The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890.) FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1933 Help in Winter

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 241, 12 May 1933, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890.) FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1933 Help in Winter

THE Unemployment Board faces the winter with its accounts sound. This is gratifying, and it is gratifying also that the board (as stated by the Prime Minister yesterday) proposes to apply part of the funds in hand in affording additional help to the workless. The possible relief cannot be great for, though the surplus is substantial, it represents little more than two weeks' average expenditure, and in the coming winter months this average may be exceeded. In order that the additional aid may go as far as possible the Board proposes to purchase and supply necessaries, such as meai and boots. fhese measures, however, while welcome, are at best palliatives. The greatest task of the Board is to provide useful and productive work. This is not being neglected, though the Board is not always given credit for what it is doing. Some critics speak as if over 60,000 men were engaged solely in clearing weeds from the streets. Even casual study of the Unemployment Board's report show that this is wide of the mark. The statement made recently by the Minister of Employment was a further answer to such criticism. Mr. Hamilton's account of the work dene by relief labour in the country disliicts of Wellington, Taranaki, and the East Coast was quite impressive. Many miles of dray roads had been formed, widened, or metalled, drains had been cut, lands cleared, and waste lands brought into a productive state. The arrangements under which this work has been carried out are satisfactory to all parties—satisfactory, that is to say, for the times. The unemployed have had work in v/hich they could take an interest. The farmers whose lands and means of access have been improved have been aided, and the contributions received from land owners have made the funds go further. It is recognised, of course, that the rate at which labour can be transferred to productive work in the country is limited by various . factors —the family obligations of workers, accommodation, the scope for effective work, and the need to guard against abuse of the system; but the Minister and the Board are doing their best to place as many as possible in this way. This good work should be acknowledged. It is satisfactory to learn from the Prime Minister's statement that the Board is continuing its endeavours to place men in land settlement, forestry, and public works. We cannot expect complete and speedy absorption of the whole number of workless, but every man placed in productive work helps to lighten the deadweight load of unemployment.