UNEMPLOYMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18499, 21 February 1930, Page 7

UNEMPLOYMENT.

DEPUTATION TO MINISTER OF LABOUR. “UNPRECEDENTED” POSITION IN WELLINGTON. By 'TVoprnp'h—Press A ssoriation. WELLINGTON, February 20. A deputation from the District Council of the Alliance of Labour waited on the Minister of Labour (Hon. W. A. Veitch) in regard to the unemployment position. In introducing the speakers, Mr Fraser, M.P., said the position in Wellington had reached unprecedented proportions. Theer were 600 men registered as unemployed. That meant at least a thousand out of work. The chairman of the District Council, Mr Bromley, said it was an established fact that since the Government had assumed office unemployment had continued on the upgrade, despite all the Government might have done to relieve it. He was prepared to assert that there were 600 men unemployed in Wellington at present. That constituted a record for this time of year, and going back .for many years. The deputation had no solution to suggest, but the Minister of Labour had recently stated that the second report of the Committee set up to investigate the problem contained valuable suggestions, which if acted on, would go some distance towards solving the trouble, and the deputation submitted that no time should be lost in releasing the report. It was the job of the Government to act on recommendations. Labour bodies were ready to co-operate in any action the Government was prepared to take, which showed a reasonable chance of relieving the problem.

The witness said he would ask the Cabinet Unemployment Committee to meet as early as possible, and take the whole question into serious consideration. In the light of what was said by various speakers, he gave an assurance that the Government meant to do its utmost to meet the unemployment situation. There was a misunderstanding on the part of Mr Bromley when he said he believed the Government was trying to hide unemployment figures. Mr P. Fraser said they always got the figures from the Coates Government. Surely the Ministers and the Government did not stand for suppression.

Mr Veitch said he did not consider it necessary for the figures to be published. The Minister refused to give an assurance that the figures would be published. lie wpuld give a guarantee that the whole matter would be considered by the Unemployment Committee. In regard to co-operation of local bodies, he said a great many had over-expended in an endeavour to afford relief from revenue accounts. There had been no cases in which the Government had refused to out subsidies. To a question by Mr Bromley as to what was the present position of unemployment nationally, Mr Veitch said the last figures were. 2402 registrations over the whole Dominion. Four weeks ago they were 4723. He realised that all unemployed did not register.