H.—35.

share of the cost of work done through Scheme No. 1, may be stated as £48,864. At least 50 per cent, of this total cost was for labour ; but, as in many instances the percentage of labour cost was much higher, it may reasonably be assumed that some £35,000 represents disbursements in wages under the scheme. Scheme No. 2. —ln launching Scheme No. 1 with subsidies to local bodies the Board realized that numbers of unemployed men would still not be reached, and that only local bodies who had proposals of work already prepared for consideration could start work quickly. The Board also very early determined that as far as practicable the unemployed should be directed into avenues where their work would be reflected in increased production, and thus indirectly benefit the country as a whole. For this purpose Scheme No. 2 was inaugurated as a special emergency measure, for work made available by private individuals. The scheme provided for a subsidy on a pound-for-pound basis on wages only, work to be completed by the end of January, 1931. The rate of pay was decided on mutually between employer and employee, but the Board's subsidy was not to exceed 7s. per day per man. The work approved provided for both town and country, and included developmental work of a directly reproductive nature. Approved classes of work were as follows : — (1) Improvements to and. maintenance of land by way of clearing of stones, timber, stumps, scrub, noxious weeds, &c. ; also draining and fencing ; certain classes of harvesting ; ploughing and harrowing after clearing only. (2) Labour on city work, to consist of gardening, wood-chopping, section-clearing, subsoil drainage and trenching, and clerical work. The essential point concerning work done under this scheme was that it did not interfere with ordinary industry. The scheme enabled many private individuals, farmers and citizens, to put in hand work which would not otherwise have been done, and. many unemployed workers received a quick measure of relief not otherwise available. The original amount provided by the Board under Scheme No. 2 was £25,000, subsequently reduced to £17,250 by way of transfers to enable additional amounts to be granted under No. 1 Scheme, through which subsidies were being absorbed more rapidly than under Scheme No. 2. Amounts were allocated to local committees for operation in their respective districts, and further allocations were made, on receipt of advice that funds were exhausted. At first it was decided that all work under the scheme was to be completed by the 31st January, 1931, but its operation proved so successful, particularly in the country districts, that on the 20th January the Board decided to extend the period during which commitments could be made until the end of February, and allow the work to be completed by the end of March. The original allocation, as reduced, proved insufficient, and additional funds were allocated from time to time. When the scheme was closed on the 28th February a total amount of £34,953 had been granted by the Board in subsidies of which £33,142 was actually expended, although the whole of this amount had not been brought to charge by the 31st March. Apparently some £1,811 of the total amount allocated was not expended in subsidies through the local committees. Altogether, some 94,700 working-days were provided, and it is estimated that approximately 23,700 individual men obtained from one to twelve days' employment, the average period of employment being four days. As many employers paid wages in excess of 14s. per day, it may be taken for granted that considerably more than the Board's expenditure on subsidies was paid in wages by private employers under Scheme No. 2, so that in all probability a sum of at least £70,000 reached the unemployed workers. Scheme No. 3. —Notwithstanding the efforts made to speed up work under the first two schemes during the month of December, the Unemployment Board saw that in the very short time available it would be quite impossible to give all the increasing numbers of registered unemployed some relief work before Christmas. Neither could Local Unemployment Committees be expected to be operating sufficiently by that time to enable those not placed with local bodies to be found work under the No. 2 Scheme. The Board decided, therefore, on a special Christmas relief measure, designated the No. 3 Scheme, whereby £10,000 was allocated by way of straight-out grants to local bodies, to be administered by them in conjunction with the Local Unemployment Committees in their respective districts. The local bodies were asked to provide two days' work before Christmas for each man who had been unemployed and registered as such for fourteen days or over, or, failing work being found for all eligible men, the grant was to be distributed in the most equitable manner. The amount actually expended from the Unemployment Fund under Scheme No. 3 was £8,789, and more than 5,500 men shared in the benefits provided through the medium of ninety local bodies. The available information indicates that on an average each man received 2-1 days' wages at 14s. per day. Scheme No. 4 (A and B). —Investigations into the question of utilizing the unemployed on the development and settlement of Crown lands brought into evidence the fact that not a great deal of suitable settlement land remains in the hands of the Crown, and that most of what land is still held undeveloped is of poor quality, hilly in character, and in remote and more or less inaccessible districts. It was realized that the problem of breaking in such lands would require considerable organization in the establishment of camps, tools and equipment, transport, &c, with correspondingly heavy overhead costs, all of which would take some considerable time to arrange. The rationing principle adopted by the Board was unsuitable for this work, as continuous employment would be necessary, with the separation of married men from their homes and from the possibility of their obtaining any other casual work on their own account. Investigation also showed that the numbers which could be utilized in this way were disappointingly small, and insufficient to make any great impression on the large army now seeking relief. This, too, would have entailed a cost per head far in excess of what the Board would be justified in spending in view of the rapidly increasing registrations of unemployed, which had now reached the 16,000 mark. Already the maximum for which it was anticipated relief would have to be provided was pa.ssed, and the Board decided that, if unemployed men were to be

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