UNEMPLOYMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 168, 20 July 1935, Page 10

UNEMPLOYMENT

BOARD S ACTIVITIES LIMITED IN SCOPE MR. BROMLEY STATES CASE NEW DEVELOPMENTS DANNEVIBKE, July It). The Dneaipxo,ymcuv juoaru has beta presbtu to ta&e action iur immediate nueus ever since it uaj come inuo existence, out it nas boen unaole lu ue*uve ivd tune to long-range planning, ana it lias been excniuea no*n tne held <h cowpecuig with pnvute euwrprist. This was tne c\-t>e iiiaae out rer tae Jiiempioymein, j>oaru by iui. bivmiey, uie ooard's aeputy-chair-man, wnen auurtssing we DanneviiXe Kotaiy tauo ±ie sa.d taat to retiuce uucuipioymcat new developments in industry were required. Pioctcding with his address, Mr. Bromley saiu; — Less than ten years agu the approved social pulley uf xvcw Zealand luuchmg uncmpivyuieni was Hiai every man who ioat his employment must reiy mamiy on hia ow n resources to get anutdei position and to Keep Aimself and his manly aiive m tut nwdntiine. Labour exchanges, operating as cicaring houses for employment, "ure pruvideu by the Government, but, apart from recruiting labour lor public wurxs carried on by the Government, they were not very effective. Tvuay. almost live years nave passed since tue intinduction of legislation which accepts unemployment as a national social responsibility; and, by way of contrast, the question ui wuetuer the present legislative machinery is adequate to acai satisfactorily with me problem of unemployment in New Zealand is indeed a burning one. If a plebiscite were to be taken on that question, inviting a yes ur no answer, tue resuit might easily be air unanimous no. It is very unfortunate, however, that the employment position wouid be in nowise improved as a result of this unanimous ueclaration oi disapproval. It is even more unfortui a r v that so many of our responsible citizens stfll mistake a resolution ot disapproval of measures taken to relieve unemployment lor a contribution towarus a solution of tue problem. Gtaatei-t Social Problem I ueitii iuyment lu-uuy is regarded as oi our aOuiui j.rOuiuins. u Luu itgioxutioa as it is kxin.cn io iu any A .aiiug snort Oi expcctu Uun; JX J UU xutl ixue CuUuumiixxig MvLvxuse i b uoto Hub pruviue n,j ruiigu t.y auu rememuer m was ouiu. xac legislation must be rug«rduu «*s> Umpuriuy umy. ■' ’w\o nu.» ucpuitmcxiL must uu created." uun tusts must us xar as pu-oeiu.e Uv avuiucd," xatwC and ma..y similar paiusua were pimninunt in tue ueuareb uud were wiuviy app.aaaca i u me cuuntiy, incie was nui tuat uiicclnecs, cuiindcute, and mat uetermiuitiun waicu cnuractensed inemtiuuuctiuu ul the xtcserve duuk, tne.rn.uiLgage voipuration, ur tae uxecutivu x-uny Any Knu>»n wcukneas tue present icgismtiuu as a measure* ucmgucu io uuui with the icxttf ul uistrcaa arising Hum scasunai and snoxi-itrm vmpioymvat, Uus met tue emeigeney arising xruni me uepressn.il u»u- a wide with resuits comparing more than xavou.aLnj v»im auy otner Known admimslratiun. ’lEu measure ui relief granted, aumiUed co be totally inadequate in itself tu mevi a.i tue requirements ui the recipients, is on a uiguer oasis than that ui any other Known un-cm-pioyment r-Jiti administration. Nu in- • lease in the i ational mdeuteuness nas been involved; administration tuuu> have been extremely low; and the national expend.ture has lu a great extent been recovered by tae Creation ui national and public body assets. Chronic Unemployment The problem of unempluyment in New Zealand to-day timers vnueiy num tue prubreni as n was dadeisiuud in 19-3. from an unempluyment problem that was largely seasonal, the position has changed tu a problem ul chronic large-scale unemployment. During tne same period and associated with the pioblem of unemployment, as a country we have emerged from a position as exporters privileged lu worn un the easy assumption that England ull'ered a bottomless market fur our produce at pruhtabie prices tu a position where am export market is being restricted by quotas, and where export prices barely meet production costs. Dependent to the extent we are un the value of our exportable products the single factor of a sharp drop in export prices would have had a tremendous adverse effect on our general employment position. Labour Displaced The difficulty has been greatly accentuated, howi’. er, by the introduction ot machinery to displace labour. As instance, despit • tne depressed state uf our dairying industry, milking machine

plants to take the place of labour on the larui are being installed at the rate of over LbbO plants per annum. Nor this pt-Aice of introducing machinery tu displace labour been conlined to uur farming industry; it is as much in evidence in our factories, in our workshops, and on our waterfront. Whilst this pmicy of rationalisation goes nrcrrily on, we have, as at the end of last month, 53,241 adult males wholly or partially dependent upon the Unemployment Fund. Ihis group, during the past four years, has fluctuated between the minimum-of 44 ; 0UU and the maximum of 75,246. The men vvhohy dependent upon the board’s intermittent work seneme, known as scheme 3, or on sustenance payments—that is. men ‘Without any definite contract of employment—have fluctuated between the minimum ot 31,884 and the maximum of 45,749. Let me at this stage direct your attention to this fact: Tne farmer or the industrialist called upon to make a decision on the question of introducing or not introducing a machine on his farm or in his business to take the place of man-labour has no accepted responsibility for the wehare of tne worker who is displaced, apart from paying his tax like other persons; also the Btate, now called upon to accept the responsibility for the welfare of the displaced man, has no say wnatevtx in the question of whether the man’s «ob shall be given over to the mach.xu. !**• Picture To-day This, then, is the picture of lhe problem to-uay: 53, -’4i of our male adults are either without employment or employed as a condition uf assistance given to the industry ircm tne Unemployment i unc; 36 3b5 are without contract of empiuymt&t because industry cannot empioy them piuiitably. This number coulu be reduced to sc-me unknown extent if we made a new definition of wno is unemployed and exclu led all llicse who, thiuugh physical ur menial infirmity, are u ia u .v tc quality as being able and wining tv woik; but lor tue purpose of tlu a talk the numbers 1 have given may be considered accuiatv. To decide wnether the legislative machinery ia adequate to deal with this prubicm depends ua the results desireu. a city newspaper recently concluded a leading aincie thus: “The L nempxuv ment ijuard has been in operation iur lour years now and so far it failed to provide full-time staiiuard tmpluymeuu lor all tne unemployed. J.f tue ivsult uesnxd is mat

