OUT OF WORK

Southland Times, Issue 20539, 16 July 1928, Page 8

OUT OF WORK

Distress m Invercargill

Mass Meeting of Unemployed

Grievance Against Government

160 Names on Roll

Upwards of 100 men attended a mass meeting of unemployed held in the Labour Hall, Esk street, on Saturday afternoon when the grievances of Invercargill's workless bread-winners were discussed. Mr T, O'Byrne occupied the chair, and together with other speakers criticized the “apathetic attitude'' of the present Government and local bodies towards finding a solution to the problem. A motion was carried expressing dissatisfaction with the Government's present policy which was designated as being of a stop-gap nature, and stressing the necessity of a definite land policy to absorb the unemployed The meeting was quite orderly, though mention of the Prime Minister drew interjections from most of those present.

The meeting was timed to start at 2 o’clock, and prior to that hour unemployed men were gathered outside the hall and in the lobby, in twos and threes. The men were of all ages and types, ranging from youths of tender years to old and whitehaired men. Their clothing gave a clue to the length of time they had been out of employment, the latest additions to the workless ranks being attired in comparatively new suits, while those who had been out of work for three or four months and had families dependent upon them showed signs of wear and tear though their clothing was neatly brushed and their boots polished. A general air of respectability hung over the crowd, most of whom appeared to be of the genuine, work-seeking type. The more sensitive ones entered quickly and sat as near the back as they could get. but one and all seemed to think that relief of some kind would be afforded them at the coming meeting. Owing to the late arrival of one of the speakers the meeting did not commence until about 2.30, but men kept filing into the social room on the top floor where the demonstration was held. The long forms were soon packed and chairs had to be brought up from the bottom floor to accommodate the crowd, which assumed greater proportions every minute, until eventually there was standing room only at the back of the room. Only one lady was present, though regret was expressed that more had not been invited to attend. A large number of the men filed up to the table and signed their names in the unemployment book, which was opened at the Labour Hall over a week agp to determine the actual number of men out of work in Invercargill, some 160 names being registered up to date. ‘There is not one-third of the unemployed here." said a man to a Times reporter. “They have reached the hopeless stage where they think that nothing can be done for them. They are watching their families starve and they have been unable to get anything to do for months on end. Surely something will be done today to relieve our distress.” At 2.30 proceedings opened and on the motion of Mr J. Alsweiler, Mr T. O’Byrne was voted to the chair. “It’s a big job.” said Mr O’Byrne as he accepted the position. “I am sorry to see so many here today,” said Mr O’Byrne who was greeted with tumultuous applause on rising to speak. “It shows that things are not too bright in Invercargill when we can get upwards of 100 unemployed men to turn out to this meeting. I would have been much more pleased had nobody been here, as it would show that there was no unemployment in the town. This meeting, however, represents only about one-third of the actual out-of-work men in this town. We opened an unemployment book here about a week ago and we now have about 160 names on the roll, about 85 to 90 per cent, of those enrolled being married men with families ranging from one to fourteen.— (Laughter.) Yes, you may laugh. Fourteen sounds a lot, but there is a lady sitting at the back of the hall who is the mother of a family of fourteen. They are mostly young children ind her husband is delicate. I think she should get the Victoria Cross.— (Applause and stamping of feet.) Her husband has been out of work for three months, and her landlord is going to put her out on the streets if her rent is not paid. We should have invited the women to come here to-day. and had a full muster of workers’ wives, for after all the out-of-work question is of more importance to the women than to the men, as the women have to bear the brunt of it. It is heartrending to know that in a town like Invercargill, situated as it is in the centre of the best district of one of the finest countries in the world, such a state of things could exist as is the case to day. I have travelled round the country for .the past 25 years, and I say that there is no finer agricultural land in the Southern Hemisphere. “But to get down to the wage-earners.” continued Mr O’Byrne, “there are about 250 out of employment in Invercargill. Our object is to let people know about this state of affairs and we are making it public through the Borough Council and the columns of the Press. The Mayor, Mr John Miller, has now announced that 50 men are to be employed on the Oreti River Beach