RELIEF POLICY DISCUSSED

Taranaki Daily News, 21 March 1934, Page 7

RELIEF POLICY DISCUSSED

MR. J. S. JESSEP AT HASTINGS. : EVEN DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS. By Telegraph—Press Association. Hastings, Last Night. Mr. J. S. Jessep,. deputy-chairman of the Unemployment Board, was present \ at Hastings this evening at a meeting of all bodies connected with the unemployed and those seeking to assist them in . the matter of relief. The main request which* was made to Mr. Jessep was for a more even distribution of relief between the cities and the towns. * Mr. Jessep said the board could not attempt to make an even allocation per head of population in Nev? Zealand as conditions varied in different places. The problem was far more acute in towns such as Wellington and Auckland than it was in. places like Hastings. Tfio Act did not take away the responsibility of local bodies. It was purely for the purpose of assisting. It did not pretend that \ unemployment relief provided a wage but it was merely sustenance. All the, board could do was to use the money provided. It was used only where the need existed. He stated definitely that those who earned a few extra shillings apart from the relief wage were not penalised and he also strenuously denied that the board had created any huge reserve funds. ,