UNEMPLOYED RELIEF.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17750, 29 June 1929, Page 9

UNEMPLOYED RELIEF.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —It was with sinking hearts that many in Hamilton read the opinion of * the councillors re the wages paid to married men (Cr. Denz excepted.) It Is all very well for well-fed, wellolothed, comfortably-housed individuals to sit around a table talking about things they know nothing of, although they do not need to be very good at arithmetic to work out what a man has earned at relief work at 12s per day this last fortnight, particularly if he happens to be one of the objects of pity that Cr. Tyler objects to—a maimed returned soldier who cannot afford to get wet even at 12s per day. Also bear in mind that a fortnight’s money has to do for a month, because any man in Hamilton would be extremely lucky to pick up work during his fortnight off relief.. Not only .is his family insufficiently fed and clothed this bad weather, but he is branded as a criminal if he gets into debt—this in a young country that is misrepresented the world over as a paradise for working men. ll' farmers cannot obtain labour, why do they invariably put, after advertising, many thanks to numerous applicants, position filled. When Mr Fow referred to men earning £2 10s per week on farms he knew he was evading the issue. It would be Interesting to know how many are fortunate enough to get £2 10s per week in the hard-up Waikato. The majority of farm employees are single, and good reason for why. I would advise Mr Fow to put his soft pedal on his anta- ; . gonlsm to the worker and turn his at- j tention and his remarks to the latest j returns of the associated banks. I will | conclude by saying, "If a war started j to-morow the millions would be • let loose and the poor objects of pity of the future that Mr Tyler has no time for would be great heroes for the timebeing.”—l am, etc., • HAMILTON EAST.