road, the work commencing next week. We have also urged upon him to open a benefit fund to which the general public could subscribe. At the Mayor’s Conference held some time ago it was decided that mayors would not undertake such a move. It is all very well for them, but nevertheless it is their duty to see that all get employment. However, a fund has now been opened here. This problem of unemployment is world wide and has taxed the cleverest brains in the world to-day, but under the capitalistic scheme of government there is bound to be unemployment, no matter how hard the wage-earners work. In America, where workers produce more per head, there are 4,000.000 unemployed and all other countries are the same. There is something wrong with the state of society when millions of men are out of work, and there must be something wrong with the working class that they have not voted the right way at the ballot boxes, and allowed the other side to be the rulers. They put the wrong people into power—people who have no interest in the workers —and it means that when the wage-earners want work and food, they must go, cap in hand, to beg for it. If the average man was a working man when he went to the ballot box and not a Liberal or a Tory he would be better off to-day. History repeats itself. In the early ’Bo’s or ’9o’s men were working for 3/6‘and 4/6 a day and there were soup kitchens all through New Zea-

land. In the ’9o’s election the working people turned round and put what was practically a working class Government into power—the voice of the people speaking at the ballot box. From then onwards for a period of about 25 or 30 years the country went ahead until the people became apathetic again and put into power a Government whose policy was to cater for the classes and not for the masses. We are now back to the days before Ballance and Seddon. Those who are in power now do not cater for the working people, but for the controllers of finance, not for the struggling farmers and business people, not for folk such as you, but for the meat trust, the great shipping combines and the banks. While the Government caters for such as these, 95 per cent, of the people will suffer. These institutions pay 14 and 15 per cent, in dividends, and while they do that you can rest assured that very little is being done for the people. That is no good for the country. “We are not seeking to use this meeting for political purposes to-day, but you ask us: ‘What are you going to do about it?’ It is up to you yourselves to take a,more active part in the Government of the country—to say to yourselves, each one of j’ou: ‘I am going to see that affairs are better!’ We have the brains and muscles to produce wealth and we have the brains and muscles to administer it. Now what is the cause of unemployment? The invention of machinery is one of the principal causes. Not. mind you, that we are opposed to machinery—on the contrary we are in favour of it, but until we get hold of and control the machinery we will have millions of unemployed.” Mr O'Byrne went on to say that the great cause of the unemployment problem was the displacement of men by machinery and quoted examples to support his contention. In the silk industry 25 men now turned out the same amount of work that previous required 100 men; the paper industry was reduced 95 per cent; woollen manufacturing 95 per cent; hat making 89 per cent; tobacco 87j per cent; glass 83j per cent; brooms 80 per cent; boots, 80 per cent; farm labourers, 80 per cent; flourmillers 75 per cent: sawmakers 60 per cent; furniture makers 50 per cent; railroad workers, 50 per cent; fire brick workers, 40 per cent, and so on. That was the biggest factor in the problem that the world was trying to solve to-day. There were 10,000 out of work in New Zealand and over 1,000,000 in the Old Country. He quoted from an article in the New Zealand Worker, written by Mr Thomas C. Sheehan, president of the Durham Duplex Razor Company, who advanced the opinion that the world was faced with two great problems to-day, that of over-production, and that of high distributing costs, the first-named being the cause of the second. ‘The Premier of this country must carry the national blame, and in this town our Mayor and councillors should work to overcome the trouble. \ou hear people saying: There are tons of work in the country.’ You hear local bodies saying the same thing, but it is not true. There are men at this meeting who have gone all over Southland and Central Otago looking for work, but could get no employment of any kind. I myself am closely in touch with the industries in this province and I can truthfully sgy that I would not know where to place a man in work. The people of Invercargill should rise uo and say: ‘These men should get work. They should have the opportunity to earn money to keep their families, and they should have the right to employment— not charity.’ The public bodies should find work for them. The Mayor’s fund should have been opened long ago. There are hundreds of people in this town who are sympathetic towards the workers, and are readv and willing to sub=cribe to a fund. There are hundreds of business people and heads of firms who will give money freely to those who require it. However, it is no use asking about the causes of unemployment. What you want is work so that you can get food, for your wives and families and I have here a list drawn up by the Borough Engineer showing a number of works that can be put in hand right away with unemployed labour.” PROPOSED WORKS. Mr O’Byrne then read out the following list drawn up by Mr E. A. Gumbley, Boroueh Engineer, as follows: Removal of bank and widening road, Stead street to employ 75 men for two months. Bridge road to Oreti Beach to employ 50 wen for two months. Making concrete slabs for footpaths to employ 16 men for two to three months. (Could come under £60,000 loan). Tyne street. Formation by railway and beautifying from Clyde street to Elies road. (This will be covered by Government subsidy as it is street beautifying) to employ 25 men for one month. Scrubbing Seaward Bush, 1.000 at £2 10/- to employ 50 men for two and ahalf months. TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT. Men £ Months. Stead street 75 2,500 2 Oreti Road 50 1.600 2 Concrete slabs .. .. 16 520 2 Tyne street 12 400 2 Seaward Bush .. .. 65 2,100 2 218 7,120 10 Total estimate, £7,120. Less the Government subsidy the actual cost to borough will be £3,560. “These works can be gone on with right away,” continued Mr O’Byrne. “It would be money well spent and it would come back to the trades people again. A fair wage and plenty of work are good for trade, and a prosperous community means good business. The starting of these works would relieve all the present suffering and misery, we, as a Labour Party, are not going to

stand aside and see people starving. We don’t want charity. We want work. We are quite willing to render good services for a fair rate of pay.” (Applause). MISERY AND DISTRESS. “There are pitiful tales to be heard in Invercargill,” continued Mr O’Byrne, “and the cases known of by Mr T. Pryde, secretary of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, are dreadful—cases of men out of work for four or five months and paying house rent. I don’t know how they struggle along, but the public do not hear of their troubles. Those who are hard up are the last to complain, and rather than declare their misery for the world to hear, they keep silent. On behalf of the working people and the unemployed, the Labour Party is going to take a firm stand, and do all it can for you. If the Council had made no move in the matter you would have been justified in marching down in a solid body and pulling the Council Chambers down.”— (Applause). Mr O’Byrne then briefly introduced the next speaker, Mr W. C. Denham, stating that Mr Denham was well known from his years of labour in the service of the working class movement, and his extensive knowledge of the problems facing the wageearners to-day.. A voice: Where’s Slim Jim? (Loud laughter). MR DENHAM’S SPEECH. “I regret very much the circumstances under which this meeting is held to-day,” said Mr Denham. “There is nothing which demoralizes men so quickly as unemployment. It fills the police courts because men will do anything to get food and money for their wives and children when out of work. I regret to think that such a meeting as this is necessary in a country like New Zealand, containing great tracts of unused agricultural land which is locked up by the Reform Party’s land policy. There are some strange ideas held by some people as to the policy of the Labour Party,” Mr Denham went on. “A man came up to me the other day and asked me if I was a member of the party. I said I was, and he asked me what use it would be for me to clear my small bush section, as if the Labour Party got into power I would not be able to pass it on to my wife if I died, the party being opposed to such a thing. I told him that he was absolutely wrong and explained that the policy of the Labour Party was that every man should ow-n his land. At the present time the financial interests own the farms. With regard to unemployment the Mayor’s action may have been slow, but he has moved in the matter and work is going ahead now. An important work that has been overlooked in this connection is the reticulation scheme for that portion of South Invercargill that has amalgamated with the main botough. One of the principal reasons for the amalgamation was the desire of the people in that area to get the water and sewerage. Now, after a good deal of delay, Dr Watt is to make a full inquiry into the situation and report to a committee of the Board of Health. Now, why this delay? It may be six weeks or two months before anything is done, and surely a necessary work such as this should be done right away.