THE UNEMPLOYED.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 559, 14 July 1909, Page 8

THE UNEMPLOYED.

DEPUTATION TO HARBOUR BOARD. B ".■■ : ; v ..!'. ..• ' . C CONTEMPLATED WORKS. } ■■'"■'. ——:■. •■■: t: EXPLANATION BY THE CHAIRMAN. w A deputation from the Citizens' Relief Jommittee waited on the Harbour Board C esterday, with a view to' urging the board t 0 put as much, work-as possible in hand c t 'once. - ■ . .' { ( Mr! R. C. Kirk stated that the cpmmitteo _ ad'looked round in every direction where ri 'ork could bo found. At the recent, public t looting in.reference to the unemployed, Mr. raford, chairman of the .Harbour. Board; ad 'intimated that the board would do its p est to find works,-and,'.although the'com- j littee hod'no wish totry .and gilido the oa'r'd in its works, they wero anxious to £ now if any works could possibly be put j 1 hand at once. The committee was'satis- „ ed that, the difficulty was only a tempor- 0 ry one, which would bo over in two. or c , liree months!. '■' • " t Mr. R. A. Wright,, M.P., remarked that t ; was perhaps hard to make anyono.realise r be seriousness of the unemployment quosion. ; A large number of people camo. ; to t, im from'time to time, and their condition 0 'as were; really in abject want, 'he most extraordinary featuro of f, cr was that; the'men'would' not appeal to \ ho Benevolent Board. Ho had come,across t ha cas'o of a man who had. been forced to D awn his-tools, and had absolutely nothing,, " nd yet "he would not go to the Benevolent Tustees for assistance • , -• Mr. Fitzgerald made reference to the prooscd reclamation TVork which, the board itien'ded carrying out at Evans Bay. He 'ishod to know if tho board could sec its 'ay to\put some of the preliminary work hore in hand by day labour. \/ The Hon. J; E. Jenkinspn said that it 'as like balm of Gilead to hear from the hairman of the board at the public mectig recently that the board '•' had £70,000 o •orth of work to let out in a fejv weeks, h Mr. Wilford: "Oh, nol" '. * o Mr. Jenkinspn, continuing, suggested that t he board should, spend some of tho money h ight away. The board's shed work would, t 0 suggested,; give work for a number of y arpehters, if ■ pushed on. g Mr.' Wilford, ,chairman of the Harbour . loard, 1 pointed out that every ■ member of ■■ he board • thoroughly realised the necessity , or money being spent at once. For the pas,t wo months tho board had met constantly, v. nd, at each meeting, had discussed': the uestion'of pushing on' its works. ": They had programme of expenditure, involving nearly !100,00p." This sum included £6000 for the emporary store oh Waterloo Quay,- £8000 or, road-making,-.drain-laying, on ~■ Vaterlop.; Quayi; £51,000' for. the, concrcto; iraH and reclamation: at Evans Bay, and 235,000-for culverts and conoreto works ■on Waterloo Quay.: As far as the £6000 'shed, vas concerned, the foundations were fin-. < shed, and,vas soon as the,necessary timber ?as available, the; board would be able to lelp .some of the' carpenters.;■'•'; The £8000 oad-making job was dependent on, the Bup>lies of pipes. Most of the : pipes bad-beqn: ilaced,. but' they • all' had' to be • laid before bo forming of the'road, etc., could be .'com; trended, and only a certain number of .'men :ould : do"the;laying, but when that, work pas completed something could be done to. iclp the' wprkless.Y The £35,000 contract for loncreto works, ,"ete., ; had,'.been :let'';'to Mr;: ;,. Pulley,"who had eight^n to com-. )lcto his work. He (Mr.' Wilford) had per;onally ,'iniierviewed * Mr. Pulley, who had igreed'to gblon'-wifh the work "at. once. Mr. iVilford'-suggested "that' a deputation from' ;he committee should wait on Mr. Pulley, md help the representations'that had • al-. •oady been made. ■",.'.' ....} .'-,'.' Mr. Jenkirison. asked if s the board would ;ive the contractor a bonus if. he completed ie. work within a certain time;' to which tfr. Wilford replied that the board were, the trustees of: the 'people, and could not agree ■ id do this. Referring to the Evans Bay repatriation works, Mr.''.Wilford' stated' that' ;he work- included the making of ah 80-foot •oad, and the' widening/of .the Miramar,,cut-: >ing to 66 feet. The-excavation work could' ■ lot be started until after the'concrete wall: tad' been con'stmcted.. By statute the board, lad to commence the work not .'later than . December. They had the, money; and were j prepared to, commence at once; but a diffi- j iulty had cropped tip, within the last .couple . if weeks. The board had'contracts with the Sas Company .and the Miramar, Borough ■ Douncil. The Miramar Council was ready-to , meet its share. - The Gas Company, ' how- j aver, could not go on because of certain ne- , gotrations,that were proceeding 'between ' them and ,the Wellington -CityiCouncd in ( reference to the laying of mains. ' If- a de- ~, putation' f rom \the committee the ( City Council to come to'a'compromise, the difficulty would bosolved; -. ~ ' .-' t '- . . Messrs. Fletcher and' Harkness; and the board's encjincer (Mr. Marchbanks);...; also ' spoke. :■.'"■'■' '• v ■•■ >"■■ Mr. Fitzgerald, as' a member, of the Gas. Committee'. of ,tho : City Council, said there had never been a deadlock'between the council and ,the Gas Company. The negotiations were very nearly completed. . ;.-'• '■ / llr. Kirk thanked,the board for the.way tlie deputation 'had been met. : They ,werequite certain that- the board was doing-its utmost to help the committee in dealing with the unemployment.; WORK COMMENCEDATKELBURNE. With one exception,- the .twentyrfivo men selected on Monday, turned.' up :at. the Victoria .College "Ground yesterday morning. Some of the toilers demonstrated-that they were good\ navvies, but .others showed .a (marked lack of training in. && ■ particular class of. work otf wHich they are engaged. , THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY. .'; The following letter, dated July 7, has been received from the Acting-Prime Minister by Mr. R. C! Kirk:—"l have to' acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 6 informing me that at a meeting of citizens of Wellington it was decided to endeavour to : raise funds, out of. which, men'could be employed on some useful work in the city, and' asking for the co-operation 'and' assistance of- the Government,', a,nd in reply,l have to state that the prepared to grant a £ for £ subsidy up to £2000.; that is, for any sum collected by the public up to £1000 the Governrnent. will give £1000.' ; SUBSCRIPTIONS. The following additional subscriptions are acknowledged:— \ . '"

