ARMY OF UNEMPLOYED

Taranaki Daily News, 15 October 1930, Page 16

ARMY OF UNEMPLOYED

NEW SOUTH WALES POSITION.

NEARLY 100,000 MEN IDLE. Sydney, October 2. It has been predicted that, by Christinas, at least half the unemployed in New South Wales will be at work. One has to take this sort of talk, at election time, with the proverbial grain of salt. It is to be hoped that this anticipation will be realised, for, without political prejudice, it is certainly difficult to see how the problem is going to be even partly corrected if Labour is able to carry out only a tithe of its pledges to the worker at the expense of the other fellow and also of the State. It is. estimated that at present there are, about 85,000 unemployed men in New South Wales, including the professional type who do not register at Labour exchanges. In addition, from 7000 to 10,000 women are totally unemployed, while more than 200,000 men are reported to be working reduced time. The fund provided by the unemployed relief tax amounts to only £50,000 a week. This means about Ils. a man and woman a week, or approximately 9s. a unit a week if the unemployed youths are also taken into consideration.

The Unemployed Relief Council has had before it applications totalling £12,000,000, with a total annual income not exceeding £2,600,000, If Mr. Lang is going to find, somewhere or other, the money to remedy this position alone, and in addition is going to restore the 48 hours and put public servants back on their old pay, and do quite a lot of other things, then others, inevitably, are going to suffer —among them conceivably not a few men and women who are nov in jobs.