THE UNEMPLOYED DIFFICULTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 30

THE UNEMPLOYED DIFFICULTY.

DEPUTATION TO SIR JOSEPH WARD.

THE DISTRESS ACUTE.

GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS.

(Feom Ou^Owir Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, June 16.

A deputation representing the working men of Christchurch and -Wellington waited on. the Prime Minister to-day to urge upon the Government the necessity of acting promptly to relieve the unemployed difficulty. Air £11, who introduced the deputation, said that the position was very acute, and there were several married men out of employment. Mr L. R. Wilson, of Christchurch, stated that on making inquiries in Christchurch he had found the distress was worse than "was at first supposed. The Christchurch City Corporation had refused to give work unless the Government gave pound for pound, because it (the corporation) held that .there were so many immigrants oufc of work that the Government should assist many of there people, who had not been in the country for more than two or three months and had not done any work. He estimated that there were 1000 men in Christchurch unemployed. He had got his Arife to go round, and she had found that there was a great deal of very real distress — in short, that 'the cases reported to him were even worse than had been described. He cevcrely condemned the privat9 labour bureaux in Christchurch, and said that the men who controlled them held out baits when there was no work, simply in the hope that they might make something out of the men by sending them to unsuitable positions. Mr W. Atkinson, a recent arrival from England, stated that the conditions of labour in the Old Country were just as good as they weie in New Zealand. He, for one, felt that he had been taken in. There wers many others in the game position, and he was sorry that he had ever come here. Stem should be taken to prevent the people at Home being fookd m regard to New Zealand. Mr M'Laren. M.P., said that the state of affairs was worse in Wellington than in any other city in the Dominion. The position of the men on the wharves had not been so bad for 15 years. It" was so serious that they were meeting in large concourses, and they would have marched to Parliament to-day if they had not been persuaded to make 'representations by deputations. Immigration should be discontinued. ■ The private tsgietry offices were a nuisance, and lie endorsed every word that had been saia about them. Further, he protested against the dissemination of false information. Exact records of the number of men applying for work should be kept. The matter was really much more serious thin he had represented to the House the othar day. Mr Robert Hogg faid he had recently made a tour to Auckland, and he found men idle all over the place. The Government should do something immediately, j but the men did not want a lepetition of what had occurred at Broken River. Sir Joseph Ward, he said, was reaping the ■ harvest of his predecessor in office. The Prime Minister, in reply, said there was a difficulty in obtaining reliable information as to- the number of unemployed, and if a system of Government buieaufa would do any good, he would see that I they were arranged for. The statement of the number of men out of work in Christchurch was at variance with his own estimate. In a telegram which he had received from the Mayor of Christchurch the number was estimated at 180.

Mr Taylor : I estimated it at 300 to 400 when speaking in the House. Sir Joseph Ward said a suggestion had been made in the telegram he had received from the Mayor of Chmtchuich that the Government should contribute a subsidy of £1 for £1. and that the relief should be dispensed by the Charitable Aid Board. He was not ready to initiate such a system in New Zealand at the present juncture. In any case, this would be only a temporary remedy. — ("Hear, hear.".) An appropriation had already been made by the House of Representatives, and through thU the Government would be able to find work for a considerable number of the unemployed on reproductive works. In regard to immigration, he said the Government had not at any time adopted a general immigration scheme, though small farmers and domestic servants had been assisted to come out. Some of the people who were coming to New Zealand did not get the benefit of reduced fares, and were neither directly nor indirectly assisted. He pointed out that the steamship companies induced immigration for business leasons, and he also emphasised the fact that if the traffic weie interfered with there would naturally be a lessening of trade in expoit?. and that the volume of work on the whaivca. would be l'educed in consequence. The shipping companies could r.ot be interfered with. Tho Government would rio its best to meet the accentuated position. He anticipated f/hat the appropriation made by the House would mean employment during the Avinter on productive works for an additional 1000 men — ("Hear, hear"), — an-d he was prepared to give the necessary authority to have that done. He referred to the difficulty that arose through the disinclination of some men (with families in the towns) to go into the country. That only helped to increase the difficulties which beset the position. At the present time the Government had 9000 men employed on reproductive works. The High Commissioner had done everything he could .to prevent the dissemination at Home of misleading information concerning NewZealand. Sir Joseph concluded by saving that his sympathies were with the

unemployed, aud he would do everything he could to meet the case. As to the statement that the labour conditions here were no better than they were in England, it had been authoritatively stated over and over again that there were several millions of people on* if work, at Home.

Mr Davey said that the bush-felling work should not be undertaken without due care, and new chums should be assisted by experts, otherwise they might be seriously injured or killed. Mr Witty said that the work should

only be conducted under an insurance scheme.

The Prime Minister promised that he would endeavour to arrange that some expert bushmen should be engaged on the areas which jthe Government proposed to deal with, so that the uninitiated would have a chance of learning the " art." An officer had been despatched yesterday to one of the areas to make all, necessary arrangements.