The total 'amount, in "the bank to date is £561 Bs. 7d., and nearly £50 in hand. • Messrs. Briscoe-and Co; have intimated thoir intention of donating' a quantity ; of tools for tho; men on the works.' Messrs.' E. W. Mills and Co., have also given,tools to the value, of £3 3s. ACTION BY THE HOSPITAL TRUSTEES. BELIEF WORKS..SUGGESTED.';'-.-, .-.•' .At the fortnightly meetingof tie Wellington Hospital Board yesterday, Mr. George Nash raised the question of hurrying on some of the works which'.were pending in: connection with tho improvements to tho Bite' in Salamanca Road, which is vested .in the trustees, and also the excavation work required to be done on the. site of the new fever hospita). and the Asylum Reserve, with a.view to providing work for some, of ■ tho unemployed. .' , The chairman (Hon. C. Mv, Luke, ■ M.L.C.) cordially welcomed :the suggestions., Some time,: ago,, ; il-' : #iu*;explainitt;''tbat a Baiaoi

£25 ehould be spent on excavation work on tho Salamanca Road site' After some clisoussion it was resolved that a sub-committee, consisting of tho chairman and Mr. 11. C. Kirk, should confer with tho Unemployment Committee with regard to the proposed works. Concerning tho • suggested works on the fever hospital site, it was pointed out that tho financial aspect of this particular work required some consideration. It was finally agreed that application bo tnado to the Minister in charge of Hospitals and Charitable Aid for a grant,in advance of tho money which tho Government had decided to pay as subsidy to the trustees towards the cost of the construction of the foyer hospital. This would really be anticipating what the'trustees would qventually receive, and would enable the relief works to' bo commenced at an early date. Mr. Nash further suggested that somo endeavour-should bo niado' to : have the Wadestown and Karori Roads improved. One portion of tho Knrori Road was positively dangerous for traffic—pedestrian as well as traffic. Ho believed, that with, the knowledge that needed works in tho;different districts would bo carried, out, the public would readily contribute towards the,cost of such relief works. Ho was prepared to contribute £10 towards the improvement of tho Wadestowiv Road, and undertook to say that no difficulty would be experienced in raising £100. ■ The chairman said that this latter suggßstion was, of course, beyond tho jurisdiction of the Hospital Board. •,,.'■ Mr.. R. C. Kirk said. that ho ■■_would bring the suggestion under tho notice of tho Unemployment Committee, and further hoped that Mr. Nash would consent to become a member of that committee. -■■

aciiuow iuuy,cu. — S. Gilmer 25 0 0 J. G. Wilson (Bulls) 10 0 0 E. Anderson £ 0 U Mrs. Hume ... - .' ••■ '2 2 0 Courtenay Place Congregational „ Church - ••• ° o ° J. H. Bothune and Co 10 0 0 Mrs. Jessio M'Rao ' 2 2 0 Brisooo and Co 5 o 0 Hon. C. M. Luke 5 0 0 Per Miss Sybil Thirkell 2 11 1 Phillips and Pike 5 5 0 Contractors - 10 10 0 Smith and Smith, Ltd 5 5 0 E. W. Mills and Co £50 Scotio . - •••• 5 0 0 Sympathiser \ g 0 Hutchison and Wilson ... \... '3 3 U