BRITAIN’S UNEMPLOYED.

Otago Witness, Issue 3881, 31 July 1928, Page 32

BRITAIN’S UNEMPLOYED.

RELIEF IN DEPRESSED AREAS.

BOARD’S REPORT DISCUSSED. ; 7 ' . , j ' RUGBY, July 24. x The. - ' Rriirie Minister! in Parliament towifh. ; bnemployineiit,' especially, points ; raised by the report of/, the,'. Industrial ,:‘Tra.nsference Board. Mr Baldwin's statement, was made in rjiply to.; ,Mr. Ramsay’ MacDonald-, who moyed a resolution deploring the inadequacy ofthe ...measures taken by the Gbvermrieut to' deal with the tragic national problem of unemployment, arid generally’? criticised the. policy of the Government on the question... /The Prime Minister-; said the latest figures /of the Board of Trade - showed that' unemployment was mainly in the ; ' great staple industries—-particularly coal .[ 'and cotton—blit the general trade of the Wintry bad been maintained. They tfenibnstrated, that unemployment was though'it was local and confined. Development in this- country .was going He . ,did not • think there was- any; dpubt, that,.; taking the ' country as a i.tpiole, and ..it. ought ;to be perfectly po's- *’ kj.oie ;(or‘. ther growing ■prosperity' of the ' other, areas in- the south,., as in the './Midlands, to afford some relief to the depressed areas. ‘lf the changed ■’equilibrium of the more prosperous industries Mas a fact, then 'it ; should be possible that-whenever development'whs still proceding from that .source help might be found for places where development had been-arrested. That really was the key to a large proportion of.■ the report of the Industrial Board. • /Reorganisation/ of industry, unfortunately, had meant, a certain amount of dis ; placement of labour. Undoubtedly re-' organisation was going on in this country to ari extent which it ‘had never done before, and he found comfort in the thought that industry would emerge when . we,.were through these times, better ' -manned, better organised, and pulling .together better than ever before. For the. time being there was a surplus of labour." The aim of the unemployment policy should be, first, as far as possible to break up concentrated unemployment ‘by the absorption of-ag many unemployed as possible in the areas that were prosperous. That was the - view of the Transference Board, and he agreed with it.,. <. • . .

With regard to .migration, Air Baldwin saidit was no case of shifting our unemployment burden, on to the dominions Or wishing to transfer men overseas simply because they were unemployed. What really mattered was. the likelihood' of a man making good in his new horiie. When a man contemplated what was before him here and compared his’ prospects with his chances overseas, he should have the right to choose for-himself and put his choice into practice. The question of migration had;to be further, thrashed out between this country and the dominions. , The Government wanted to have the fullest and -frankest communication, and. it saw its way in certain directions to the. adoption of a. more active policv of migration, both under the Empire Settlement Act and otherwise. In the matter of preliminary training the experience of the, last few years and the reports on overseas training had decided the Govern ment to embark’ upon a substantial ex pension of its policy, in this direction Lord Eovat (Under-Secretary for the Dominions) was going out to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to follow up the discussions already initiated by the. Dominions Secretarv during his recent tour.- He would discuss .'fairly and freely with representatives of the dominions all the. matters which had’ been- mentioned. • With regard to the export credits guarantee scheme, Mr Baldwin said that ■ would ..come.: to an/end next year in the absence of a further order The Estimates Committee of-the House of Com- , nions. had conducted recently .a searching .investigation . into the working of the scheme. and had expressed itself as satis fied that it’was of practical advantage to the export trade. This certainly was not a time when.they could allow any approved assistance of that kind to be dropped The ..- Government proposed in due ._course to introduce legislation ex'i 'tending the scheme for a further, two years from'September next year- ; - In . conclusion, the-. Prime Minister announced that.- the Government would accelerate the execution of portion of its , scheme for ► giving the' railways relief from: local , taxation in return for a reduction °f Height charges ;on certain .specified traffic' wjth a ’view to helping the .basic industries. ’’ Mi .Ramsay .MacDoiiald said that the GovernriientWas doirig it s best to lull the •country into a state of complacency, but i • the tremendous and unexpected leap in -' the official unemployment figures showed that' the problem was 7 threatening to • obtain,, the mastery. The report of the . Industrial Transference ' Board stressed emigration as a; remedy, but they , should first be most careful that their own Country was being developed.—(Labom cheers.) There were -roads to be condtructed'i -_slurns. to be' cleared away, arid other * essentials >whereby 'the wealth of tjbe nation, might be : added to. So far . ris emigration was concerned, the report of the Transference Board was one of despair.;-,. It>- was the most - damning • contribution ;ever. made against the Government and its. handling of the unemployment problem/; • ... .. .

