MINISTER OF LABOUR INTERVIEWED.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12259, 6 July 1909, Page 5

MINISTER OF LABOUR INTERVIEWED.

AiV INFLUENTIAL DEPUTATION

2000 MEN SAID TO BE IDLE IN

WELLINGTON

"FACE TO FACE WITH A TOUGH

PROBLEM."

MINISTER SAYS LOCAL BODIES WILL HAVE TO HELP.

MORE BORROWING OR INCREAS-

ED TAXATION

(Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, July 5. Tho Minister ffir Labour (Hon.* J. A. Millar") was waited on this afternoon by a deputation comprising representatives of the Wellington City Council, tho Trades and Labour Council, the Wellington members of Parliament, the Employers' Association, and local bodies. Mr Fisher, M.P., in introducing the deputation, said the desire was to provide some works which would rolievo the present : crisis and prevent the exodus from the Dominion which was now going: on. The number of unemployed in Wellington was about 1500 and the amount which could bo raised with a Government subsidy was only iibout £2200, They therefore urged the Government to put works in hand. Tho Wellington members at any rate would in. Parliament support any action the Government might take. Tho My--- • 'TV Newman) said every <i;i.V-.': -J.i; : \'->u:.] 0;i ""^o was a largo iiinrJ- ; ;;i"' ['>*■ >X;! . >■■ •■■ ■■ i\- in a jiiti;;b]c st;u.' " di^tn. . ■ • '■ day tj''.- C'lKllU-' ■;•■ '.■■■;llll,i v. ~. ' '■: !' Co il <l - •■■'•) i'.'iis rloijijr -r!! -Jt ccr.: ' ...r ' lie be!ii Vr i a >:;\" } : iiioiint. "- -::'.'t lV pubii'l sli!.-; . -non, |j:;i . . ;:.'\- floilid get »you!'_ : ;:o Far . v ■:■ ivert', months ol wiiitci ..^ ;• v Tlu> d'etress w.is- very real and very widesj)read. Mr 11. A. Wright supported the above views. It was not evevyene who could take on bushfelling. Retrenchment had been going on. in all d'roctious and he behoved they could find 2000 men out of work in the.city. Mr R. C. Kirk urged tho desirableness ,of keeping the unemployed off the Charitable Aid Board. The Secretary of the Carpenters' and Joiners' Union stated that only this morning CO men called upon him and I afikcr! for employment. If the Government House, for instance, was pushed on, most of the men would be employed. One man who came to him for work had .a, wife and ten ch'ildr.en. Many were losing, the properties for which they had caved up to 'purchase. J Mr D. McLaren,- M.P., eaid it wa« j desirable if possible to do without the establishment of relief works in the city a,s that would make other men flock to the city. His offica had been crowd- ' ed that .mor.mag.^iKith ■men.-seeking for work and many of them had come from as far away as Wanganui. He believed the country as a whole would back the Government iri any drastic action .it might take to cope with the trouble. Ho urged-tlic?> fullest co-opera-tion between the Government and the local bodies. It was simply cruelty to be bringing men into the country, whether they were agricultural labourers or not. Asa matter of fact many so called were not agricultural labourers at all.

Mr E. Newman, M.P. for Manawatn, said he was impressed by the fact that there had been very few solutions-of the problem beyond charitable relief. His idea was to get the people on ths land. If the Government could set aside blocks of land fairly easy of access and allow the unemployed to do tho bushfelling and roading and then become tenants of the Crown it would go far to relieve the distress.

