditure from the central fund would be- at least £300,000, -under more elastic and liberal provisions. The Government proposals made no pretence of finality, but were merely anodynes, affording temporary relief. The statement was received with loud cheers. The proposals will be debated on Monday. The Liberals .are divided about the unemployed proposals. Some consider them a satisfactory palliative, while others hold that they are not sufficiently far-reaching. The Unionists regret that the unemployed in Scotland are not to be utilised in excavation work at the Rosyth naval base. The Labour paxty considers the administrative concessions quite inadequate, and expresses the opinion that, although plenty of money is available, the municipalities will not find work. The Executive of the party has appointed a committee to formulate proposals for tiding over next winter. The Times says that the Ministerial proposals are satisfactory, and worthy of support until they have been proved inadequate or needlessly lax. The Daily Mail"( 0.) says that by providing work for 45,000 persons Mr Asquith only assists one in 15 out of a total of 645.000 unemployed. The Daily News (G.) believes that the proposals wall afford no relief to the women among the unemployed. The destroyers ordered to be built at Glasgow will emnlov 4000 men. October 23. The following Ministerialist motion will be moved in tbe Hou*e of Commons on Monday : — The House welcomes Mr Asquith's statement regarding the national importance of the problem of unemployment, and approves of the steps by which it Ls proposed to deal with the matter. Mr Keir Hardie will move on behalf of th# Independent Labour warty:— »

That while recognising th© -importance of Mr Asquith's promise to introduce early legislation dealing with Tin- , employment on a permanent basis, and welcoming the promise to administer with more elasticity the existing act and to provide more money, this .House is of opinion that the proposals are quite inadequate to meet the pressing needs of the unemployed this winteT, and the responsibility for the absence of proper machinery for carrying out the existing powers and the general unpreparedness of the country to meet the present unemployed crisis is due to the neglect of the Government to make provision for a state of affairs which was clearly foreseen. The Unionists will not move an amendment. In order to relieve the unemployed, the Glasgow Corporation intends to memorialise the Government to proceed with the construction of the Forth-Clyde ship canal, October 24. . In the House of Commons Mr Winston Churchill, in reply to Earl Winterton, admitted that there was somewhat more ■ unemployment in Britain than in Germany. Mr Will Thorne, M.P., was charged at the Westminster Police Court with having, while addressing the unemployed in Trafalgar square, incited them to riot. The defendant denied the charge, and claimed that his spe eh was taken too literally. Still, he held that it was not a crime for a starving man to help himself to bread. Mr Curtis Bennett ordered the defendant to enter into sureties, for good behaviour for a year, failing which he would be imprisoned for six months. The magistrate remarked that if such incitements were allowed to go unchecked the lives and property of peaceful citizens would be placed in jeopardy. A stop must be put to attempts to cause people to assemble for illegal or wrongful purposes. October 25. Mr Keir Hardies proposed censure motion on the Government is due to its exclusion of the right-to-work theory from its unemployed proposals. , October 26. ' Mr John Burns, speaking at Mossley, emphasised the fact that his department during the last three years had urged the municipalities to adopt the execution of works in times of slackness. He eulogised their ready response, but contended that relief works on a great and recurring ecale were stereotyping the evils of casual employment and acted as an incentive to the thriftless and as a bonus to "black1 legjSj." There was 'yo teason, w kj t "with

co-ordination and proper distribution of work, unemployment shoukf, as far as State or municipal workers were concerned, exceed 2 or 3 per cent. NEW YORK, October 21. The United States Government intends to order -two more battleships for -the purpose of providing work for the unemployed. MELBOURNE, October 21. About ,200 unemployed invaded the vestibule of the Federal Parliament and attempted to enter the galleries of the House. The police, wnen reinforced, ultimately ejected the men from the building.