— (Applause.) UNEMPLOYMENT BILL. “One of the saddest sights in New Zealand to-day,” continued the speaker, is to see strong able-bodied men seeking work without being able to get it. Mr Peter Fraser, the well-known Labour M.P., introduced into the House a Bill which had it passed into law would have solved New Zealand’s unemployment problem. It was a Right to Work Bill suggesting the foundation of an Unemployment Board.” Mr Denham then read Mr Fraser’s Bill, which was as follows: “To form an Unemployment Board to consist of the Minister who shall be chairman; one representative of the Public Works Department; one representative of the local bodies, to be elected by the joint vote of the Councils of Boroughs constituted under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1920; one employers’ representative to be elected by organized employers; three workers’ represent at i vs to be elected by organized labour. The Board shall (1) inquire into the causes and extent of unemployment within the Dominion or any part thereof; (2) inquire into and consider what are the most effective measures to be taken for temporarily or permanently reducing or eliminating unemployment within the Dominion or any part thereof; (3) obtain and disseminate information on all matters connected with industrial occupations and the callings of workers with a view to lessening the evils of unemployment; (4) consider and report to the Governor-General in Council upon the working of the Government Labour Bureaux and make any recommendation necessary for their improvement and extension.” PRESENT SYSTEM WRONG. “Under our present system,” continued Mr Denham, “the placing of men in employment is altogether wrong. For instance, a number of men were put to work on the Seaward Bush drainage scheme. This class of work is particularly hard if a man has had no previous experience. During my lifetime I have been a navvy, a miner, a bushman, and many other things, and I can assure you that drainage work is very hard work indeed. Some of the men employed down at Seaward Bush knew nothing whatever about the work and they earned their 1/3 per cubic yard before they were finished. Under Mr Fraser’s Bill*every man would be sorted out and put to work at his own particular employment. The clerks, the engineers, and all other tradesmen would be placed in the class of employment best suited to them. The State ewes a responsibility to us, just as we owe a responsibility to the State, and work should be provided for the unemployed. If the Labour Government were in power it would be faced with the unemployment problem, too,” continued the speaker. “One of the great causes is the displacement of men by machinery, and in America to-day 71 per cent, of the coal is mined by means of machinery. Look at the grader that works on our roads, doing work that formerly occupied many men; and the traction engine doing the same thing. Consider what a saving of labour has been effected by the motor, which does work at one time done by gangs of men with wheelbarrows. The workers in England at the time of the introduction of machinery were so alarmed and angry at the encroachment of the machine that they said ‘We will break the machines.’ Instead of being a blessing to mankind as it should be it is the direct opposite, because the hours of labour have not decreased. Newspaper editors say: *‘We want more production’ but we are suffering from over-production. The hours of work should be reduced and the work would be spread over a greater number, thus giving more employment. All that is thought of now is extra profit for somebody. IMMIGRATION POLICY. Another cause of the unemployment trouble is the ridiculous immigration policy of the present Government which has imported 60,000 or 70,000 people into this country in the past five or six years. Is that fair, I ask you, bringing in men who cannot find work? And this is the man who is responsible!” Here the speaker produced two large advertisements used by the Reform Party during the last election campaign, depicting Mr Coates gazing sternly from the paper, across the top of one being the words: “A Clear Issue,” and the other being emblazoned with the words: ‘‘Looking Forward.” Underneath both advertisements were the slogans: “Vote for Coates and Confidence!” whilst Mr Coates was labelled with the well-known words, “The Man Who Gets Things Done.” The meeting burst into a tumult of hoots, catcalls, and hisses, cries of “Put him out,” “The man who gets things done,” and loud laughter which checked the smoothness of proceedings for a few moments. “It cost thousands of pounds for these advertisements,” continued Mr Denham “and they will spend thousands of pounds on the same sort of thing at the coming elections, and yet they can’t find money for the unemployed! Now here is something else that is taken from a copy of the Southland Times, a paper that doesn’t tell any lies about Coates. It is grim irony to read it and compare it with the advertisements. The present Government has told Lon-

