UNEMPLOYMENT SCHEMES

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1934, Page 11

UNEMPLOYMENT SCHEMES

ADDRESS TO LEPPERTON FARMERS DEVELOPMENT WORK SUBSIDY... The schemes under the Unemployment Act dealing with subsidised farm labour were explained by Mr. C. P. Smith, officer in charge of the New Plymouth branch of the Labour Department, to the Lepperton branch of the Farmers Union on Saturday night. Mr. H. E. Blyde said there, .was. a’ number of schemes of which the farmers could avail themselves, but very lit-, tie use had been made of them in North Taranaki. He felt sure this was owing to the .lack of a proper understanding. Mr. Smith said there were many schemes in existence but he proposed to deal only with those which concerned the farmed He stressed the fact that under all these schemes the department laid down very definitely the class of work that could be done. Briefly they were bush-felling, scrub-cutting, rushgrubbing, stumping and logging, cutting new drains or improving existing, drains, clearing noxious weeds, and fencing and such like developmental work as would definitely increase the carrying capacity, of the farmer. Mr. Smith explained the schemes. The first, No. 4a, was probably the best known. Under this the farmer housed and fed the man or men,, who must be registered. The board paid! 10s a week to single men and' from 15s to 25s to married men. It was-usual for the farmer to pay something, five to ten shillings a week. The. man would not be allowed’ to engage in ' milking or harvesting. Scheme No. 4b, subsidised labour for developmental work on a contract Jjagis. Application had to be made through the. Lands and Survey Department and the work carried out under the supervision of an officer of that department. Lab-i our was subsidised up to 50 per. cent. The cost of materials, tools and insurance had to Le borne by the farmer.The minimum amount for any contractwas £25. This was suitable for stumping and drainage work. Under scheme No. 4d, known as the “four, men camp” scheme, the farmer had to provide a shack- or tent-and provisions, for which he was allowed--7s 6d a week per man. In addition the men were paid 10s a week by the Unemployment Board. Under scheme No. 5, commonly known as the “over the fence” scheme, tiiefarmer paid one-quarter of the men’s wages and provided transport. In addition he must supervise the work. There were plenty of men available under this scheme but the main difficulty was transport. Mr. Smith stated that the most recent scheme was connected with the eradication of ragwort. In this case the board paid all the wages of the men and the farmer only the insurance and the cost of transport. , In conclusion he again stressed the fact that all the work must be developmental and additional. It was not intended to replace any ordinary labour employed. The great feature was to endeavour to increase the carrying capacity of the land.