REHABILITATION OF HAWKE'S BAY UNEMPLOYED

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 119, 5 June 1937, Page 5

REHABILITATION OF HAWKE'S BAY UNEMPLOYED

V ■ MINISTER'S APPEAL FORWORK Problem That Must Be Tackled "LEAVE POLITICS ASIDE" An urgttxt appeal to all local bodies in. Hawke's Bay to cooperate to the full with the Government in proceedlng with local and national works that would absorh ihe total number of men on sttstetiance in the district was made in. Napier this morning to a large and representative gathering of loeal bodies by the acting-Minister of iishottf, the Hon, p. c. wehh. The Minister appealed to the district to remove the stlgma of suetenanee from able-bodied men. who were being wasted Ofi sustenanee while they could be employed in economic and useful work, The fullest help and eo-opnfation of the Government was pfOmised in the scheme, which the Minister empliasised as being both urgent and Useful. ' 1 The object of. my presence to-day is to discuss the very vexed probiein which facee not only this atea but every locality in New Zealand— namely , the question of tmemployment, 1 ' Mr Webb began. "For a long timo all the Hawke's Bay members have been nfging me to 'get a wriggle on' and iee what can be done in the way of getting men back to useful Work. "The world of yesterday," he added, "exists no longer. We are faced with new probleffis to be fought with new tiethods,-and I want yotf all to leave yonr politics oufside and bring an with yoti your knowledge of local affairs. Nearly 1000 Men on Sufitetiance. "You have in the towns of Hastings tmd Napier, surrounded aS they are with fertile lands, nearly 1000 men on sustenanee. Sustenanee and all it stands for are the most demoralising forms of relief we can possibly give. It is not only demoralising to those who receive it, bnt it creates mental repereussions in the minds of those who contflbute. "Men who are unemployed should not be treated as some species of the human xace apart from others — as hnn* gry horses in a paddoek to whom we throw a bale or so of liay. The unemployed are so becauso we eannot rise to ,the Oecasion to provide theln with work. The responsibility is not' only on the GrOvernment, but falls also On the shoulders of the local bodies, who should co-operate to the fullest poss'ible extent in order to utilise to the full that energy that is wasted noW. The unemployed do not want sustenanee — they want work, and they should have work, "Tti this town alone there are approximately 470 men on sustenanee, ' ' Mr Webb pointed out. "I want to give those men full-time employment, not brushing dust oS the street, but doing municipal, county, and national work Of iinportance. There is work to be done all dver this cotifitry that wall absorb ten times the nnmber of men who are out of work to-'day, I believe thai it ean be done, and I am asking Ihe co'Operatiofi of the loeal bodies. "A fWcial Crime." "I want to be able to go back to Cabinet and Say that here we have definite problems to be faced and BOlved, lf this is not done, the sin Will not be on the sboulders of the uixemplQyed— the eriine will be a sooial ciime, And 1 want you to co-operate 10 Stop that happening. "We want to place onsselves in the position of men, with homes and children, Who are nnempldyed. We want to abolish that darkness and let the sunshine into every roorn. With your co-operation there is nothing that ean be done to stop us in this national wofk." ThO Minister Sdded that he was appealingj to ihe epirit of bumanity and to the spirit of eoifliiion*sense for ali to stand together to remedy an unfortunate position and enable Work "that was not being done to be done. Tne Minister ekplaintd that he was not in aiiy Way scolding local bodies, , but he desired that they shoiild co- * operate With hini in dojng soinethin^ that would create assets, In doing that, soniethjng Worth-wiiile would be achievedj by their doing this, not only assets Would be ereated, but the human asset Would be saved, It those dn sus tenalice were tt> be kept there as woriiOtit cattle, it Was not difiicuJt to reatise what tiie result would be* The eouiitry that he had trarOlled over during the last few days cOuld be iuade to carry a population that would be gte&ter thab in the whoie oi the Dominion at preseiit, he declared lt was desirable that this coiuitry should b. developed, attd by their doing so secondary industries would be developed also, which would be a vital factof. oepressi&n Youth, During the period of the depression large numbers of young people had lost their opportunity to leain tiaues, As the result of this, now, when it was desifed to get tliings going, there was a great shortage of tiadesinen. It was not desired that the nation should be one of "navvies." As the result oi iqany leariiod young meri having been in relief cariips, considerable ability and enthusiasm had been brusbed aside. In that the Dominion bad suifered a great loss. from a recent eonference it was learned, the Minister said, that something practical would result enabling the oringing-aut of the energles which ttany young people had hitherfco been uflable to expiess. It was necessary foi them all to get together, eoncentiating oii this problem in the same way as the people of Hawke s Hay had eon centrated in their great trouble a i'eW jrears ago. If an epidemic were to oceur, all kinds of organisations Would be Iminediately at work, auj if itnempioymentA whxch wa.s also. an epidgmicj i

were tackJed in the same way, the problem, would be readily overcome. In asklng the ioca] bodies to nieet him, the Minister said that if they had •lifficulties he desired to know of tbem (f they were prejiared to do their best —and they eould not be expected to do more — 'the Gfovernment could be relied upon to do lts full share. He wAs confident fhat the problem vould bt readily solved aird that th • country would then be able to look for people to come from .abroad and assist ih its future djovolopmenti