THE WORKLESS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 544, 26 June 1909, Page 6

THE WORKLESS.

SCHEME OF PROPOSED RELIEF WORKS. PAYMENT AT VALUE. CHARITABLE AID BOARD TO MAKE UP ..'; 'BALANCE. As an outcome of the discussion of the unemployed problem at Thursday's meeting of .the Charitable Aid Board, Mr. R. .C. Kirk, representing the board, waited . on bis Worship the Mayor yesterday morning. A Public Appeal. The result of the conference is a decision to take stops to raise a fund in aid of the unemployed in the city. After taking the necessary preliminary stepsj Dr. '. Newman and Mr. Kirk intend calling a public meeting, to be held in the Town Hall, and appealing to the public''for subscriptions, If the citizeni respond to the call, the subscriptions will bo handed to the Charitable Aid Board, which institution will receive a Government subsidy of 245. ia.UwjE on too money collected.; •, The idea, in. tho rough, ia to distribute the money on relief works, under careful supervision, tho intention being that men with families receive the first consideration. If the funds permit, men will'be put. on work, perhaps the enlarging of Kelburne Park; or of Anderson Park. Miss HardingeMaliby, who, with her pupils, is giving an entertainment in the Town Hall in August, has haud the proceeds to the fund for the relief of the unemployed. ': In a few days, when the, Mayor and' Mr. Kirk have worked out the preliminaries, a further public announcement will be made. Realising the full amount of distress among the unemployed, the present idea is that, during the; winter'months of July, August, and part of September, or, at all events, during July, and August,' the labour markot will bo exceedingly dull, and extraordinary measures wil] have to be taken .to tide the workloss over at least the two months. When the •• relief works are started, they .will'bo under proper supervision,' and relief will -be afforded,, but: it, is recognised'that applicants for work' win. be many, and at the outset there; will; be a rapid drain-on the irmd.';. Gjnseqnenily; the aimmitteo which_ will have the dlstribtrWon of ■■■ tbo fund in hand will, tt is understood, be advised not' to take people'from the: outside districts, but residents of. Wellington only. , ' ! .:' ] ' An ExpcrTa Views. ': ' An expert, who has had experience in working nierperionced men :with the pick and shpyel. expressed himself strongly /against any of the relief money being squandered on the Kelburne:Park, or on another, work which had been suggested: indirectly, tie Kilbirnio Recreation Ground. . What he considered would bo an excellent work to break men of little or ho experience 'in on would bo a road;.say,.from Constable Street along the hilltops to_Mt. Victoria, which would form a hovel.driye-which he \ was sure'would bo popular,'and; which would tempt tho.publio to assist the fund,if: the promoters put the work, forward.. There .'was "already a graded track'along the- hill, but a drive: could be made,.with the unemployed to do tie rough pick and'shovel work, and'a few. experienced' morito do the finishing'. .Anderson Park was .another 'work,:.which appealed' to\hiiri, conthe made, and daw'of men;wW would have to be employed, ..but .'to touch Kelburne Park further was,"under, the' conditions, -the last thing to think of. ~'•,:-.,.:•.'. >.

A Labour Opinion on Mr. Kirk's Suggestion. ; Speaking to a Dominion reporter, Mr. W. T. Young (secretary of the Seamen's :UnionJsaid be was inclined to favour tho suggestion of Mr. R.C. Kirk, chairman of the Charitable Aid Board, that tho City.' Council -should provide work, and,ipayj foiiit .at.-.'la..certain rate, and that the-/Charitable Aid l^ Board should make np the balance so thatihe-mon. would: receive ordinary wages. He was afraid, however, that, owing to tie tightness of money, the-requisite public subscriptions would'be difficult'to' obtain..'.,lf anything-of •the kind were dene, the funds raised by. the board oughtto. be liberally subsidised by the Government.' ; .... ".'.'.■ --...,' Plight—Worst for Fifteen Years. Mr. -Young stated - that there were nearly 200 members of the union out of work in i'Wellington at present. The steamer ; Mararoa p^'joff;hw;creiir.<tf.7s : liHt'Tibßßdayi v asd''tihe' Rotoiti would probably pay off next'' Monday, throwkg another 30 men out of employment. The Mapour&a would go mto'oom- . mission next -Tuesday to take up t&o; Botoiti's run','' but '• that' would not have inuon: effect some of the Hapon. rika'screw, bid beeoworking by the skip's side during her overhaul; ' ''' <;.

