UNTRUE STATEMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1933, Page 7

UNTRUE STATEMENT

RELIEF WORKER’S MEANS

NO CAR OR WIRELESS SET. A complaint of untrue statements which had been made against a. relief worker in Christchurch was heard from Mr. W. E. Leadley at a meeting of th® Christchurch Citizens’ Unemployment Relief Committee last week and discussion turned to the subject of motorcans in the possession of men receiving relief. Mr. Leadley said that, although it was not a matter that actually concerned the committee, he thought it should be aired. The Labour Department had a number of inspectors who made inquiries from men on relief work to make certain that they were eligible to receive relief. A worker had complained to the speaker that someone had written in to the department, alleging that he was not entitled to relief because he had a motorcar, a wireless set, and had bought a new tricycle for his child, which showed, it was alleged, that he was not in poor circumstances. As a result of this letter, an inspector had made inquiries, when it was found that the allegations were untrue. The worker had neither a car nor a wireless set, and although he had certainly given a tricycle to his child it was 12 years old, and had been obtained from another worker.

Mr. W. W. Scraff: Relief workers are always giving one another away. In 29 out of 30 such cases, it is another relief worker who is the informant. It is the same in the case of rations. Mr. J. W. Crampton: The mere fact of a man having a car in his possession these days does not signify at all that he is wealthy. Some relief workers certainly have cars but most of them are not better than mine—which won’t go at all! I know of one man, now pn relief, who, in good times, bought a car fo£ £lO, but he could not get £2 10s for it these days. So long as a relief worker does not use it unduly and spend much on petrol, the fact of his having a car does not Imply anything sinister.