UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNDER DISCUSSION.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 46, 29 June 1929, Page 5

UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM UNDER DISCUSSION.

The Labour Department was Unable to take the number of men registered as unemployed in the Kaipara electorate without telegraphing to its representative at Whangarei, but in the North Auckland district there were 31 married and 16 single men registered as unemployed, or a total 49. In' Wellington .city there were

something like 370 mein bn city relief works and the number would he increased to 4fio or 500 as soon as additional work could he laid out and a plan, etc., provided. Arrangements had been made to place 20 single men from Wellington on Lake Ferry-Cape Palliser Road, and the district engineer expected to be able to take them next week, A considerable number of men had been paid off by the department owing to the work being completed on the main highway over the Rimutaka 'hill, and 20 0 f them were being placed bn the Lake Ferry-Cape Palliser Road.

Mr M. J. Savage, opening the debate oh the Imprest Supply Bill, said unemployment appeared to be becoming more acute as the days went by. He had heard it said that local bodies were to some extent responsible tor relieving unemployment. Were local bodies responsible? he asked, for the stupid policy of, bringing in to the country thousands of immigrants without knowing what to do with them all. .

It was time a national authority took into hand the matter of dealing with the causes of the situation, and unless it did that the position would remain as it was, continued Mr Savage. The Reform administration had failed to produce results and he trusted the United Party would not wind up in the same way. / ; ,

ACUTE IN WELLINGTON. Mr F. Fraser said unemployment in Wellington and district was acute. The Labour Department’s bureau figures could not be taken as authentic, as experience had shown that they did not cover one-half of the actual total! He had never known the position to be more serious than at the present time. While men were being engaged in relief works the Highways Board and Public Works Department to a lesser extent had been dispensing with

men.,. Proof was coming in from all parts of the Dominion that the Public Works Department was paying miserable wages in some instances- This Svas not in accordance with the - prime Minister’s announcement. While he believed Sir Joseph Ward honestly intended that such should not he the case, it appeared the department was letting him down. Mr Fraser said he was not attacking the Government but was taking the first opportunity of drawing its attention to the subject so that it could adjust matters. ;

IN WOKSE HANDS. There was "a general impression among the working people that the Public Works Department was in the worst hands it had ever been in. . He claimed that it lacked fore-

sight and when an emergency arose it could not rise t Q the occasion. The result was that it was dispensing with men while the Prime Minister was struggling to employ men in other quarters.

Mr H. E. Holland (Duller) said he could understand the silence on the part of the Reform Party in relation to the Government’s failure

DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT. — IMPREST SUPPLY BILL. PREMIER MAKES STATEMENT WELLINGTON, Last Night. ( ; . Sir Joseph Ward in the Hons© of Representatives today made a statement yn the unemployment problem. lie bald' that in Auckland city there were 1075 unemployed, and in Wellington city 412,

to live up to its election promises concerning unemployment, because that party itself, had failed for 16 years. - IMPROVED POSITION’. The Hon» B. A. Ransom said the 'members of the Labour Party had made reference to the Public Works Department. He had meant Hq discourtesy in not replying earlier, but had considered it best to allow all the speakers to state their cases and then reply to all. If nothing more serious could be stated than that unemployment in Auckland was worse in the middle of this winter than it was in the middle of last summer, then th e Government had not a very serious charge t 0 answer. Mr Ransom contended that unemployment generally throughout country was in an improved posi-. tion. He had taken the stand that when men 5 had been employed on one job for a considerable period at the standard wage they were not transferred on that work being completed to a fresh job when there were other men who had not had any work at all. He considered everyone should be given a share. Replying to Mr Savage, Mr Ransome said only one per cent. of. the population of Auckland was without work. That could not be considered such a serious state of affairs as had been stated.

Replying to Mr Fraser, Mr Ransom said if men were too indifferent t 0 register themselves as unemployed they were not entitled to be considered worthy of relief work. It was their own responsibility if they were overlooked.