doners that they were coming out to a paradise, but here is the account of a meeting of immigrants which shows what sort of a paradise they came out to!” Mr Denham then read the following Press Association message from Timaru which appeared in the Southland Times some time ago At a meeting of unemployed immigrants here it was decided to write to the Minister in Charge of Immigration, complaining that they had been induced to come to New Zealand as the result of misrepresentation by the officials of New Zealand House, London. The majority of them, they say, would have better chances of obtaining employment in England, their trades being more in demand there. The letter goes on to say: “We cannot understand why the Government binds us to stop here for five years, yet stands by and hears our cry for help unmoved. If it is good enough to compel us to stop here for five years, sink or swim, it is good enough for the Government to help us and the little hungry mouths that are around us. We fail to see in the literature given us at New Zealand House, any mention as to the truth of the situation here. We should have been told the exact state of things here, that there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed in this country. We should have been told that immigrants, on learning the conditions over here, have been known to go back to their native shores disgusted as to the way they hava been bluffed. We take the liberty of pointing out that there are thousands of immigrants in this country now who are past the disgusted stage. They are brokenhearted and just rubbing along from day to day, pressed by their creditors, worried by the cries of the hungry at home and wondering how all this is possible in the New Zealand we were taught to think of by the lies we were told before leaving England. We would be pleased if some arrangement could be made to send some of us back to our native shores for which we all fought, and in some cases bled. There we are assured of a living. Here, it is doubtful. We kindly ask of you not to turn this appeal away without thought as we are down and out, penniless, workless and in some cases homeless. To think that this is happening in this land of promise it seems to us there is something amiss, and we beg of you as a Christian thinking gentleman to help your fellow beings to’ live.”

“The Government policy is absolutely stupid!” declared Mr Denham. “They have no work for their own people and yet they bring these folk, out under false pretences. There should be some resolution moved at this meeting and I move:— That this meeting of the Invercargill unemployed calls the attention of the Government and of the Town Council to the distress and suffering caused by unemployment. The Government’s present policy of “throwing a bone to a dog” on the present schemes evolved by the Government and local bodies is merely of a “stop-gap” character, designed only to absorb workless men. It is not so much schemes of relief which are required as those of national reconstruction, which serve the double purpose of providing work and, at the same time, building up the wealth producing resources of the nation. We deplore the Government’s inactivity in the matter of land settlement—a progressive land policy would absorb a lot of the unemployed. “You do not want a charitable institution,” the speaker went on. “You want the right to live and the right- to work.”— (Tumultuous applause). In moving the resolution, Mr Denham said that if the Government would take up a land policy, and give the land to the people on the understanding that they would clear it and be paid for their work, unproductive land would be made productive. They once had a soldier settlement scheme when they paid a lot for land for soldiers, who could not get a living out of it, and had to leave their farms,” said the speaker. The motion was seconded by Mr D. St. C. Macgregor, who said that in the olden days land was obtainable at 2/6 per acre. Any amount of people would welcome a good land policy. 'The trouble with the Government was that they took a little of the Labour policy and tinkered with it, instead of pushing it all in. (A voice: “Why hustle them?”—Laughter). Mr O Byrne then asked for an expression of opinion. A long pause ensued until a plaintive voice at the back said: “Don’t all speak at once, ’ and the meeting laughVoice at back: Mr Chairman, how much a day would be paid out on these proposed works ? Mr O’Byrne: Trades Union rates. You can’t go past them. The voice: That’s w’hat I would like, too.” Mr O’Byrne: The same as laid down by the Arbitration Court—trades union rates. The Government is paying 12/- a day for married men and 9/- a day for single men. As long as the present Government is in power you will get no more, and if you return them again you may get something less. For those who are not physically fit there is the under-rate award which may be taken advantage of. The voice: Advantage is taken of that, Mr Chairman. Mr O Byrne: No, not very much, not that I know of. I would like to say that we only want a fair living wage—to get what we earn and earn what we get. It was our intention to-day to march along to the Council Chambers, but we have decided not to, now that the Mayor has made a move. He will see the feeling oj the meeting in the Press. The Mayor has been worried about finding work for the unemployed, and he has had trouble to get the money, but as I said before, if war broke out there would be millions of pounds ready. Those who close their purses against the working classes would give any amount of money for you to go out and get shot. Last war there was millions of money to bust the world, but those who come back can’t get food to-day.