HARBOUR BOARD HANDS OVER £l5O.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19243, 3 December 1930, Page 6

HARBOUR BOARD HANDS OVER £l5O.

VOTE MADE FOR GIVING WORK FOR UNEMPLOYED.

Believing that there was no special work which it could put in hand to reduce unemployment, the Lyttelton Harbour Board to-day decided to grant £l5O towards the provision of work. Of this sum £IOO will be devoted to Christchurch needs and £SO to Lyttelton. Notice of motion that the Board’s engineer should be instructed to report on the question of forming a boat harbour outside the present harbour was given by Mr H. Holland. M.P., who said that such work, on which some thirty unemployed could be engaged, might be profitable. When an application for assistance was received from the hon. secretary of the Citizens’ Unemployment Committee, the chairman of the Board (Mr H, T. Armstrong) said that +1 n re was no special work which the Board could put in hand. The engineer had stated that more men than usual were employed. It would be cheaper for the Board to contribute a sum' to the Unemployment Committee rather than put on extra men. Such amount would be subsidised, where, s the Board would receive no subsidv on its own work. Mr W. J. Walter: Why not? The chairman: Harbour boards do not come under the provisions of the Act. If local bodies help in every way the psychological effect would be great. The Board voted £IOO on the last occasion, added Mr Armstrong, and he suggested a grant of £l5O, £IOO of which would be spent in Christchurch and £SO in Lyttelton. Matter of Wages. Mr H. Holland, M.P.: What wages are being paid? The chairman: The Unemployment Board will subsidise wages up to 14s ’a day,' but rates higher than that can be paid. “Will the Board subsidise on lower wages?” asked Mr W. G. Gallagher (Ashburton). Captain H. Monro stated that payers of dues were finding conditions difficult, and it would become increasingly so if large grants were made by the board. The chairman: If the Act were passed on the lines of the Act in Australia, where employers have had to pay not drily the usual amount but also an amount in proportion to the number of employees, they would be in a much worse position. Mr Holland said that his desire was to see work provided for as many men as possible. If 15s 4d a dav were paid in wages it would mean the emplovment of fewer men than in the case of 14s a day. “We should not take up our time n considering wages,” stated the chairnan. “It is a very big question.”