RELIEF WORKERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19961, 20 November 1934, Page 9

RELIEF WORKERS

DEPUTATION TO WAIT ON MAYOR DECISION OF MEETING Upwards of 150 relief workers and their wives attended a meeting in the Foresters’ Hall last night to discuss the scenic road job and the standdown week. The meeting was presided over by Mr P. Wild, chairman of the Unemployed Workers’ Union. Included in those present were the Rev. Clyde Carr. M.P.. Rev. J. Milburn Stewart, and Mr J. G. Leckie. The meeting decided to make application for a subsidy on the relief wages of all unemployed, and it was also agreed by a majority of those present to form a deputation to wait on the Mayor (Mr T. W. Satterthwaite) at 11 o’clock this morning, to discuss the standdown week. The chairman thanked the ladies for being present, and he also thanked the unemployed for turning up in such large numbers. The conveners of the meeting had sent out a number of invitations, and only three had accepted. Mr Wild expressed regret that the Mayor and members of the Council had not been present, but Crs. W. G. Tweedy and G. Benstead had forwarded apologies. He went on to say that the object of the meeting was to discuss the subsidy on the wages of the men working on the scenic reserve and also the stand-down week. A deputation had waited on the Council at its last meeting, but no sooner had the last speaker concluded than Cr. P. B. Foote moved and the Mayor seconded that the request be declined. Cr. P. C. Vinnell moved that the matter be referred to the finance committee, but this was defeated on the casting vote of the Mayor. Before the deputation reached the meeting, the Council had decided to grant two days in each “black” week to men with five children and over. This would assist about 68 families, but would not help those with smaller families, who were just as badly off. Referring to the stand-down week, Mr Wild said that he had taken on himself to find out what assistance could be received by the unemployed in the stand-down week. Two men had waited on the chairman of the Social Service Committee of the Hospital Board, and he had said that they could not assist able-bodied unemployed. The two men then waited on the chairman and secretary of the Hospital Board, and they had received the same answer. The position then was that no able-bodied unemployed man. whether his children were starving or not could receive assistance in the stand-down week. The men were then referred to the Mayor and he had said that he could not do any more than was being done. He had referred the men to the Hospital Board, and they had astounded the Mayor by telling him just how much they knew. The whole trouble was that the unemployed of Timaru had never stood together, and they would never get anywhere unless they stood shoulder to shoulder. Deputation Suggested Mr F. Hilton said that he had been present when the Mayor had been interviewed, and he could endorse all that Mr Wild had said. What they should do was to send a deputation to the Mayor, and if he could get 50 men who would down tools at 11 o’clock this morning and go to the Council Chambers, he would take them in. To his mind the man with two children was the hardest hit of all the unemployed. There were 350 of them in this class, and they should be the most strongly represented at the deputation. A question was asked in regard to the decision of the Council to grant two days in the stand-down week, to men with five children and over, the speaker stating that the Council was throwing mud in the eyes of the public and the unemployed, because no man v/ould have two stand-down weeks before Christmas. The chairman replied that it had been decided to give those who were to benefit four days in the one week, so that all the men would benefit. Standard Wage. Mr J. C. Leckie said they had a beautiful young country, but it was going to the' dogs under the present system. The only way conditions could be improved would be to give every worker a standard wage, and so distribute enough money to enable the workers to purchase the goods they required. What should be done was for all the unemployment committees in New Zealand to resign in a body, and so throw the whole responsibility on the Government, ’rt.e position the boys and girls were in to-day was a disgrace to the country. They were walking up and down the streets day and night, and what was going to happen if something was not done for them? It seemed that they had the working class in the gutter and were going to keep them there. New Zealand had been one of the quietest countries in the world so far as the unemployed were concerned, but the Government had been playing on it, and it was time they did something for those who were down and out. At one time the Hospital Board had assisted any person who was in distress, but not so to-day. The ratepayers still contributed to the Board, and he would like to know what had absorbed all the money. The stand-down week was not the most difficult week; it was the one following for by then the unemployed were really two weeks behind. It was no good sending resolutions to Wellington, for they would get the baby in the cradle reply: “Where are we going to get the money from?” If any distinguished visitors came to the Dominion money could be found, but they could not find it for thq. women and children who were right up against it.