—(Hear, hear.) It is a disgraceful thing, but it is in the hands of the workers to change the state of affairs. They represent 80 per cent, of the population and if they stand firm at the next election and cast their votes aright, they can remedy it. You remember years ago when Ha A an said he came out in favour of licensing, and an opponent came out in favour of Prohibition. The vote gave Hanan such a fright that he went over to the Prohibition side, saying that something must be done about the question as the Prohibitionists spoke with a voice of thunder. Let us do the same thing now, and let us speak with a voice of thunder also. What we want is more production on the land of meat, cheese and butter. We cannot have over-production in these things. To-day we have over-pro-duction in timber. (A voice: It’s no cheaper though)—but the people who produce the timber do not even have a house. It is the same in other lines. There are plenty of boots, but the workers who produce them do not possess a pair. The overproduction of goods means that the warehouses are bursting with stocks and the workers have nothing. Some of the cases that come to the Labour Hall are dreadful Women come in with children in perambulators and tell me that they have n° food and no firing. The Charitable Aid Board which knows the situation knows that this is true. In passing 1 want to say that we will accept here any clothes or goods, and distribute them to those who need them. A man came to me and said he had no firewood in the house. We got firewood for him and he could not even pay the cartage, so destitute was he. SOUP KITCHENS. “If work is not provided at once we will have to start soup kitchens,” said Mr O’Byrne. “We have cooks who are out of work and we will employ them to provide free soup for the workless at the Labour Hall. We must do something to relieve the distress,” (Hear, hear, Good man Tom 1) Mr. Denham (to Mr O’Byrne): Tell the Mayor we are going to start soup kitchens

if he does not buck up. (Great applause). “Let us send our motion to Coates,” said Mr Denham. A chorus of groans rose from the meeting, mingled with cries of “Don’t send it to Coates!” “The man who gets you done.” It was finally decided to forward one copy of the resolution to the Prime Minister and a copy to the Mayor of Invercargill, the decision being acclaimed by cheers and clapping. Mr Denham said there was a man in South Invercargill who was living on £1 a week, and this man was too proud to go to the Charitable Aid Board for help, as he did not like to parade his poverty. Another family was living on £2 a week. The Coates Government was cutting into the standard of living. The speaker concluded by moving a vote of thanks to Mr. T. O’Byrne, the motion being carried with tremendous enthusiasm. MOTHERHOOD ENDOWMENT. Mr. O’Byrne expressed his thanks. “I am only sorry that I cannot do more,” he said. “I wish to mention the fact also that there is a Government Motherhood Endowment scheme for those with children. Those with more than two children get 2/- a week for the others. ‘ It isn’t much, but it’s something.” A voice: Seventeen bob a month for four! Mr. O’Byrne: It’s something anyway and all those who are entitled to it should apply for it. A BAD CASE. “A woman came to me the other day and told me she kept a few cows, but had got behind with her rent and the bailiff was put in to seize the cows unless she paid up. She has a delicate husband and fourteen children. Her landlord compelled her to pay out the few shillings she had received under the Motherhood Endowment Scheme; and she had to let the children go hungry to pay the rent. The landlord had no mercy. (Chorus: “He wants to be shot!” “That’s too good for him!”). The landlord is one of the heads of a big organization. You can see him walking round the streets on Saturday nights preaching with a big Bible under his arm and wings nearly budding out of him. Yet, he took her money, all that was to keep her going. (Voices: “Tar and feather him!”) We will have to remedy things. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder and make things better.” (Hear, hear.) A voice: Mr chairman, did you say the woman whose case you have just quoted was in the room? Mr. Q’Byrne: Yes, she is here now. The voice: Well, I suggest that we take up a collection and every man in the room give something. Mr. O'Byrne: Well there may be a number of men in this room who have no money, and if you knocked them on the head, you wouldn’t get threepence out of them. The voice: I made the remark seeing she was distressed. Mr. O’Byrne: I can assure you that we will not see her stuck or her cows seized. We will look after her now. RIVERTON BRIDGE. “There is another matter that I might also mention,” continued Mr O’Byrne, “and that is the Riverton Bridge. I have received this letter which explains itself. Mr. O’Byrne then read the letter which had been addressed to