Replying to Mr Fraser’s allegations that dissatisfaction was never more prevalent in the Public Works camps than at the present time, Mr Ransom stated that he had visited many camps and had found no sign of general dissatisfaction* MR COATES SPEAKS. Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, alleged that the public works of the country were being converted into relief works and that thereby the country was losing the services of trained men.

Mr Coates quoted instances in which gangs of men in his district had under the Public Works agreement undertaken piecework and had been able to make only 6s and 8s per day.

Mr Coates added that he considered the Government had made a mistake when it had 'failed to pursue the industrial conference. It was still necessary to seek for the causes of unemployment and he felt there was a call for another industrial conference for that purpose. (

BAIL WAY CRITICISM . ■ The, Minister of Railways was not keeping up to the standard set by his predecessors. Trains were running late nowadays, and if for over two years trains had been able to keep to timetables, why had that not been" possible in the last six months. He agreed safety was the first consideration, but he did not believe safety had been prejudiced when formerly the trains ran to time-table*

Mr Langstone contended it was ttie object of, the Government to convert Public Works into relief works and thus put the men concerned outside the scope of the Public Works agreement. The Government’s policy in dropping men when they had had a few months’ work and employing others, leaving the former to “live on their surpluses.” was only playing with the subject. Mr R. Semple considered the Minister of Public Works was not quite aware of w r hat was going on in the public works. He reiterated that dissatis ac»iou did exist. It was a mistaken policy on the part of the

Government to pay wages that would not' ensure good men remaining on the jobs.

Comparing winter unemployment with summer unemployment, Mr McCombs quoted figures which, he said, showed unemployment was increasing as compared with the previous winters. The situation was by no means as negligible as the Minister had suggested.

GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS OUT-

LINED,

The debate on the first reading ended at 10*30, and the Bill passed through its subsequent stages without ir ther discussion till the third reading, when Sir Joseph Ward outlined the Government’s efforts in the direction of relief works. Referring to the termination of the employment of men who had been ei aged on work for high wages when the money appropriated for the task on which they employed had been spent,.he said should the Government wish to do otherwise such step would be a new departure and would require new legislation. He had promised to give the cities money carry out their programmes of work, and these moneys had been provided. inferring to the complaint that the industrial conference had not been pursued, the Prime Minister stated that a committee for the

very purpose of investigating unemployment had been set up and had held several meetings.

PRIME MINISTER SURPRISED.

The Prime Minister said that if on the eve of starting Parliament undergrade {difficulties, criticism on the Imprest Supply Bill (a Bill which called for no such criticism) was to be so- widespread, he wanted to know

where he stood. The , Government was entitled to take credit for the 'reenergising of the industries which had taken place as the result of the allocations mentioned in the Imprest Supply Bill, and he was surprised that criticism should be forthcoming at such ai stage.

Sir Joseph contended that the late Government had brought too many immigrants into the country, and the present Government had put a stop to that. If effect were given to the Government’s policy of constructing railways, many hundreds more men would he employed before *fhe winter was over. ■ That, however, was ■ not the ultimate solution. It would be necessary to subdivide- the land ano make it available for people from the cities to occupy and work, thereby relieving congestion in the towns.

Mr Jti. E. Holland said he was surprised to hear the Prime Minister objecting to the subject of unemployment being mentioned in the debate on the imprest Supply Bill.' 1 Unemployment was a question greater than party, and lie strongly demanded its discussion.

The Government had risen splendidly to the occasion when the earthquake occurred, and it was the Government’s duty to rise to the occasion and combat unemployment. What Labour wanted to see was a determined effort to ensure that every man ho was willing to work should be provided with employment. The work of reconstruction following the earthquake would involve the expenditure of the sum of a million pounds (he was not sure that even that was not a conservative estimate). That work would, provide a vast field, for absorbing the unemployed, and he appealed for standard wages for men engaged in such work. It would noli he a sound economic move to endeavour to' do otherwise.

WHAT HAD BEEN GAINED. The Hon. T. M. Wilford asked lt anything been gained by all this day’s discussion. No party in the House had the patent to well-wishing for those out of work. All that had been said that day could have been said more effectively when proposals dealing with unemployment had been brought before the House as outlined