VELLINGTON TOPIC.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1930, Page 3

VELLINGTON TOPIC.

UNEMPLOYMENT

GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY

(.Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, Jan. 3

The “Dominion” sees in the dismissal of soul oy/j casual iutiitls iron, the railway service in Auckland, jusi lie l< re Cm is anas, the failure, of the Gov r.. nment’s scheme for relieving Li.e t;i iifa uue.n|.-ji>yiiienc. “As was •imicigaieu,' ! it says, “lmanc© has pv.L a cue. k on tlie Government’s improvised plans »or the wholesale i'OAet -M uueiupa.yment. The Minister of Railways admits it in his l Lo...enc iugurumg me dismissal 01 .voiksliop employees. Mr Taverner says the Government was ‘reluctantly compelled’ to dismiss the men as no further money was available from the special fund. 0 incidentally ‘ the morning paper observes that “the cost of me adopted by the io. eminent to deal with unemployment has been variously estimated at.from two to three millions a year’ and mat it was obvious tile Treasury could not support such a drain indefinitely.” The simple reader, is ieft to assume that the dismissal of three hundred casual hands from the :u»ilw;sy W'oi'Ksuops is but an incident in the loss of many millions. ' THE FACTS.

What really happened was that the casual hands having completed tlie jobs for which they were engaged .vein paid off in the ordinary way. The Monster expressed regret that lie had no further work to offer them and appealed To privatel employers to give them any assistance they could. The “Dominion” claimed to ua e a better plan for dealing with the difficulty. In the .first place it vvoud lioc. pay standard wages for lelief. work. Then it would “frame and implement” a constructive policy for the permanent cure of unemployment. Finally it would promote secondary industries and encourage enterprise by easing taxation and by removing some of the irksome restrictions on industry. “Assured of. a reasonably adequate and secure return,” it protests in conclusion, “capital would rapidly do its part and the resulting industrial expansion would go a long way to absorb surplus laboiir.” All this, of course, looks very line and large in print, but unfortunately the penniless workers could not wait the slow procesess of evolution.

THE HONOURS LIST. The “Evening Post” apparently under the impression that, the Prime Minister dictates to the Imperial. Government' the titles ■ His- Majesty the King shall bestow upon citizens of the Empire at certain intervals, implies that Sir Joseph Ward has been a little hasty in adding a G.C.M.G. to the list of letters that previously decorated his name. “Two politicians have been chosen for recognition,” it says. “No one will question the Prime Minister’s right to join this company; but even some of his best friends may be found to doubt, aftei the' criticism of a previous honour, whether Tie would not have been wiser to • decline the distinction bile occupying the Premiership.” This somewhat obscure suggestion seeuib to imply that Sir Joseph is over eager in the collection of such baubles. No one at all closely acquainted with i.im will suspect him of such a penchant. Except as a recognition of the Dominion’s association with the Mother Country he does not value them at all.

POST AND TELEGRAPH DISMISSALS.

There is a growing feeling in Wellington that the severe penalties pronounced upon the offending telegraph iterators' in Auckland should be revised. It is admitted by most of those protesting against the punishment of summary dismissal that the operators were guilty of very grave impropriety in making use of the public telephones for betting purposes. They maintain, however, that life sentence, so to speak, is entirely unjustified by the facts. This sentence means, to several of the otfenders the loss of a life’s opportunity as well as the loss of its eai nings. It is said that graver offences of a similar kind have entailed upon the offenders no more than a severe reprimand and a temporary derating. It has been suggested here, as it appears to have been in Auckland, that the bookmakers concerned have been ready enough to provide evidence against the offenders and to magnify the gravity of their operations. At any rate there is the fact that the means to do will deeds have made ill deeds done.