UNEMPLOYMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3829, 2 August 1927, Page 38

UNEMPLOYMENT.

POSITION IN DUNEDIN. A number of men left Dunedin yesterday for works in the country, including road and other works under the PublicWorks Department, and it is anticipated that the next revision of the list of uncnipoyed will reveal a considerable fall in the number. With the return of fine weather, and the opening of spring, many single men are likely to make their way to the country to pick up occupation. On Saturday there were 273 names on the register at the Labour Office in Dunedin including 101 married men and 162 single men. A week ago there were 324 names on tho Looks including 145 married men and 175 single men. Tho men employed on the drainage works in the city lost a couple of days last week through wet weather. Those men have had constant employment during the- winter. THE WAGES QUESTION. It was stated in Labour circles on Wednesday that the men employed on the Public Works Department’s road improvements between Dunedin and Portobello were complaining that their wages were reduced without notice a fortnight ago, from 14s and 12s a day to 12s and 9s—the relief rate. A further complaint was that the men were obliged to pay 5s weekly in bus fares to and from the scene of operations. When the complaint was referred to the Public Works Department, an officer stated that it was a case of cither discontinuing the work altogether or carrying it on as relief work under relief work wages. The bus fares were shared equally by the department and the men. RELIEF SCHEMES OUTLINED. It is announced that the Government has taken steps to relieve the unemployment position in Dunedin by providing immediate employment for 150 men. The Public Works Department will engage 120, mainly for road improvement work, and the Forestry Department will absorb 30. An inquiry was instituted on July 25, and when interviewed. Mr J. R. Marks, district engineer for the Public Works Department, disclosed the following programme:— Men. Widening the road from Evansdale to Merton, via Seacliff ... 60 Road improvements from Galloway to Moa Creek, via Low’s Saddle 40 Improvements to the Little Valley road 10 River protection work at Galloway Bridge 10 Forestry Department work at the Blue Mountain plantation ... 30 • All men selected for these works will be engaged through the Labour Department. Full arrangements are now being made, including the work of finding accommodation for the men at the various scenes of operations. RELIEF IN INVERCARGILL. , Tn addition to the work provided for unemployed men in Dunedin, the Public Works Department will engage 30 men in Invercargill for work in the Southland district. Ten men will be employed on road improvements between Caberfeidh and Kahika, 10 will be sent to railroad work at Conical Hills, between Waipahi and Tapanui, and another gang of 10 men will begin work at Table Hill, in the Catling Valley. Permission has also been received to keep the. workmen on the Portobello road in employment, and they have been authorised to continue the widening and improvement of the road between Portobello and the upper road along the peninsula Additional monetary authority has been I received to continue work on the Port 1 Chalmers road. In these cases the num her of men employed will not be increased, but the decisions are important in that they prevent an increase in the number of unemployed, which would automatically follow the putting off of the men at present in work. OTHER WORKS PENDING. A similar position arises in the case of the Teviot irrigation scheme, which .s to be put in hand in a few days. This will employ 30 men. who will be transferred from completed railway works. Indirectly this will also be of assistance in relieving the position. In a few days Mr Marks will leave to make necessary arrangements for the construction of a road through the Wilden run, for the purpos'e of giving an outlet to the runs in the back country. This is likely to provide a further opportunity for the engaging of. men at present out of work. THE GOVERNMENT’S POLICY. TEMPOR A RY AMELIOR ATION. WELLINGTON, July 26. Addressing the conference of the Fanners’ Union to-day, the Prime Minister (Mr J. G. Coates) referred briefly to unemployment. "If we remember,” said Mr Coates, 4‘that o-n March 31 we were £10,000,000 short of the previous year’s purchasing power, and that there has been a general ■disinclination, and rightly so, on the part of the local bodies to borrow, and that the Government itself has controlled borrowing, the natural result must be that there is less money to go round. The inevitable result must be that there is difficulty in regard to employment. The Government has done its best from its point of view. Whether you are able io agree with it ot not I cannot say ; but I hope you do. We say that we are not