The chairman also mentioned that a deputation had that night waited on a committee of the Central Relief Society, and placed the position before them, and they would probably report to the executive of the Society. The Society did not have a great deal of money, but possibly some assistance might be forthcoming from that direction. Mr Wild again made reference to the scenic reserve job, stating that the executive of the Unemployed Workers’ Union were not satisfied with the decision of the Council, and they again approach the Council. Woman’s Suggestion. A woman: Why don’t you down too’s and stop it, and then they will have | to do something? Mr Hilton then moved, and Mr E. W. Jones seconded: “That this meeting of relief workers and their wives strongly protests against the action taken by the Mayor and Crs. Hart, Mathers, Hall and Foote at the last meeting of the Borough Council, with regard to the subsidising of the scenic road job, and consider that as the ultimate result of the work will prove to be a benefit to citizens of Timaru, we therefore are of the opinion that it would be quite in keeping that the public as a whole should be prepared to assist those who are performing the task of forming the scenic road, by way of a subsidy on relief rates of pay. We would therefore strongly urge upon the Council the necessity for again considering the matter with the object of at least producing some report as to the cost, etc., of paying a subsidy.” A question was asked how much it was costing the Council on the scenic reserve job, the chairman replying that it was costing the Council only sufficient for tools and supervision. Mr Jones suggested that the Levels County Council should be included in the resolution because a good portion of the land was under the control of the Levels County Council. Mr Rollinson said that they should ask for a subsidy for all the unemployed, not merely for one job, and he moved to that effect, as an amendment. * The amendment was seconded by Mr Welford, and was carried by a large majority.

Member For Timaru. Mr Carr said that it would seem that the protest which the Labour members had been making in the House had had some effect, for it would have been noticed that the acting-Minister of Employment (Hon. J. A. Young) had stated that additional relief was to be provided for the unemployed. Attempts were to be made to introduce scales of pay which would be fairer and something nearer adequate for the needs of the unemployed. Mr Leckie: It comes into effect next November, does it not? Mr Carr: "I don’t know whether you read that, or whether it was how your mind reacted to it.” (Laughter.) Mr Carr went on to say that protests had been made time and again, but without much effect. The members of the Government were good fellows at heart, but the biggest mistakes in history had not been of the heart but of the head. The Government had been doing their best in a blundering sort of way, but they did not realise the position, because they had never been amongst the unemployed. As ne had said in the House, most Governments moved under the stress of some outside irresistible force, and not from their own initiative. They followed the line of least resistance, and that was the explanation of the present position. It was not because the Government were not good men at heart, but because they had not been through the mill. Most of the Labour members had been through the mill, and they knew the needs and the problems of the working class. The Government had taken up the attitude that the people should help themselves. It would never do to make unemployment relief too attractive, because if they did that the men would not look for work. The attitude of the Labour Party was entirely different. They said that a Government was a community organised to help itself. Representatives were sent to Parliament to do for the group what the group could not do for itself. They were there to represent the people and to conserve the interests of the people. There was no reason why there should be want or distress or anxiety in a country like New Zealand, for there was to be had everything that would enable the people to live a full life. Any Government should regard it as its bounden duty to provide for the full needs of the people and if it could not do that, it had no right to be in office. Mr Carr referred to the conference of local bodies recently held in Timaru to discuss suitable relief works, and said that the scenic road job was one of these. The confererfce was unanimous that standard rates of pay should be paid, and he contended that the Council should subsidise the wages of the men on the job. Mr G. T. Koller also addressed the meeting on the action of the Council in turning down the request of the deputation from the Unemployed Workers’ Union for a subsidy on the wages of the men on the scenic road job. They had not tried to find out whether there was sufficient money available, nor had they even tried to find out how much it was going to cost. Mr Koller said the meeting that night was the healthiest sign he had seen since the Unemployed Workers’ Union had been formed, but they should multiply the number present by five, and they would then have full representation of the unemployed in the town. When they succeeded in getting unity, they would get somewhere. A vote of thanks was passed to the speakers and to the chairman.