The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. "Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1933. UNEMPLOYMENT FUND

Southland Times, Issue 22107, 30 August 1933, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. "Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1933. UNEMPLOYMENT FUND

During the quarter ended June 30 of this year the revenue of the Unemployment Fund was £l,307,904, of which £1,157,000 came from the Wages Tax and the special charge on incomes, while the expenditure during the same period was £654,575. This means that in the three months there was a balance of revenue over expenditure amounting to £650,000, which with the £424,000 carried forward from the previous quarter, makes a total credit of £l,077,754. Two months have elapsed since that balance was recorded and the Unemployment Board’s outlay may have increased in that time; but it is safe to assume that the revenue for the current quarter will not be much lower than the £1,307,904 obtained in the first quarter of the financial year, so that if the expenditure has increased the fund is in a strong position. The period of seasonal employment is approaching and the quarter following the current one should see a diminution in the demands made on the fund, and this should be reflected in a larger balance between revenue and expenditure, These figures will provoke the obvious criticism that in the face of such a substantial credit, and the prospect of receipts virtually the same as those recorded for the June quarter, there should be no talk of cuts in the amount of relief allocated to the various districts. The Unemployment Board must look ahead, of course; but when it looks to the future it must take into account not merely the demands it may have to meet, Some large subsidies to special public works are contemplated, but every man who is transferred from the relief works to private

employment will make a larger contribution to the fund through the wages tax, and so in a survey of the future the board is entitled to anticipate an even larger revenue than it now receives. There is also the fact that the prices of primary products show a hardening tendency. It is advisable, too, to take notice of the statement by the chairman of the Associated Banks (Mr J. T. Grose), who says New. Zealand has reached the bottom of the depression. In the circumstances the relief worker is entitled to hope that his position will not be any worse than it has been. It is not desired, of course, that the relief works should deter men from taking up regular employment in industry; but there is not much fear of that while the current scale obtains. At the same time the coming session is sure to find members anxious to heaiof some taxation relief. The cost of the high exchange rate must be met, and it is difficult to estimate the amount involved; but there will be some heavy criticism of the Government if the balance of the Unemployment Fund continues to be as large as the June figures show. Taxation relief is necessary to assist industry to recover and re-absorb labour, and at the same time the public, which is contributing to the Unemployment Fund will not relish the accumulation of large funds while in all parts of the country private contributions are still sought to eke out the amount of relief pay received by the registered unemployed.