him and read as follows:—“In view of the present situation of labour in Southland the following facts should interest you. The erection of the Riverton bridge will probably find employment for 50 more men. The plans and specifications are passed; the money is arranged for, the contract signed, and yet the work is being held up. Surely the bodies interested can push it on by pressure in the right quarters. The Riverton Borough Council cannot be relied on to do this. They seem most apathetic in the matter, as they have appeared to be for some time ” “There is work there for 50 men,” said Mr. O’Byrne, “and it should be gone on with at once.” A voice: What does the Government care for men out of work? Mr. Denham then said that the work of installing sewerage and water in the new amalgamated area of South Invercargill and the erection of the Riverton bridge should be gone on with, and that the bodies responsible be urged to do the work right away. Mr O'Byrne moved in that direction and the motion was carried with applause. Mr. O’Byrne thanked those present for coming along, though he said he was sorry to see them as it showed they were out of work. He hoped that they would meet again on such business as had been discussed that day, and that they would exercise their votes in the right direction at the coming election. What was required was a general labourers’ union so that a fair rate of pay could be asked. (Hear, hear!). They would soon have to form an unemployed organization or union. (Laughter). If men had not turned out to the meeting there would have been no ventilation of their grievances. There were over 160 men’s names down in the unemployment book at the Labour Hall and they should let the public know. There were many humane people who were willing to help and they could be reached only through the columns of the Press, who must be. thanked for their fair and impartial reports. The business of the future would be the formation of a general labourers’ union, which would fight the labourers’ battle for them. Mr. D. St. C. Macgregor spoke along similar lines, stressing the necessity of a labourers’ union to secure decent conditions for the workers. The meeting then dispersed and a more hopeful tone, by the promise of work, was shown in their animated conversation. DOWN AND OUT. DOGGED BY ILL-LUCK. CRIPPLED IMMIGRANT’S PLICZZL. At the conclusion of the meeting the reporters were approached by a man who said he had something to say about the desperate struggle he was having to live, and provide for a wife and family. “I came out to this country eight years ago under the ex-serviceman’s scheme,” he said. “During the war I was second steward aboard a transport at sea and we were followed by a submarine which put across shells in an endeavour to sink us and we fired on it in return. I happened to be walking to the captain to hand him a wireless message when a shell landed and I was struck in the thigh with a fragment. Look,” and he showed the Pressmen where his thigh was hardly thicker than one’s forearm. “After recovering from my wounds,” he continued, “I decided to take my family out to New Zealand, and I was one of those who emigrated under the ex-serviceman’s scheme. Before we left England we were given to understand, according to a printed guarantee from New Zealand House, that when we arrived in New Zealand we would be met at the boat, accommodation would be found for us, and we would be given a job. As it turned out, none of these statements were correct. On arrival in New Zealand no one ipet us, and we had to stay on board for three hours and we were left to shift for our own accommodation, ending up in us having to rent a room at a cost of 35/- a week. I walked round Auckland for six weeks trying to get a position, and incidentally all my small capital disappeared. At the end of that time I was fortunate enough to locate a job at a sawmill at Mangapehi, near Te Kuiti, so I left my family in Auckland and went down to the job to get a crust to keep my wife and children alive. After a fortnight’s work the mill manager came along to me and said: ‘You’re looking for a small house, aren’t you?’ I said I was. He took me along to a hut and told me it was just the place to suit me and told me shift in with my family. I got time off, returned to Auckland, brought my family down, and we installed ourselves in this hut. About a week later the boardinghouse master came along to me and said, ‘Who let you this place?’ ‘The

