The Timaru Herald MONDAY, JULY 14, 1930. WANTED: “JOBS FOR ALL.”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18618, 14 July 1930, Page 8

The Timaru Herald MONDAY, JULY 14, 1930. WANTED: “JOBS FOR ALL.”

“It seems that there is something wrong somewhere,” declared the general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, in an interview with the Minister of Railways, “when men who have devoted practically a lifetime to Government work should be put off so suddenly.” Other representatives of the railwaymen have talked indignantly of the “slaughter of the rank and file,” the “scandalous state of affairs,” and “a life and death question to the men concerned and their dependents,” and this criticism is backed by charges' that the Department is “dismissing men unnecessarily,” and that

“if mature consideration is given and proper inquiry is made concerning the workshops, it will be found that the high costs the Minister is concerned with at present cannot be associated with the men who are being dismissed.” The Minister of Railways, who found himself in charge of that portfolio in the “general post” that took place recently when Cabinet was reconstructed, rather naively confessed that he had held the portfolio for only a short time and he had not yet become fully acquainted with all aspects of the service.” Replying to the protests of the men’s representatives, the Minister declared that the anticipated loss of £1,300,000 on this year's working of the railways confronted him, therefore economy measures would have to be introduced; more particularly since the Department had been employing too many men in its workshops. Getting down to particulars, the Minister said that during last year the expenditure on repairs had increased by £256,754, and it was obvious that the workshops could not employ for full time all those at present on its pay roll.

“The economics already carried outt,” added Mr Veiteh, “are by no means the only ones proposed, although I am unable to give the extent of them at the moment.” The Minister sought to win the sympathy of the men by confessing that “he found himself in a difficult position,” but he was forced to admit that “there is not enough money in the working railway account to keep the whole staff going at full time.” Then the Minister made this confession:

“Even the amount of capital money is limited, and there will have to be drastic curtailment of expenditure throughout the Department.’’ Referring to the suggestion that the Minister of Finance should be approached for funds, the Minister of Railways said that Mr Forbes was faced with a similar position, only in a larger measure. Nor could he make commitments concerning the finding of alternative work as that was within the province of other Ministers.

Obviously, as the bewildered and disillusioned representatives of the men bluntly confessed, “there is something wrong somewhere.” Mr Veiteh was one of the conspicuous leaders in the election campaign which gave a definite undertaking to provide “jobs for all” in exchange for votes. The return of the United Party was to herald the coming of a new era of unclouded prosperity: Money in plenty, lower taxation, jobs for all. When the opponents of the United Party boldly prophesied that the borrowing policy enunciated by the United Party would yield nothing more than “borrow, boom and burst” conditions, they were told they were grossly ignorant of the miracles the United Party could perform, and the electors should not take them seriously! But what is the position to-day? The Minister of Railways in the United Cabinet, can offer hundreds of railway men who have given a lifetime in the service of the State, not “jobs for all,” but discharge from the service with no other prospect than to swell the ranks of the unemployed. Nearly a year ago the Parliament of New Zealand was promised that within five weeks there would be no such unpleasant thing as unemployment within the Dominion. And now the very Government which promised “jobs for all,” is revealing such lack of resourceful statesmanship that it is actually leading the way in the reduction of staffs at a moment when, according. to its own official returns, which do not reveal the full gravity of the position, there are 5445 men out of work in the Dominion, with numerous dependents. The Minister of Railways, in discharging hundreds of men, offers them the cold consolation that the task of providing alternative work comes within the province of other Ministers! It does not seem to have dawned on Mr Veiteh and his colleagues, that if the Government has to provide alternative work for the swelling ranks of idle New Zealanders, it may be more economical to keep railwaymen employed at overhauling the fast deteriorating rolling stock, than to turn them out into the ranks of the unemployed, and there employ them at digging holes for others to fill up! In the one case something could be shown for the expenditure of money; in the other, the money is simply thrown away. It is passing strange that if, as Mr Veiteh says, the amount of capital available is limited,” and “the rail-

ways arc showing such a heavy loss,” that the Government should embark on the construction of new railways, which, if independent railway experts are not wholly ignorant, can yield nothing more than heavier losses when they are brought iuto full use. Many of the electors who fancied they discerned the coming of a new heaven and a new earth with the temporary ascendancy of the Party of many promises, will ere this be full of regrets that they were caught with such palpable platitudes.