UNEMPLOYMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 11 June 1926, Page 3

UNEMPLOYMENT.

LABOUR PARTY’S STATEMENT. The following statement relative to unemployment lias been handed to the Press by Mr Walter Nash, National Secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party:— Reports from all parts of the Dominion state that large numbers of men and women arc unemployed, and that acute distress is prevalent in many homes. The evidence available suggests that at least five- thousand adults are .unemployed. Whilst the seasonal! nature or many of our industries renders large numbers of men idle during the winter months, the situation has been aggravated by the action of the Government, who have granted assisted passages to people from Great Britain. Out of 2000 immigrants who arrived m the last forl-nignt of May, at least seven hundred men and a large number of women would bo competitors lor work. It they are working they have either fa) displaced an equal number of workers who have been discharged, or (b) have obtained jobs which would have been available for thoso already unemployed in the Dominion.

When a number of unemployed ■ waited upon the Prime Minister to recite the tragic nature of various cases, and requested that work should be provided at wages based on the minimum paid by the Arbitration Court, the Prime Minister (Mr Coates) replied: “Y r ou will get work at the rate of wages we decide, not what you decide. Work will be provided for necessitous cases, and you may take it or leave it, just as you like.”

This does not mince matters—it sets out c’early the policy of the Government without waste of words; but when the Prime Minister proceeds to toll some of the newcomers that he might pay their fares back again, he shows an unexampled and callous disregard for the feelings of the immigrants. They came here because the propaganda in Great Britain had led them to believe that work was available m plenty, and that there were wonderful opportunities to make good. This propaganda was strengthened by the Government paying portion of their shipping passages. Propaganda and the Government immigration policy induced these people to break up homes in tlio Old Country, to bring their wives and children 13,000 miles overseas to a strange countiy, and because they express their disappointment at the distress which they have experienced since their arrival, the Prime Minister tells them it would be better if they went back whence they came.

The. nature of the propaganda which induced many to come is illustrated in an article published in the “Children’s Newspaper,” dated February 6th, 1926. It is headed: —-“Happy Now Zealand. Great Prosperity Of The Little Dominion. Saving a Million Pounds a 'Week for ton Years. A Land to Be Happy In”

Then follows a column of matter ending up with the following-paragraph : “Land Awaiting Newcomers. —Of course, the wealth of New Zealand, (the two thousand pounds which, on an average, every New Zealander over twenty-one has, is not all money. It is in property and money, some persons having much and some little; the beginners with little, the successful ones with more. Tho value is available for those who will work hard in the right way. 'The value is‘Chiefly in the land, in slice]) farming, dairying, cattle rearing, corn-growing, fruit farming. Plenty of land awaits newcomers who are willing to learn and then to work. The life is healthy and attractive. Many beginners will have to start as the original pioneers started, with Nature's wilderness, in perfecty safety, with sure evidence „f success around them. Only the spirit of adventure, willingness to learn, and willingness to work are needed, and New Zealand would treble a happy population in ten years.” The responsibility of the present distress is essentially with the Government. Two months ago the Prime Minister issued a. warning of possible trouble ahead; but apparently no .steps were taken to either reduce the flow of immigrants or to absorb them when they arrived in the Dominion. The Labour Party realises that there is ample room in the .Dominion for a properly organised system of immigration; but any system should be preceded by.—(l) a definite housing policy to relieve the existing shortage and provide for newcomers; (2) an official enquiry into trades and occupations to determine as far as possible what avenues of employment are open ; (3) the selection in Great Britain should be in accord, with the needs of the Dominion.

If the Government will attack the housing; shortage* and regulate the flow of immigration to accord with the needs of the Dominion, they can depend on the co-operation of the Labour Party; but the present policy not only accentuates the housing shortage; but is a direct attack on the living conditions of the majority of New Zealand citizens.