THE UNEMPLOYABLE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 869, 16 July 1910, Page 4

THE UNEMPLOYABLE.

LABOUR PROBLEM DEVELOPING liN XtUii Cl'i'l. . With the growth of city life is comnig a new problem in tfew Zealand, lne Labour Journal," in its review or the month, notes the gradual development m the city of a class of young men who are not only unemployed, but are also.unemployable Under the /Wellington heading the following serious statements are made this month with regard to .unskilled labour:—"With thb advance of winter the number of. applicants slowly grows, reaching as higu as thirty, but ieneraiiy 'averaging from ten to niteen daily, \vork outside of Wellington has been invariably offered to all married men physically capable of doing heav* manual work, the majority of the applicants appear to be young single fellows, having no specified trades, and who appear to bo hazy both as to their requiiements and abilities. The placing of these men is a real problem for the Department, and, although their wants are only made manifest during the winter months, it is a 1 fact that even in summer their employment is precarious, and the majority live -without knowing the prospects for even a month ahead. The Department urgea these men to go into the country, where evidence points to the prospects of work being good; beyond this there is the chance of their becoming 'skilled' in such work as busM'elling, scrubcutting, fencing, ploughing, etc., and making their future much more secure. Invariably such advice falls upon stony ground. The growing-up of a compart tlvely large number of young fellows who have neither trade nor special skill must constitute a grave difficulty in future years. The town life will not reconcile them to country employment, and the Department must give preference in local work to married men or to those having dependents upon them."