GRANT OF £l0,000 FOR UNEMPLOYED WANTED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 77, 31 March 1931, Page 14

GRANT OF £lo,ooo FOR UNEMPLOYED WANTED.

COUNCIL REJECTS SCHEME FOR PERMANENT FUND. The provision of £IO,OOO for immediate unemployment relief was, on the motion of Councillor A. E. Armstrong, considered at last night’s meeting of the Christchurch City Council, and after a long debate the matter was referred to a committee composed of the Electricity Committee and the Finance Committee. Councillor Armstrong’s motion provided that the amount stated should be taken from the surplus funds of the Municipal Electricity Department. Councillor Armstrong moved: (1) “That the Christchurch City Council make a grant of £IO,OOO from the funds of the Municipal Electricity Department for the purpose of relieving distress among our citizens as the result of .unemployment.” (2) “Money to bfe administered by a small committee including one representative from each of the Relief Depots.” Taking Advantage of Scheme. Councillor Armstrong, in moving his motion, said that he wanted £IO,OOO taken in the same way as the earthquake grant. Councillors believed, he said, that through the No. 5 scheme people were doing fairly well, but he would point out that employers were taking advantage of the scheme. Again, there, were families of girls who could not benefit under the Act. That was a hardship on the girls and on their parents. The M.E.D. profits should go back to the consumers in good times, but in bad times such as this they should go towards the relief of needy citizens. In the first place, the M.E.D. had been started on money taken from the council. The grant to the earthquake relief fund was impetuous. Had the £IO,OOO not been taken, people would have contributed much more freely to the various collections. Councillor M. E. Lyons seconded the motion pro forma. Councillor L. B. Neale moved as an amendment that the £IO,OOO be set aside from the M.E.D. funds and be invested as a nucleus for a civic fund, to which from time to time contributions could be made, the interest only to be used for relief purposes. He also added a proviso that if the money was needed by the M.E.D., it should be handed back to it. He thought that the council ought to stop promiscuous giving. Councillor A. A. M’Lachlan gave notice of a further amendment. Councillor A. I. Fraer seconded the amendment. No Legal Authority. Councillor M. E. Lyons said that there was no legal authority for such a course of action as that suggested by Councillor Neale. The amendment was lost on the voices. Councillor M’Lachlan moved that the proposal of Councillor Armstrong be referred to a committee consisting of the Electricity and Finance Committees, for consideration and a report. The amendment was carried on the voices.