THE DUNEDIN UNEMPLOYED.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1563, 20 September 1905, Page 3

THE DUNEDIN UNEMPLOYED.

DEPUTATION TO THE MAYOR ] . I I A deputation, representing the un- i employed, interviewed the Mayor of 1 Dunedin, at the Town Hall recently, j and stated that at the present time j there were at least 150 married men ( out of employment in Dunedin, and , they had been out of work for a con- j siderable time, in some cases three i months. In no case had they been ' employed permanently for the last six 1 1 months. They would like His Worship to find out when the duplication of the railway line between Dunedin and Mosgiel was likely to be started, and where they should apply to have the names of those out of work taken down. They were afraid that outsiders would be transferred to Dunedin. They also noticed that for the most part Australians were being employed on the drainage works, and so far as they knew the majority of these men were single. They also noticed I that advertisements were appearing in the papers at Home for men to come I to the colony, by a system of I gration, and they thought that this was cruel, seeing that so many men were out of employment m New Zealand. They considered that the Otago Central railway Bhould be Pushed on for when it was completed there would be room for some of them to take up sections alongside the line. The Mayor said that unfortunately the Drainage Board operations had shrunk somewhat, and the tramways were about completed. He would telegraph to the Premier and ask him when the work of duplicating t„e Dunedin - Mosgiel line was to be started He might mention that he had noticed that the Government proposed shortly to start the work ol constructing the Lawrence-Roxburgh line, and also that they purposed going on with a portion of the Gatlins hne, so that if these works were gone on with soon there would be no dimculty in finding work for these men out of employment. The Mayor also said that he would make inhumes as to why single men were taken on » in preference to married men. and why Australians were preferred to I local hands.