POLICY OF RELIEF WORK. : LONDON, July 24. Mr' Baldwin, in reference to unemployment, pointed out that' the policy. of relief- Work’ had outlived its' usefulness, because the areas* they. were cpnsidering were /not - recovering.-- If 'unemployment jn'these district®; were. sprdad ;everily-,qv|r the; <®untry .the. .i3bsitiod\ be’ far . lesB’senoUB, iln.,Lrindoh, with<an.jnsyred ■■ • •ojmJation.of. over. 2,000,000, unemploy-

ment was only 5 per cent., but it was .23 per cent in/Duihanq and 60 per cent. in Leicestershire. He asked j. “ Are the more fortunate areas going to put up a barbed wire .fence around themselves?’” . Referring to emigration, and .the view of the. Transference Board that there is room in the dominions for large numbers .of men .who are willing to .work hard, the Prime Minister said that .the Government felt ■ that State intervention. ; was -.gradually, turning the idea of ">courageous adventure /into a slow and -restricted [ policy of emigration of labour. That was ; not the wav the dominions /were built • up. Preliminary training centres for the • colonies had proved so satisfactory that -.the Government had decided on a Sub-, ■stantial extension. Women’s training j centres ’were_ also being extended. In ■the residential centres in East Anglia i they were teaching the rudiments of • agriculture to young men ready to go ■overseas, and a similar school, was being i opened in Scotland. Overseas farmers • who had visited the East Anglian schools' ; were delighted at .the quality of the • men.' . . . ’

' Sir Robert Horn said he hoped that, • despite the. obvious difficulties., arrange-. Iments. might-be ..made before long whereby large numbers of those who found, it difficult to obtain employment -would be given freer opportunities .. in a new .•country. The objection of the dominions to having our unemployed . foisted upon them, however, wa s perfectlyjustifiable ■ - Mr, J; Wheatley (Labour) said that every unemployed person should be paid 'his full workshop wages for 'every day he was out of work. “ I ~w6ujd use the navy to sink every ship which brought sweated goods from abroad. I. would apply something stronger than tariffs, which only resulted in increasing the prices of goods and the profits of profiteers. I would tax earned incomes over £2OOO to the extent of 20s in the £ ‘ until I set industry going. I would tax incomes over £lOOO 20s. I '.would 'ask people ■to make sacrifices, double the housing subsidy, and halve the rents of working class houses.”

MOTION OF CENSURE DEFEATED. LONDON, July 25. Mr Philip Snowden expressed ■ the opinion that the Prime Minister’s speech ■ was a miserable exhibition; If the Government wanted to restore the iron .and steel trade it should develop the great possibilities Of the Indian Empire. Mr Winston Churchill said that , the unemployment problem was to liquidate the surplus of 250,000 miners in the great aftermath of the labour disputes of 1926. The Government rating scheme ■ must constitute the' main effort in dealing with the present difficult - situation, and the Government had decided as an extra effort to bring portion of the scheme into operation before the rest could be achieved. The motion of censure ivas defeated by 331 to 151. . • . MIGRATION A BIG FACTOR. .. ~ LONDON, July 27.; Migration within the Empire is undoubtedly; a factor of prime importance in the mitigation of unemployment,” said Sir Donald M’Lean, when referring to ;the Industrial Transference report in a speech at Cornwall. “ Emigration must not be compulsory, but clearly thousands of our fellow-citizens, young,, fit. and adventurous, are eager to migrate. - Speaking frankly, unnecessary difficulties are put in their way by Dominion and Home authorities, and disappointment and dis illusionment are evident. It is a remarkable fact that emigration ig lowest when trade is bad and highest when it is good. Men do not like to cross the seas without some money for contingen..cies, and it would pay . England hand ■somely t'o capitalise the prospective dole .over five years, financial!? inducing desirable emigrants. Tlie dominions should face, some risks if Britain finds the •money.!’ -