Replying, tho Minister said they were face to face with a very tough problem. The Goyernmeirtfwas anxious to go as far as it could, yet it could only spend £600,000, the proportion of last year's expenditure up to October last, on the basis of last year; but Parliament had provided no ways and means for the purpose. This 3 Tear, too, there would be very little transferred from the consolidated fund to the Public Works fund and all that would be available was.about £1,400,000 to the 31st March nexfc. The bulk of the tinemployment seemed to be concentrated in Wellington. As to the wharf labourers, their work was always casual, and on his last list, of unemployed, men put their name's down who had been only one day idle. The Labour Department could not find the exact number of the unemployed, but as far as skilled trades ■\vcrre.•concerned the position ascertained by tho Labour "Department was jtli'ai there were 0 .unemployed! Tbakere, ?8 butchers, 10 builders' labourers, 177 carpenters and .joiners. Those figures had been,obtained from the unempioV&f books of the Unions. • i

A"Voice: Its rib guide. ;. The Minister went on to give further figures, including painters 55, plasterers 13, plumbers 3, and saddlers 2. The total was 321 unemployed. in. skilled trades as shown on. the hooks of the Unions and the Labour "Department. In Dunedin the local beetles had put on a largo number of men, and with the men employed by the Government the number of unemployed had been reduced to about 60. He thought the Unions might. u<e some of their funds to relieve the difficulty. The Minister next dealt with the figtires:relating to bush fellers, giving the details of the numbers' sent to various parts of the Dominion. They could .not bo sent away all at once, but vlie engineers were making preparations for their reception as quickly as possible. Altogether, with bushfclling and railway and public works, provision would be made for 700 men. That was the most they could do. The great difficulty was in regard to the skilled traces. TherV> was not much work .that eeuld be given them, but all.that was >jp^si.ble. had been provided. The Uneiiypl<>yed difficulty could not be dealt w^tji in patches. It must be done^'SCKtntifveally. Tho sum of £960;,000 was bejng**pent yearly in co-operative work.i i J nero were 8000 men. employed at. preterit in co-operative works, and 500 more were to be put on. If the public works Aveiv, to be pushed yre must either live on borrowed moheyV which would not last long, or increase taxation. Last year the total debt waM. increased by nearly four millions; «He,did not think that under the present revenue we could go on spending ;two and a half millions on public works. without increasing taxation. If they were going t-> push ahead faster than the' increase of population

justified then they would have to do as jhe had just stated. Speaking on behalf of the Government, he would say everything possible would be done to cope with the difficulty, but there was 1 no cower beyond the means at their disposal. He wished to ask local authorities, not the-city authorities alone, co I put all possible work in hand to keep men occupied in their own districts Ho thought local bodies wouM havo taken steps to cop© with" their own unemployed. They would be obliged to SuV becauso lfc was au >al>3ohite impossibility io.r the Government, with tho means at its disposal, to find work for all the unemployed . Mr Luke: Stop the tkilloJ men coming out. Mr Millar: I am net going to say more, but I don't know that you will ! be troubled any more about that. j Mr'Millar added that there were 20,000 acres of Crown land on the North I Island Main Trunk line now being sur- i veyed. Thfs was being £et aside for j rotronched public servants. The Gov- | eminent was retrenching wholesale be- ! cause it could not go on spending as ithad been doing. There were nearly 130,000 people directly dependent upon the Government. The Labour Depart- ! ment hoped to send 50 men weekly to : bushfelling. The preference was being given to married men. He would lay ' the representations of the deputation before- the Cabinet. He was sure his colleagues would do everything possible to relieve what was obviously a crisis > which had arisen throughout the coun- ' try. When Parliament reassembled, :t j would have to discuss tho whole questiou and decide whether it would continue public works at the present rate. If so. it meant a further loan or a considerable reduction in the number of co-operative labourers must take place. '■ He was endeavouring to ascertain the working of th© German and English ' legislation concerning the unemployed. I He hoped with the assistance of all ' those who took an interest in the mat- : t?r to formulate a scheme for prevent- [' ing tho national loss of workers who : were unproductive. In reference to tho ■ request for a Government subsidy on. I voluntary subscriptions expended on useful public works, Mr Millar asked ■ for prooosals in writing, when he and Ins colleagues would do what they could. , .