ASSISTANCE NEEDED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19122, 17 September 1936, Page 9

ASSISTANCE NEEDED

STEWART ISLAND PEOPLE ‘PRACTICALLY DESTITUTE’ REFUSAL 01' RELIEF (Per Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, last night. To a letter to the Southland Times, Robert 0. llieks, of Half Moon Bay, .Stewart Island, declares, that, the residents, 90 per cent of whom depend on the fishing industry, are. practically destitute. The majority have, not, earned one penny for the months of July, August and .September, through no fault of their own, as they have been dogged by adverse, weather.

There is no other industry on the island. A proposal for a public works scheme to absorb the unemployed was put forward by the Stewart Island lYinnly Council, and the Minister promised a full investigation into the matter. They were now advised that the. local public works engineer had reported adversely on the proposalNeither lie nor any other Government official had gone near Stewart Island to investigate. Yesterday a. telegram was received from the Minister ol Labour slating that there would he neither rcliol work nor sustenance, for fishermen at Stewart. Island.

“The. position at presold, ’ says Air. llieks, “is Hint the men (there are about 50 registered unemployed) are penniless. The storekeepers have carried them along so far, but thoy are going to close down, and, when they do, there is going to be trouble and the. Government will he directly to blame. “SOMETHING- MUST BE DONE” “Something must be done and done quickly. The men have not asked for sustenance; they would sooner work. But. sustenance is infinitely better than starvation. The Stewart. Island County Council wired weeks ago offering <° provide work for all the men if the Government would find the money. Meanwhile the, men have paid t heir levies and wage tax on all they have earned, and now comes a bald statement, ‘no relief work and no sustenance for fisher-

The Stewart Island County Council has written to the. Prime Minister setting out the position us outlined bv Mr. llieks. The council says it is hard to understand why the (Minister of Labour should advise that no help can bo. given to destitute people such as the iishermen are at the present moment. The letter says that Ministers are failing to comply with their election promises when unemployed men :in the Dominion are being refused work or sustenance. The, letter concludes : “The council wishes to protest emphatically against the gross injustice of no reply to Stewart Island compared with the extravagant nature of the. relief supplied in other •districts. The inclination of the. residents is to leave the island for some of the more favoured districts, but, unfortunately, or fortunately, perhaps, they have not, the means to shift.”