UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18831, 20 March 1931, Page 7

UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE.

FORTNIGHTLY MEETING. The fortnightly meeting of the South Canterbury Unemployment Committee was held last evening, and was attended by—The Mayor (Mr W. Angland', ! chairman; and Messrs J. Kennedy, J. McCort, G. Saunders, H. J. Mather, W. Maze, T. Gunnion, P. B. Foote, J. i E. Chiles, W. Craig, H. G. Naylor, T. j G. Palliser, C. E Kerr, L. M. Inglis, and j G. McKessar. j Mr McKessar explained that the ! total of 2341 men found work under j the No. 5 scheme did not agree with the ; total of registrations on the Commit- : tee’s books. There was a large num- : ber of young men who were not eligible j to register under the Unemployment j Act because they were under 21 years !of age. Owing to the number of men i out of work it had been difficult to find sufficient work each 'week to employ j each man for the total number of days ; that was desirable. A tremendous i amount was being done to assist the j unemployed but conditions were not ; quite as good as it was thought they might be. He considered, however, the j Committee should be pleased with whet : it had been able to do up to the pre- ; sent. Building the Hospital. Mr McKessar read a letter from the Unemployment Board relative to the request of the Committee that the , Board should provide interest and sink- : ing fund on a sum of between £16,000 and £IB,OOO that the South Canterbury Hospital was prepared to spend on continuing the new hospital building for the purpose of providing w'ork for a good number of Timaru’s unemployed. The Commissioner, in his letter, stated that if this building was required to be erected irrespective of the unemployment position the Board could not consider granting financial assistance; but if the scheme was put forward as a special means to giving relief to the unemployed, then the Board was prepared to give consideration to any specific proposal put forward. The Mayor expressed the opinion that the letter meant that if the Hosptal Board was prepared to say that this work was to be undertaken to relieve unemployment, then it was willing to favourably consider the request put forward. j Mr Naylor said that he thought the 1 Unemployment Commissioner was given sufficiently to understand what the position of the Hospital Board was in connection with this matter. The Board had decided very definitely that it was not going on with the work. From independent inquiries made recently, the Commissioner was prepared to coni sider any representations from the J Committee and the Hospital Board, and j the latter was very desirous of co-op-erating with the Committee in the di- | rection indicated, and if the Unemj ployment Board was willing to assist J them the Hospital Board was prepared i to go on with the scheme. ; The Mayor said this being the case ! they would be able to go to Welling- ; ton with a definite scheme, and it would be sufficiently convincing to induce the Unemployment Board to give the assistance asked for favourable consideration. If this work was gone on with, j it would absorb a lot of the unemploy - led in Timaru, and it would last for ! about 12 months, and about 50 or 60 | men would be employed, j Mr Kerr thought the Committee should appoint its representative immediately. The letter was quite clear and very encouraging. Mr Foote moved that Mr Naylor be appointed to go to Wellington to represent the Board. Mr Inglis seconded this. Mr Kerr suggested that the three local members of Parliament be asked to urge the claims of the Committee along with Mr Naylor and Mr E. Macdonald, before the Unemployment Board.

This was agreed to, and the motion carried.

Spirit of the Law.

Mr McKessar said that Mr Gunnion had waited upon him with an offer to provide a good deal of work for unemployed in Temuka, provided the Unemployment Board would subsidise the wages of two men employed by his Council to look after machinery and plant. The Commissioner had written, however, to say that this could not be entertained as this did not come within the provisions of the unemployment scheme. He had also stated that in cases where local bodies were employing men ineligible under the Act, it might be found that the auditor might claim against such local bodies for a refund of the wages so paid. Another point made by the Commissioner was that in cases where men were working under the scheme, and were not providing for their dependents but were found to be drinking or gambling with the money earned, they should be asked to agree to their wives drawing their pay, and failing this they were not to be employed. The spirit as well as letter of the Act should be observed. A Comprehensive Scheme. The Timaru Unemployment Committee, under direction from a general meeting of the unemployed wrote asking the Committee to provide a comprehensive scheme for absorbing men out of work. The Mayor pointed out that it was not the function of the Committee to draw up a comprehensive scheme. This was for the Board.—The letter was received. A Deputation. A deputation from the unemployed consisting of the Rev. C. W. Duncumb and Messrs Arnold and McGuinness, waited upon the Board with a request that a card system be instituted at the Labour Bureau, so as to obviate the necessity for the men congregating outside the Bureau. Another matter brought forward was that the men considered that the assistant in the Labour Office was over worked and they recommended that one of their number in the person of Mr Bryant be appointed to assist in the checking of a card system if it could be arranged that he be paid as on the basis of four days’ work per week. The Mayor stated that Mr McKessar had already in hand the question of index cards. Mr McKessar reported that he had been instructed to appoint an inquiry officer. Rev. C. W. Duncumb: “Might I suggest that in making the appointment you give consideration to the recommendation of the unemployed.” Mr McKessar: “The man nominated will not be appointed.” Geraldine’s Effort. Mr Kennedy reported that Geraldine had been carrying on, and there was a fair amount of work ahead. The position now was, however, that the local unemployed were increasing, and Geraldine had just reached the limit of its goodwill to Timaru. In another week the men who had been harvesting and working on the threshing mills would be looking for work. The unemployed had doubled there, and they had to look after their own. The men who had been found work and who came from Timaru had done good work, and had given general satisfaction. After next week it was hoped the Levels County Council would have a scheme in operation when they would be able to absorb the men who had come from Timaru.

The Mayor expressed the appreciation of Timaru for the manner in which Geraldine had come to the relief of the town.

Work in Prospect. Replying to Mr Chiles, the Mayor said there was enough work to keep the men going at the present time. The Waimataitai scheme would be gone on with after April 30th, and this would employ a lot of men. Then there would be the reticulation of a portion of the town to be done, involving the expenditure of £7500. There were also other works to be carried out when the Government found the money for them. Saltwater Creek would be considered as soon as the Government said how muen it was prepared to spend on this work. If all these works were put in hand, and the building of the hospital was undertaken, there would be a lot of work available.

Mr Kerr brought forward a schedule of works which could be carried out in the Levels County under the Unemployment Board’s No. 5 scheme. Th'ese involved a total expenditure of £4705, and the cost of the labour would be £2650.