THE WORKLESS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 551, 5 July 1909, Page 6

THE WORKLESS.

; VIEWB OF MR. M'LAREN, ffi.P* DTJTIBS OT-QOVEENMENT AND LOCAL BODIES. Mr. D. M*Laron, M.F.; was rather disI appointed With tho way in which the unem- , ployment question was handled at the meeti ing on Friday night. Ho was prevented • from attending by a prior engagement, but ■ ho stated his views to a Dominion reporter : next morning. ■■>. f.'l lookofll," he said, "for the preliminary work of collating tho information in hand as to tho number of tho unemployed, and tho details of particular cases to havo been somewhat moro' forward. : It was reported that the Mayor had been engaged in that task, but the meeting had evidently not yet reached that stage. Personally, I am strongly of opinion that it is y a mistake'to mis up the matter of finding work for the unemployed with any features/ of charitable aid administration. : I know that if advertisements are inserted in the papers requesting all who are out of wofk to send in their names, many will refrain from doing so, as long as the .impression, exists that thore is any fund oil the linos of either public or privato chanty. Tho. men who are best qualified for employment are just those who retain tho largest amount of selfrespect, which will incline them to suffer in secret rather than expose their condition if they think their necessities are' to be, met on lines of charity. v A Conference Required, "I consider that a conference should be hold as soon as possible between the . local bodies and Ministers of the Crown for the purposo of avoiding any conflict' of methods in handling the situation. 'For instance, I find that the Government is giving preference of employment to married men for jobs in tho country, and there is a disposition on itho part of the local bodies to follow the samo lines in connection with city works: I recognised chat men with families should havo first consideration, but proper regard should bo had to the position of single men who may be suffering. In many instances it would be better to send Binglo men into the country and keep tho married men in town, so that tho latter would not havo two homos to keep up. , -The Charitable Aid Board, - t "I trust that when the Government. is consulted by the Mayor, the conclusion will bo arrived at that the administration of: such funds'as may bo raised shall be placed in the hands of somo' other body than tho Charitable . Aid Board. As I am a member, I and treasurer of that board, it will be understood that I am not casting any reflection i,upon it.. I - consider that: a general representative body, the members of which should be drawn from tho Government, the Har- ! bour Board, the City 1 Council/ the industrial bodies, trades' unions, v Trades' Council, and perhaps some independent oitizens, would form the_ best board of 'control for tho auministration of- any funds- which are to-be spent. . ■■ ■ . s - A,city Works. . ; "I don't think tho oommittee should look at tie idea of tree-planting as being the only work to be undertaken. There are more urgent works m many parts of tho city, such as tho construction of streets,- and the City Council well knows that there are at present demands from < tho residents' of ■ various districts wrihin f!ke city for improved streets. ■ Works like these- would be of coiisiderable advantage to the city ais well as employing a considerable number of: men. In my judgment—l intend to place this view before the Mayor—the crty shduld • hold speedily one or moro. special moetings for tno purposo of closely examining th<i whole of its financial position, so that wo may know whother or not a great deal more of. th<V ordinary works of the city can'be in'luiill 1 on regular busi- r ness. lies.,., The . City Engineer Should. be asked to report as to whetlier the. drainage works for the. Mebose district cannot be prosecuted more actively and: a much larger number of men employed in various parts. It ■■ is well known that there is a crying need for this work to bo dono. "I don't like the idea of -mere temporary relief works. My experience is that when such works are started there is a tendency for mon to flock- into the,already congested city, from, np the country, and thus the evil is made greater. If tho Government will face the necessity of opeping up much more extensive works in tho country, the best method for tho people in the city will be to supplement : the. Government's .coritjibution, rawer than to rely on, a • Government subsidy for works which may be : regarded: as in, some measure of a decorative character; and which should bo more properly attended to. in of prosperity. A vast amount of very necessary work is available in the country, if the Government can only see its way to put moro of it in hand.- ■ ■ ,