apparently anticipated by inis editor, uicii the legislation is certainly not adequate, xxavmg regard to the limitations placed upon tae board by the legislation, and iur tue accepted policy tuut the ncid of industry suuula bv ie<t to private enterprise, a correct conclusion to the article xuight nave been taat, uutuilhslanding me liberal subsidies proviued irum iue Lncmploymeut ± und iur the eucuuragemenl uf industrial develupiuent, private enterprise stih fails tu organise employment lor thousands of our wurKxess. Public Works Question Nor is it enough tu blandly pa.';S leounMiuns calling upon lire uiatc tu urgaiute major publxc hat mujur puuiic w uxK# are Lliuugut ui * Waal uxc lu be tne cunditious uf employment uu tnese puuiic wouKstf Aie tnty to be linaiitcu irum revenue ur num loan moneys < if irum loanmuney, must the j’j-b be one taat will prouuuv adailiouai new T revenue to meet interest and sinking tuna/ Wuuiu the creation ui public wuiks at present help uur unempluyment prouicm in the cities, ur woum it create a nsw employment pruuiem in tue countryi mat idst queAiuu is prompted by past experience. During tne wnule ux iast summer tncre were over IjO jous wiinuui workers in Central Utagu. As tae board was limnng suiue o-L txie cud, tne jobs were reserved at tue request Oi tne board for unemployed city Humeis. lou cun surely rememuer some uf tue tio-üble. It v.us ahegcti tiiat tu seiiu men from the cities was breaking up tlie homes, and tue strongest on all sluts was given tu tue men whu refused to accept the wuik when uiieied. Whilst this was taking piuce, scores o-f applications were ivctiveu from country workeis offering tu man the juus. \viicn the summer wasdiawing to a close, the absolute preleieucc iur city workers war, withuiawu, and the jous were hlied immediately. .Since then we have heard no complaints irom the Puuiic Wurks, but lurmers are complaining taat labour cannot be obtained for the essential work of tne iarm. Kcctntly a rcpuiter pioduceu for uiy comments a wnuie cuiunin oi advertisements oiiering employment as farm hands, la si lai as wages were staled, none offered as much as is given to a married man with* two or more children on scheme 5 in tne cities. When thinking in terms of public wurks which must be in the country in relationship to our city unemployed, the wider vision should be applied. Legacies of Depression There are many legacies of this depression in tne form of industrial problems that have not as yet been realised by the man in the street. Jake this one; How many or you will have realised that as a result of the recent improved activity in industry, we have today the spcciaclc ul overtime being worked because skilled labour is not available, and that in spite of (he large numbers of unemployed. This position is not perhaps at its worst as yet. Let me illustrate this point further. An award governing tradesmen provides that an employer may have only one apprentice

to each journeyman employed. Under this award a Mini prior iu the depression regularly employed 4u apprentices say eigut in the mat year ox apprenticeship, and eight witn two, mree, lour and live years’ experience respectively. Then came tne slump, involving tue dismissal uf journey ...en and precluding the possibility of engaging any further apprentices until tne number of journeymen were increased, ihe depression has lasted four whole years, working out the apprentices, anu today in many of cur workshops you have apprentices, in their litia year of indenture ami lue next apprentice is tne one just engaged anu in his liist year, lhe board has already in one ur two cases provided subsidies lor the training of adults, out this can only be dune in certain industries nut governed by awards. We have aisu provided subsidies for short periods where a tradesman has uee.i iur more than two years from his trade —a sort ui “getting fit’’ subsidy. Another Problem Here & another problem nut generally known: Many ui these unumpiojeu men, owing tu- tneir un-einploymuat extending over a long periuu, nave accumulated iiabiliuu.i au great that w nen offered a job at stanuard wages it is not by auy means an umnixud biess ing. Many instances have been vxpcrienced by uur officers uf men asking to be excused irum accepting a fail-time job, explaining Inal, vvitu the pressure iur repayment ul uebts ihal conies wit li reg mar employ men I, they will be w.»rse ufl than tuey are u-i .chef pay. Tu plan for relief is nut as simple as is sometimes believed. Talking of planning reminds me that the Commission set up tu report on the question of unemployment and upon waose report the present legislation was based, anticipated in their report that Lie board, when appointed, should have six whole montns in which to frame plans before being called upon to do any administrative act. having seen service on the board since its inception, I cun assure you that not lor six consecutive hours lias tiic board been Irce fioni administraiiv e responsibility and able to give undivided attention tu forward planning. Only just now are we able to draw the picture —to measure up the job, sc to speak. Nor would any plan drawn in J 929 be of much use to-day.