CRISIS REACHED

Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1932, Page 9

CRISIS REACHED

PEOPLE IN DIRE STRAITS NEW PLYMOUTH UNEMPLOYED URGENT CONFERENCE HELD VIGOROUS PROTEST MADE BOARD. CALLED TO TASK At a -meeting in New Plymouth yesterday attended by about 40 citizens representative of every public body of importance in the town, discussion took place regarding the very grave position that has arisen over no provision 'being made for unemployed able men during “etand down” week, coupled with the taking away from the hospital and charitable aid 'board facilities for dispensing relief to able men during tflieir “off” week, 'Speakers vigorously and unanimously condemned the action of the Unemployed Board in discriminating in favour of the cities when the position was so acute in provincial centres such as New Plymouth. It was stated that there were many people in New Plymouth at the present time literally on the verge of starvation. The meeting unanimously passed the following resolution, copies of which will bo forwarded to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Employment, and the member for the district: — ' “That this meeting convened by the Mayor of New Plymouth, and attended by representative citizens and delegates from all the representative public organisations in the town, desires most respectfully yet emphatically to protest against the treatment meted out to the unemployed relief workers in New Plymouth by the Unemployment Board in its action of prohibiting the Hospital Board from granting relief or work to able-bodied relief workers during stand-down week and not following this up by eliminating stand-down week as was done in tie four thief centres. By this action of the board the majority of the men standing down this W’tsek ware wsapelled to apply to the Taranaki Hospital Board for assistants), they and their families vatli have suffered extreme “criarion during varied periods up to eO days. That the Government | he informed that the position has been met. st&is week solely by moans stf aporial fionatioM contributed 100 het such emergenty assistance | esato be and that this ? meering cxßs the Government J -tb imssodixt-ety provide for ’ bbm'inxring week in New I Plrrmot-rk ct ria the xlteraarive to 4 'wjibSstw its to ffhe Sos- < hij-al Xwri to gran: r&Sef or j ■work ttb xb'.'t-hoffjed 'workers during 'll; •Ojjpruiijig ji't- nnoeCdigr rj?o. .Mayor;i «Kcn-spsss?£ ife rih-Kriks 'ire- rib* : s«xh«*. 3* ssid ke knew iwot *X Jiaii «atinS*£ ax xs-msScerxtue. i mnWHrgnimjrs- r-o xhrmssews.. me ara»*e i ar> .nrmtagy swr rite uiwsing -on | wsrrs arrisnHKm- an riirw zc rite sapst | uisssrssskgß. _ .! ZPiir '.Tirsiriim'was riteri ribe. rribir wvek- j ms. xt'Ni'w F’Jymmah Site s«t®n fscaed i :.ti- .CTn’y nr- ~iw H.rsriixsl Snsrs f-or as- ' ssssirx- ar3vdimsrr rite xLaFuriri. 3nsr£ ' .ISSX ■ <? TiA i .Uss's, run xm onHmnikwmHEi Beard kad.' nfitsr snrry umeir miwsr rnsrexo as- ririk- , mem vm csrasKaudL -« rik rite j ; to: r'kiT-tiirnT -off new jErgteteriini. rite xnea ! -ma: nx -kirmnura “‘axiad.