responsible for the employment of men at a standard rate of wages; but we do say that we are responsible, to an extent, in endeavouring to relieve the position, and to provide work —where possible, work that will be remunerative to the country—at a rate which will give temporary relief, and temporary relief only.—-(“Hear, F ea . r :”) sa y it is not the responsibility of the Government to take men o,i and employ them continually. We are in much the same position as many private employer’s; that is, that our resources are not like a bottomless pit, for we can come to the end of our resources. A Minister may seem hard-hearted. In nry opinion the course we have taken is the only possible course to pursue, and wc ask employers and everyone to assist to the extent of their means. We cannot see that more could have been done in respect to giving attention to the provision of temporary relief, and not taking on men at a permanent charge to the country ; but simply for the purpose of tiding them over the difficulty temporarily, and with the object of their seeking other work from other employers as the days pass by.” POSITION IN WELLINGTON. MAYOR ASKS FOR £lO,OOO. WELLINGTON, July 26. The Mayor states that when lie first asked for £4OOO for the unemployed he calculated that, on the men then registered, this sum, with the Government sub sidy, would last for four months. Owing to the enormous increase of applications he now asks for £lO,OOO, of which £7OOO has already been subscribed. It is alleged that there are still 1000 men without work. Some new big road works are being started by the council, and these will absorb a further number.

The Mayor says that unemployment is more rife than for 20 years, but, actually on the above figures, it is the worst for 40 vears.

RETURNED SOLDIERS’ EFFORTS. POPPY’ DAY FUNDS. Mr A. MTlutchon (chairman of the Poppy Day and Unemployment Committee of the Dunedin Reutrned Soldiers’ Association) reported to the executive on Tuesday that the unemployment question was still causing anxiety. Since the last meeting £lO had been granted out of Poppy Dav funds to the Alosgiel Borough Council, £lOO to the City Council, £lO to the Palmerston Soldiers’ Memorial Committee, and £5O to the Hospital Board for tree planting work at Palmerston. AH these amounts would be subsidised to the extern of £ for £. There were some funds available from the Patriotic Society, and the committee had instructed the secretary to apply for £5O to allow tire work at Pleasant Valley to be carried on, and £lOO for work in the city. In connection with the Public Works Department’s scheme, the secretary had interviewed the officials of the Labour Department, and he would be able to nominate sonre men for engagement. At present 32 men were employed under the association’s scheme, and there were still 30 on the books. The General Secretary of the N.Z.R.S.A. wrote stating that M. Paderewski, the famous pianist, had given the proceeds of a concert held in Wellington for the immediate relief of necessitous cases of New Zealand soldiers who served in the Great War. A cheque for the amount of the proceeds had been received by headquarters, and, while it was certain that Paderewski had not intended the money to be spent in the relief of distress arising out of unemployment, at the sajne time he had desired that the relief should be immediate. In view of the fact that the amount received was not large the Executive Standing Committee had decided to invite local associations, which had rendered returns of unemployment, to choose their most necessitous cases and forward fullest details. In choosing details it should be noted that widows and dependents might be included, that details of service and circumstances should be given, and that it was not desirable that the money available should relieve the responsibility of either the Government or the patriotic societies. The matter was left in the hands of the Unemployment Committee and the secretary.

AUCKLAND RETURNED SOLDIERS. TIMELY’ GRANT FROM CANTEEN FUNDS. AUCKLAND, July 27. A grant of £l2OO to relieve the distress caused by unemployment among ex-soldiers in the Auckland province has been made by the Canteen and Regimental Trust Funds Board. The spending of thp grant is to be administered by the Auckland Returned Soldiers’ Association. EMERGENCY RELIEF MEASURES. SI RSTANTIAL WELLINGTON FUNDS. ’WELLINGTON. July 29. The Wellington City Council is putting extensive works in hand to meet the unemployment emergency. The mayor’s fund now exceeds £7OOO, and special loans aggregating £40,000 are being raised. These amounts, plus the Government subsidy, bring the total to nearly £70,000. The money is being devoted, to street ami road works, improvement of the sandhill area, and tree planting.