ASSISTING THE UNEMPLOYED

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5655, 28 August 1896, Page 3

ASSISTING THE UNEMPLOYED

A telegram from Dunedin states that a meeting of the Otago Miners' Association was held yesterday. The Association had been formed to send unemployed to various places on the goldfields. The total amount raised, including Government subsidy, was .£582, which has been all expended with the exception of some <£20. The total number of men sent out to work by the Association is fifty-three. These have worked with parties for varying periods, some of them proving industrious and hardwarking men, others quite the reverse. The gold returns have been invariably disappointing, the total production amounting to .£l2B 16s sd. The trustees state that although they cannot claim to have achieved their original object of making the Association self-supporting they yet feel that it has been by no means an entire failure. A number of men who could obtain absolutely nothing to do, and who, in many cases, were actually destitute, have been taken from an over-stocked labour market and taught a useful calling at a very small cost. Judging from a national point of view the trustees feel justified in considering that the money has been well expended, and certainly it has been husbanded with the greatest care. The Association is to be continued till the funds are exhausted, and meantime a conference is to be held, with a view of continuing operations on a modified scale.