-tewri’’ wssk, ■; jue riffs rio£ Men. .=E~fi"x mn. caiy ix :~ r . ifnur - ■ rres. surff. vs Necw Elrimuirii * c sri.nf- 1 jtera” weefe srill -jESwiiteu Yte ■■ rnrasrs -wis rise rhem wari illh- iron. .; ’n: -virii mteir wriKs ■ ianmifs: minrariifeit. sir riiis- wear, sad r ;ir xew ?sls?s riism was rrt. rmvus-rzr ■ •s- ~h*«jr- liccrtEs.. AUTIEr.. NUT IET>. "Tj!? rnkcins' sa<f. gsruieraf M* maxa ®i smnharic prare-su ncainsu _ • •iiiHTj -reck and wvosk' sar res a.rtciiwr-E- : or as su ajtprnativo rSus the rxo'jt-riil 3j®srd 'Knnciwor®! so- gria raiidr a-? ria aad cailect rile meeNntr Xs rPEsjit of nrsens raprasermaCTnns. njadd' to firm bv -.-jc. Bev,. B. 3, rjpj-i s«d Messrs 31 Thome andl B_ J. tkm on - neba-sf of riM -.ineniplcyodt.be rima bad arrived for *rric.n. .Mr. Uo~de?l «aid the. riruarion me -r-)r*^-* a w* rtme wa*2 eA'itbont beiur' an one wax forced to a'itnit- that- now was eertam.y t,bd- rime irot- tor words but- for aCvion. HrKpitai Board had' been able to' render Ter-- assisr-aned in the ■ eanecially du-ring' -'stand-down-' l>jring'*dt'her the ittenrne 4f the men. on relief work was iUßnth'j rienti- rdr Ebent to put .anything by >or in fkdir' ‘ f .?raU<L-dowii” week. Now | of the H»spsta4 Board to • j-r>fxfer -aedifftanOo to a-hio-bodied. me a . during week had been taken”’ array and given to-- the kv'al lao- j dr.'r bureau, which Wa;s- unab’e to meet I the neC'r-ritks- of the oceario-.v ! The tincm n.dveri m-en in 1 -5 mouth d : d rot blame the fecal unem- i iPovir-mt /r-r-mnritfoo fv the yori-rion i I-., :« tb-dav, r w the local iatbor.r i KX « tL rf-p-rt ® M r4. M . „. zr ... < _ / .-u/.-.. ; 5; vr pa-.??ed a- re«o-?.-‘:on of gr.atnf:,-; thanks to fl.-e Hospitn! Board for what it had rJut t’m board 1 - power for inf the . “stand-down” -.'.-nek had gO-no. fie wanted the irieot'ng to nhderatand t/rhu although there were a. few nndosir»-Wes the va«t j-nuj-ority of the tmemployed Were '■'dwl fellows. Tt wae heart-break-ing tr/sca men used to a lire with t-he p<-!i trying their 'fxk?t' to fnrtfce good with pick, and shovel. Some of them, in'feed, actimlly had their hands wrirn raw with the uriaccitstomcd labour. 'I lie fxr-ii'tion i.-i-f. week ovr-ecd/ngly Rr-ufp. but this wrr-k matter, s had reached breaking point. Mr. Gosnell went mn b> quote fhc ease of ;i man w;!]> n of nine childrbn who had. applied, for a.-sistanec tl-hr-iiig ''-daii'l-ToWit’' wek. The man ootil-i a','.' receive any money for t*l days, d'!)-il:g i.l’.-ut p--J'i'.rl his .'liloeation of .•on/ - onM r-nu-i'.h- him t<-> o.'irn only I'a.d.; is .'inothor d;j.gr> a man wif'h < d 4 .m:!d vo:ihl he nib]? to corn >,’? | f.- i-.rj, /' *‘t'-' .'bX'- p" |S e, r f,’ <g!i« 1-,/Z . .. 5 zlep, r •. I'd" y -■ :-e V-n f n r „ ( > .0 - ■, 5 ,.,5 ,V ; , ffl P 1 . ■’■ , d- am! a--' •• J. ~'. s. fl r<.if.it !ftj>rtC/Cl' - . ... I.:: f J ‘ Tf f Jf'> .y. a I. fftfj) .Gi ...A .. : t /, ,‘ f l l-hc-Bl- In.v:.-. A , buj-t.Mr. <■ P. urgent V?l- grap j.- no 7/< only reply so f ur > t;rv ;, c .j ' ' w J ft im-Oigi- .’com ■.'!■•: Jteakj. j tiicnt U> tin- -f’l-t th.-:. ..„..