manager of the mill,’ I said. ‘Just like his confounded cheek,’ was his reply. ‘This hut belongs to me, and I keep it for surveyors coming up this part of the country. You will have to get out.’ So the upshot of the matter was that I had to get out, and as there was no other place, even the boardinghouse being full, I had to give up the job and go back to Auckland and the room 35/- a week. I determined that something must be done about it so I went down to Wellington to see Mr Thomson, the Under Secretary of Immigration, and secured an interview with him. After my case had been laid before him he said: ‘Well, you seem to have been having a pretty rough spin.’ I said ‘yes, it was not good enough.’ He told me that he would pay my fare down to Dunedin, and when I asked him if there was a job there he told me to call at the Hillside workshops and tell them that he had sent me there. I went down to Dunedin on his word,” continued the speaker, “and with my family, I put up opposite the Hillside workshops. I went across and saw the head man at the workshops, and he asked me who had sent me down. When I told him he said: ‘Just like his impudence,’ and said that they did not have enough work even for their own men My leg failed me then as the result of my war injuries, and after a series of spells in hospital, I was down and out. With the assistance of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ Fund in Palmerston North I was enabled to get sufficient money to start a second-hand business in Dunedin, at the same time carrying on house painting, which is my trade. While at this job I painted a house in Dunedin which showed me quite a good return, the whole job being worth £26. Just as I completed this someone came to me and asked me if I knew the man for whom I was painting the house. When I said that I thought he was a perfectly respectable and financial citizen, I was informed that he was an undischarged bankrupt! 111-luck dogged me and I lost all. The undischarged bankrupt got twelve months—but I got nothing! However, 1 was still carrying on the second-hand busi ness and was just getting on my feet, when the last straw came along in the shape of the Dunedin -floods. My place was flooded to a depth of two feet, I lost £5O worth of stock, and to cap it all, the place in which I was living was condemned and pulled down. So there I was, worse off than ever. I had to find new lodgings for my family and then the problem of keeping them alive arose. I travelled down through Central Otago on a bicycle, looking for work. I went from there through Lumsden and so on to Tuatapere, where I secured a job at Monowai, but was unfortunate enough to break my collarbone before I went on the job and was laid up for three months. Then I took on the Monowai job and stayed there as long as my job lasted, which was eight months. My leg took bad there—and by the way, the wounded leg is about seven inches less in girth than the other leg—and shifted down to Tuatapere, where my family and mystelf lived in tents. We were too poor to get out of Tuatapere and I could barely earn enough to keep the wolf from the door. We were practically destitute and I had to get help to shift down to Invercargill. Once down here I could get no work and I was forced to apply to the Charitable Aid Board for help, and now we get 25/- a week —for seven of us! But that was not the last joke fate played on me. The Hospital, and Charitable Aid Board found that we were drawing 6/- a week from the Motherhood Endowment Fund for the children, and accordingly they docked 5/- a week off the 25/- they allowed us. How kind some people are! I am fit for a light job only, and I can’t get such a thing. “As for work in the country, my experience has not shown me that there is any. To make a few shillings I have been out and about on my bicycle for about six weeks, up through Winton, Gore, Waikaka Valley, Riversdale, Lumsden and Garston, but I found that I was too early for any jobs, as they were just coming on. I just arrived too soon for a job on a church at Athol, and I walked 10 miles on foot into Nokomai and came out empty-handed. I have come back from the country with the fixed conviction that there is not a shilling to be earned there. I was prepared to do any sort of job—l am a handy man with tools—and I lugged a kit of tools around with me to pick up odd jobs, mending gramophones or turning my hand to anything that would return me a coin; and, mind you, I have only one leg to pedal a bike, as the wounded one is quite dead and useless for that work, though I can walk with it. If an able-bodied man can’t get work, what chance has a cripple? My kiddies can’t go to school because they have no boots, my wife is ill and I have nothing at all. I had no firewood yesterday and when I told Mr O’Byrne he was kind enough to get me a load of wood and when I could not pay for the cartage, he paid it from his own pocket. Though I am a returned soldier I cannot get a pension from the Imperial authorities at present because my leg did not get bad on me until after I was out here about 18 months. How ever, I am making representations to see what can be done. And, of course, I cannot get a pension from the New Zealand Government. The way things are at the present time there is nothing in view for me. If something doesn’t turn up God knows what will happen to us.” THE RIGHT TO WORK. BILL TO GO BEFORE HOUSE. (Special to the Times.) Wellington, July 13. Notice of his intention to introduce the Right to Work Bill was given by Mr P. Fraser (Wellington Central) in the House to-day. The measure embodies the principle of the right to work for every unemployed worker on registering at a labour bureau. It is a very brief Bill of four or five clauses.