In answer'to' a gnestion, Mr. Tonag said that at tins timo of year there were usually about 60 seamen'•■'at this port;' awaiting engagement, and lie believed that, with.nearly four times that number unemployed at tie prosont timo/the position was' worse than' it had been at.any period'durmgthV last ".fifteen years. Tho trouble had been ktoreased by the fact that, • owing to the '• slackness ; of work in the eoimtrT, some of the members of the Seamen's\Uniori, who had been working on; the Main Trunk Ike and'elsewherb, had come down to the port to look for' a'ship. There was, however, a large number of men who, for want of physical fitness or the necessary training, would be' unable to' take advantage of the bughfolKng and road-niaking work offered by. tie Government. ;'

Firemen as Painters. . Asked whe&er the' proposal to paint car-' tain of the State buildings could bo availed of to. easo_ the position for. the seamen, Mr. Young said that ; firemen, trimmore, and greasers'were quito oompetent for ordinary' painting, as/they did a.great deal of it on board ship. If. the.Government decided to have 'work 1 of that character put. in .hand,, it would be a good idea to give such men and' others who were capable a chance of doing some of it; He did not, however, wish to sav or do anything that might injure the best interests of .the Painters' .Union. For the '.sake •of assistance that might be rendered to a large number of the unemployed, he would bo inclined to favourably consider any reasonable proposal to relax some v of the restrictions at present in operation, but such a step would have to:bo very carefully safeguarded; because it would be to some extent dangerous..; .;.' ..-'.., ■ A Record Pubflo Works'; Staff.-'.'-.-.'' , lie Minister for Public Works, the Hon. R. M'Kenzio,does,not think the City Council has, up to the present, done 'all .it could do. The Government wore,' he said, putting' on as many men as possible everywhere, and generally the public works were: being carried on with as much regard for the unemployed as possible, but: it would, bo impossible for the Government to carry ; on public, works at the present' rate aD the year round. For. the . present, • however, every possible avenue was being used to find employment for the workless. Tho public works have now more men than ever before in tho history of the Dominion, but the trouble was that local bodies and private employers were not doing I their share: .."•;.■.. ' ..-■■'.., ..

A 'RELAY .SYSTEM

OPERATIONS ON HAPPY VALLEY ;.;.;..; ROAD. , Satisfactory headway is being made with' tile new Happy! Valloy Road,work considering the. condition under which the work is being carried out. A decided, impression- is being made on tho'road by tho woolshed, and the foundations for the; bridge at tho lower end of the road are being sot.' The bridge in'question will bo 20' feet's 20 feet. 12 feet clear of the water, and .will-cost, about £200... The majority of the men on the works are from the ranks .of'the unemployed, and from Wednesday next a scheme will be inaugurated which will givo further men work... The, idea is to ; work about 45 men week and week about, keeping- a certain number of tried men on the whole time to lead the gang. This will only mean that about 25 men will bo on at one time, but the 45 ; workers will change and change about to relievo tho unsmplaymoot.

AUCKLANDERS FOR EAST COAST. (By Teloffraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, Juno 25. Instructions have been received by the local agent of the' Labour Bureau (Mr. J. Shanaghan) to .send a limited number of married men to the railway Works. at Gisborne.... So far about twenty names have been taken, and the' men will be sent "on by the East Coast boat, either to-morrow or on Tuesday. A large number of men called at the office of. the Department,to-day seeking for the latest information as to what is being done to meet the difficulty. Altogether thoro are 280 unskilled labourers on the books desiring employment, and 100 representing other, trades. . POSITION IN DUNEDIN. . Duncdin, June 25. There are on the books of tho Labour Department thoV names : of 150 men, mostly single, who want work. ,

Concerning : a recent statement regarding tho painting trade,, to tho effect that there were not twenty men in the city in constant employment, Messrs. R.- and E, Tingey and Co. .state that they have that' numbbr of plumbers, glaziors, and signwriters ,in the onjoymont of fulltimo, and hope to keep these men in constant employment, ■ and perhaps a few more during the winter months. The firm would, "wish tho Wellington people to understand that things are not so black as some wish to paint them."