WRONG IMPRESSION

Southland Times, Issue 22350, 15 June 1934, Page 8

WRONG IMPRESSION

POOR ATTENDANCE AT MEETING. STATEMENT BY RELIEF WORKER. That a false impression had been created through the attendance of only about 50 out of five or six hundred relief workers in the city at the meeting between Scheme 5 men and his Worship the Mayor (Mr John Miller) in the Victoria Hall on Monday was the contention made to a Times reporter yesterday by a local relief worker. He stated that the reason why more were not at the meeting was the fact that they did not know it was being held. “It is creating the impression that we are too lazy or that we want someone else to fight our battles for us, whereas it is really nothing of the kind,” he said. “I notice that the Mayor asked why more did not attend the meeting, and he remarked that they should always go in full force when forming a deputation. He was quite right in asking that, but Mr Henderson was quite wrong in replying by saying that the trouble was that the men thought that the Mayor could do nothing. “That was not the reason at all for the men not attending,the relief worker went on. “They simply did not know the meeting was on. Why does the organization not put up a notice where the men receive their pay ? That is not asking too much. It would simplify matters and would ensure that more of a scattered body of men attended the meetings. Very few of us can afford to buy a paper, so what is the use of an advertisement? I am lucky enough to be able to get a look at my neighbour’s paper, but it is two days old when I see it. There must be scores more who don’t even get that chance. “I have gone to one or two previous meetings through hearing of them just by accident, and I have heard the Mayor ask the same question. I think that the Mayor deserves credit for what he has done for the relief worker. He has the interests of the men at heart,”'he said in conclusion. Mr Marchant’s Reply. When the reporter referred the statement to Mr P. Marchant, secretary of the Invercargill branch of the Southland Relief Workers’ Organization, the reply was that an advertisement advising the men of the meeting had been inserted in the paper. “We cannot afford to pay for the postage to circularize the men,” he said, “and if they want to find out anything this is the office to get information from.”