THE UNEMPLOYED

Southland Times, Issue 21648, 9 March 1932, Page 6

THE UNEMPLOYED

NEED STILL GREAT

GOVERNMENT’S OBLIGATIONS

MR J. HARGEST’S WARNING (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, March 8. The need for greater assistance than ever before for the unemployed of New Zealand was voiced in the House of Representatives this afternoon by Mr J. Hargest in the course of his Address-in-Reply speech. The Government had been ably assisted in the past by local bodies and charitable organizations, he said, but it. appeared very likely that these bodies would not be in a position to give much assistance during the, coming winter. "We have almost 50,000 unemployed in this country,” he said, “and the majority of those men are out of permanent work through no fault of their own. They are dependent on the public for their livelihood and I believe it will be well for the Government if it looks to the administration of the unemployment problem. Last year the Government received all sorts of assistance from local bodies and charitable organizations, but this year the general public will not be able to help to the same extent. Our first duty is to assist the unemployed and the first thing we should do is to see that they are provided for.”