. In Reply to Mr. Wllford,

■ "With refereWto the remarks of Mr. .Wilford, M.P.,' V continued Mr. M'La-ren, "an the question of preference to unionists in unskilled trades, and the cffect of such preference !on . the waterside workers of this port, I should lilio to. say that it would have been, well if Mr. Wilford had 'consulted me'or some other responsible officer of the Wharf Labourers' Union before h'e made . his 'statement. ; The true position ;is ; that .there were 800 members of tbe union* at the time 1 when preference was_ granted -by tho Arbitration Court. Trade was. very brisk: for some considerable tune after;, that, and the membership more than doubled, although it never reached, tho total; mentioned: by: Mr. Wilford Sine© the set*, in the membership has been decreasing, and as a matter of fact the preference clause, has no effect whatever m attracting men here, but hundreds of men have _ been leaving the wharf, ; notwithstanding the existence of that clause in our award I find :that a large number of our-membera have had- sufficient initiative :to get out of tho country -altogether, rather than submit 1 to thesuffering involved in the present depressed conditions.-. .. .• ,/ ■ • • V

: "I. Jiato that most of the speakers'at tho ■meeting endeavoured to avoid deaKng 'with the cause of tho present troublo. There is a_ general consensus of opinion that the slackness_of; trade, and consequent unemployment is dne to the tightness of money, and it appears : to mo. that .those , who have the control of our financial affairs are burdened with tho | responsibility: of telling tie community whether or not they can find some mothod whereby the medium of exchange can bo made more plentiful bo that more works can bo put in hand." A DEPUTATION. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher, M.P., has arranged for the Minister for Labour to receive a' deputation at 2.30.t0-day, todiscuss the unemployed question. All the local M.P.'s, the Mayor and council, and heads of public bodies, are requested to be present. Iho deputation; iriU be received at the railway office."' ■ The Mayoress (Mrs. Newman) is ralW f or Wednesday next, in- the Municipal Concert Hall, a public _ meeting of women. interested in the formation of a committee to raise funds for the unenqiloyed. 1 MANY UNEMPLOYED AT NAPIER. • (By AssocioUoh.Jv ' . . ~ ■ Napier, July 4. A consiaerablo number of men are out of work -in Napier/ The corporation has many on its books awaiting employment, and at the Labour Bureau applications for work aie be-' very_ numerous. - Applicants at- the Charitable Aid Office for relief include a large proportion of new arrivals in tho district. THE UNEMPLOYED MEETING. I Sir, —Your report of the above meeting credits me with saying 'that tho unemployed must "take what they, can get.".-Pressure of space, no doubt, prevented my meaning being made plain. ■ The meeting was called to raise money. The suggestions made by Mr. Wilford were, not as to how to raise the mpney ; but how to spend it. '..What was in my mind was tho fact that thore are about 1500 unemployed. If we raise £1000 by public subscription we shall do welL; Toe Go-

wiimpari: subsidy will raiw • this .to £2200. Two thousand two hundred pounds divided amongst 1500 unemployed with as many podenta will not go a long way. at the proposed 9b. per day. ,It will be a mere drop mthe bucket; Bus is not a question of union rights, or Employers' Associations versus Trade Unions. The best that can be done by tho pubKcly-snbßoribod money is full pay for half-time, and under these circumstances I asked the men to be moderate and help to tide over tho present difficulty by taking what they can get, i.e., taking what the fund can afford. We can hardly dare to nope that our fund will reach more than the £2200 including the subsidy, and to suggest paying this away: at the rate of 9s.,per day amongst 1500 unemployed Bimply means that the fund will be of very little utility. It is a popular remark that men should rcceive full rates and full time, but the,question is: will the fund stand it ? : First, let us get the fund, and we can discuss the question of payment when we are in a position to counterbalance the strength of the fund and the likely demands to be made upon it. Meantime. I am asking the Mayor Mid tho local members of to-wait upon the Minister i for Labour at 2.30 p.m. on Monday (to-day) and lay the whole position before him. Working men are leaving this Dominion to find work, and it becomes tho duty, of the Executive to prevent this exodus. "Work of a '.permanent nature' mnst . be- provided.' at once. In the meantime I propose to . the trade Tininrw that they should consider the scheme of insurance - against unemployment, and make some attempt to evolve a means of avoiding a' reffetition of the present trouble. —I am, etc., F. M. B. FISHEB. July 3. - .