TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, 21st JULY, 1937. FARM WORK FOR SUSTENANCE MEN.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3929, 21 July 1937, Page 6

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, 21st JULY, 1937. FARM WORK FOR SUSTENANCE MEN.

IT >s to be hoped that the projected experiment of employing single men now on sustenance at'farm work on a subsidy basis will have satisfactory results. The subject was discussed and approved by the Dominion conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. It was mentioned that the Government proposed to try out th? scheme for at least six months, at the end of which period the farmers would report whether or net the men were suitable for farm work. No statement, however, was made as to the number of men likely to be so employed on the terms stated: The Government to pay the present rate of £1 a week out of the Employment Promotion Fund, and the farmers <o make up wages to £2 2s 6d weekly, plus the men’s keep. This apportionment of costs appears to be reasonable, having regard to all circumstances. The experiment should prove of value as a test, not only of the real capacity of the farm labour market to absorb many unemployed young men, but of the willingness of idle sustenance recipients to work. Single men at present receive £1 a week without having to work at all. Their number is not disclosed in the official statistics, but in view of the Ministerial appeal that has been made to manufacturing industrialists and occupational trades to make provision for some 5000 youths, who require someone to take them by the hand, the total must be disquietingly high. On June 5 this year there were 20,690 men drawing sustenance pay, or 338 more than on June 6 last year. The total payments represent a severe drain on the Employment Promotion Fund, with nothing to show for it except the intangible effect of social demoralisation, particularly on young men. Their plight is all the worse at a time when there is actually a reported shortage of labour in several industries and on farms. Relatively, the farmers will be paying a fairly high price for unskilled farm labour,—£l 2s 6d in cash each week plus the cost bf board ,and lodging. Apart from the economics of the question, the principle of subsidising employment will not be altered in any way. An extension only is involved. The subsidy system is applied now to 6513 men in full-time employment. However, by far the greatest advantage of the scheme lies in the prospect of withdrawing youngmen from pensioned idleness in the days of their early manhood. Temporary work at a good wage with their keep should restore pride in working, and in many cases may develop a desire for permanent occupation on the land.