now tho responsibility of tbo Unemployment Board. No reply hud beenreceived from the Commissioner of Unemployment or the Unemployment Board. As ifco result of a- hasty canvass of the town made yesterday afternoon a sum of £lOO was available to tide tho unemployed over tho weekend, and this would ensure that for a few days the cupboards would Ibc reasonably, full. He did not exaggerate when he saidthat some of tho families had nothing to eat. The speaker quoted tho case of a man who had gone to work withnothing to eat but stale bread many days old. It was hoped that 200 families in urgent need would be provided for by last night. But such a state of affairs could not continue. What were the Government, tho Unemployment Board -or the Unemployment Commissioner going to do? He had to thank, tho Mayor for calling the meeting, and the citizens for attending in such large numbers. Supplementing Mr. Gosnell's remarks, Mr. B. Thorne said that on Tuesday, when it was realised there was a change pending in tho system of administering relief, a largo meeting of unemployed was held in the Workers’ Hall. In order to prevent if possible the development of any bad feeling he and others had gone to the labour bureau to deal with complaints. No one could have done more than Mr. C. P. Smith to relieve tho situation. He was doing his best with tho money available. The position was simply a hopeless on». They had approached the hospital board, representatives of which readily agreed to meet at the labour bureau and see what could bo done. The speaker also went to tho police to endeavour to get them to bring pressure to bear ou the board, but the police said they could not interfere, although they fully appreciated the position. He would like to make one fact clear —that wherever people heard talk of a demonstration on tho part of the unemployed in New Plymouth they could turn it down astho work of an evil-doer. He could guarantee that while ho and Mr. K. Pulton had anything to do with looking after tho unemployed there would be no such thing as a demonstration in New Plymouth. CITIZENS’ RESPONSE WELCOME.

He could not say too much, for the way the citizens had come to light, continued the speaker. He had said ho would see the anon fed, and ho knew that as a last resort he could appeal to citizens and they would not let him down. He did not want a repetition of the present position, and could not understand the action of th© Unemployment Board. Tho board was not doing tho sumo thing in tho cities. The speaker went on to pay a further tribute to tho way tho citizens had responded in tho emergency. Messrs. P. N, Stainton, T. C. List and K. H. Quilliam. in particular, he said, had Spent a lot of time on Thursday setting measures in train for th© collection of an emergency fund. Ho himself laid spent tiro long days that extended far into the night trying to keep the mens spirits hopeful. Ho would like particularly to make an appeal to landlords to use every consideration possible bofore evicting tenants for unpaid rent. Many of the men were living in an environment of doubt, and the inevitable dread of the morrow was getting a, Mt of them down. In conclusion he said, that if these who had given donations on Thursday could see the sa tis-fac-i.io.n on tire men’s faces when tho feed their money had bought was dis-hors-sd yesterday morning they would re amply repaid* for their generosity. Saying that ho thought all present si the meeting were of one definitc--mind regarding- tho protest, tho Mayor ■wot the' resolution as quoted above. There was no need to enlarge on the resimiion, he added, but the protest ■ete-ted go forward in the strongest f rem they could send it. Tea. motion was* seconded by Mr. P. X Sisinionu- J. S. Connett said there was cme point- in its resolution he would ~ra t-. eommeur- on. Kefercnce was ;o "samd-down” week in New rh. He thought the remarks -V-,—be made to apply generally to xT -r-* provincial centres in New Zealand. n--t specifically to New Plymouth xJssa. As* far as’•’‘stand-down” week vrr crosjamed, he would like to see it and whatever money was spread evenly over the whole However hard it was to find the nrr-nty, it had to be found. The Mayor-. I take it we are here to ’rok after ourselves. We cannot Episk ter other centres, though no ictei- their position is similar. Mr. 2- Fulton said he would support tie resolution, but would like to see tfes print about returning to the hos--ftel board for administration of relief ~~z zz stronger terms. The hospital had jfven every* satisfaction in its execu£ten of that duty. So much so, in fact, teat not one complaint had been reeaived about the administration. The iabo™ bureau, administration, on the other hand, showed a lack of organisatterr, bzte of sympathy and lack of. t-rr.e appreciation of the position. The fault iU not due to the local officers of te© Labour Department, but it was j.uposefbl® for these officers to have the svu-.