LEVELLING A FLAT AERODROME

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 73, 13 April 1937, Page 4

LEVELLING A FLAT AERODROME

Unemployed Job DescriM By Mr. Dickie UNEC0N0MICAL WORKS Though he admitted that he did not expect the present Labour Gov- [ ernment to solve the unemploy- ' ment problem immediately upon its assumption of office, Mr H. G.- } Djckie, Member for Patea, in the 5 course of an address at Hastings last evening, reproached tbe Government for spending so rouch 1 money pn uneconomical works, and ' in this regard he gave sevoral e*.1 amples. 1 He pointed out that at present thera ' were 20,000 unemployed men being paid ( to do nothing, and a further 20,000 were being employed on works of no 1 economical value. "We have an aero- ■ drome at Hawera and £32,000 was spent 1 on that perfectly flat ground, levelling it out," he said. ! "The job was to have been finished 1 before Christmas, but you will remem*. 1 ber that men employed on Public Work* and other relief men were to receiv* a special bonus at Christmas, and representaiions were made by the men worki ing at the aerodrome to have their . work carried over that period," eaid 1 Mr Dickie. "Well, the outcome was that it wa* I decided to dig a drain 4ft. wide, 4ft, . deep and 48 chains long," he adddd. "The Aero Club was to find the fen~ . cing of this drain, but they replied that they could not do so, and further that there was no necessity for the drain. Telephonic communication was made with Wellington by the engineer, and adviee was then received that the Government would find the f encing in order to keep the men at work, and the drain was dug. "Now it was said of the ForbesOoates Government that they had the unemployed dig holes and- then fill them up again," said Mr Dickie. "My complaint is that the present Government digs the holes, but does not fill them up again." He added that people have taken tho spoil excavated from the drain and now it is- necessary to cart further spoil to fill up the drain. There we hav* a big drain running through that area, and there 's not. a drop of water in it," he said. An interjector: Well, it 's not level now then 7 Mr Dickie'; I said it was a flat paddock, not a level one. Spme people can be flat, my friend, but not level, Later on in his address Mr Diekie said that men had been put on to thq roads in his district with 'shovels to scrateh away the dust, and the Qoqntjr Oouncil did not know what the nMTO were doing, It had taken one man five weeks to do certain work that should have been done at the utmost in five days. A voice: Did you report hm? Mr Dickie: No, I was waiting far, Mr Semple to eome along in his whe*l« barrow. Mr Dickie also held that certain; railway construction work and other schemeS now in operation nnder the heading of Public Works were not economical.