SELECTING THE MEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9578, 25 June 1909, Page 3

SELECTING THE MEN.

A BETTER SYSTEM NEEDED. There seems to. be a somewhat inadequate system of selecting men to go on to the City Council's relief works. Mr L. R. Wilson has supplied a list to the authorities, and there is a book at \he Council Chambers, in which applicants may enter their names and set forth their circumstances. It is mainly from this book that the men are chosen, but no set plan seems to be followed in making the selection. It was at first intended that this matter should be in the hands of a committee.. The committee, however, proved to be rather cumbrous, and the matter now lies practically with the Mayor, who is guided by information he obtains as to the most deserving and necessitous cases. He receives letters and reads the statements in the book, but his plan is not by any means an exhaustive one, and it is certain that while he may be easily misled in respect to a man's fitness to receive help, there are . hundreds of necessitous cases with which it is almost impossible for him to become acquainted. It is suggested that a reliable officer should be appointed to make inquiries, and, if necessary, to visit the men's homes and report to the Mayor or to ihe city surveyor. By following some such plan the really deserving cases are more likely to receive the earliest attention.