-paihetic touch'with the needy teat t'-ie hospital board had through its charitable aid officers and the district nurse, S-Leter GiiL It was quite clear that tee hospital board was the proper body te administer the relief. It was easy for a board of men sitting at We’i’lingten to say that the Labour Department ehould carry out the duty, but riuite a different thing when it was into p'f&Cvicft. Mr. Fulton proceeded to quote the cas-j. of a. woman and her family who received an allowance of 31s 3d, out of w-hich she had to pay 30s rent. This left her with If. 3d to feed herself and famdly for four days. She said she bought 34 worth of mince and a loaf of bread, and made that do. If the hospital hoard liad. been administering the relief the woman could have gone alorig in an unostensible way and obtain"! tho necer-mry relief without having io parade her shame in Queen Street outside teo labour bureau. NO LOOPHOLES WANTED. Mr. S- Vickers stressed the fact that »}iey did HOb want to have any looph(dM in the resolution, and should ask for something definite. In the resolution n , s worded they were asking for a return to the <>hl s.Vfit G n' of dispensing relief through the h<>ffi''tal ""1 afjle aid hoard. Was this th© best thing io do, however? hard y*ar ten relief measures did not stern adequate i I*** Tho ho/spila-l oitd wete nos , board protested from the flist «mt it v-'is tmt its iob to administer iclicf to a Id-bodied men. 't he burden on hospital board* was becoming altefcctbe too henry. The Auckland Hoard, foi inMiuiec, v««dy overspent Its nuthoi amount. floßpltal boardß slimily could not rnrrv mi btenuse l*he relief mcae urns tool become a direct tux on the eord.rilmt.lng local bmlles. ITotcate wete rent to Wellington, but to be on Ho <l,-110 fide iirmrdfi budgeted to meet the irmrM«r>d dmmimte. The Cloverunwnt -.-oiild iml .-i.ldlmrise the iilereiimhl ©Mihffites, ami inel rin-ted the board© r i / ,(1 hii'lifr’L hn: three iiimitliß only. The taonmiki Hoard trad btid-geled lor £oUO lift llift-b m'udliF, and had ppi’iit it nil. lit'- emenat win not subsidi a i'd. but ••’it- ti tlhr-'-l lev? eti the ba-al lx.idien.

What was going to happen to the local bodies if relief was thrown back on the hospital boards, for in many cases the local bodies themselves were very hard up ? At the recent hospital boards’ annual conference, said Mr. Vickers, the- boards had unanimously decided to place all their facilities at the disposal of the Government for the administration of relief, provided the necessary funds were forthcoming. Was it advisable, however, to ask tfor a continuity of work? It seemed to him this would make little difference, if the extra money were not available. As it was the men were asked -to work out their assistance, and, to their credit they willingly did so. He thought that the meeting should ask definitely for the same treatment as the cities. It seemed as though .the authorities were trying out the “standdown” week in the dairying centres, just to see whether they could “get away with it.” The Mayor: The resolution is quite definite. It asks first of all for the elimination of “stand-down” week, ami failing that, for a reversion to the system of administering relief through the hospital board. Mr. Fulton: I would like to ask Mr. Vickers through th© Mayor whether the money the board has been spending was advanced by the Unemployment Board. Mr. Vickers: No. It came from the local bodies. BOARD’S FIGURES .PRIVATE. Mr. J. McLeod: Can Mr. Smith tell us what the U-nemployment Board budgeted for in New Plymouth this week ? Mr. C. P. Smith: The figures supplied by the Unemployment Board arc marked “Confidential.” Mr. McLeod: It scorns that the money provided for towns like New Plymouth is insufficient. The motion was then put ami carried unanimously.