UNEMPLOYMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 19 March 1930, Page 8

UNEMPLOYMENT

(Mercantile Gazette.)

The thanks of the community are due to the Committee upon Unemployment

for the time and labour they have expended in their endeavour to find an ex-

planation of why there are so many men out of work in the Dominion at present, and what .should he done to meet the problem. We regret, however that their report contains nothing which brings us any nearer extirpating the evil ; nor could it, as the problem is insoluble. The Committee evidently recognised this, as it accepted the fact, and dealt with the best means elf raising funds to provide sustenance payments for those out of work. It may lie said that this was attacking the trouble from the wrong end and suggests that nothing is possible except to apply palliatives. If, however, unemoloymont is now to be recognised as an incurable disease which must affect the body politic in perpetuity, there is some thing to be said in favour of the proposition that an indigent person who is stricken with a mortal disease cannot be left to die for want of the necessities of life, nor can his de»v’intents be permitted to suffer. That, however, is a matter which rests upon a different basis, as a healthy unemployed man if he chooses to reduce his wage demand,, can always obtain sufficient ‘nutrition to keep him in health,,, and o.oss;ibily find something for his family. The Committee recommends that a million of money should he found annually for assisting the unemployed. The amount which has been expended on the relief of unemployment during the last three years has been as follows; mi 1923-7 CWv3,333; 1927-8 £973.-

300 • ipop.r) CPlo.-'Ou: a total of <‘l y ,, :".029, or an average of £913,013 rind although the Government lias

spent during the last year a sum rvin"in" un to lionrlv n million in promotin'; reliof works, it linis satisfiod no 0110 Tiro Laliour party is just as disgruntled to-day with the £915,406 expended by Sir Joseph’s government, as it was with Mr Coates, who disbursed about the same amount in two years. The Committee further recommended that the £700,000 per year which is required shall be raised by a tax upon all wages paid to employees, not necessarily those only who are engaged in manual labour, from which £505,000 would be received. Income Tax payers would be called to contribute an extra Id in tbe £, not only on the income upon which they are now assessed, but also upon all receipts from whatever soul'ce including dividends received from companies which had already paid taxation. This is expected to produce £BO,OOO, companies who had undistributed profits to pay £22,500, and additional land tax is expected to yield £67,500 and contributions by counties and cities are to be £25,000. If these different sources of income yielded the , sums expected, the Unemployment Board would have £700,000 as income. The £600,000 annually found by the Government for the last three years came out of the Consolidated Fund, arid tbe Committee’s suggestion to that new taxation to the extent of £700,000 should be levied.

The recommendations of the Committee amount to nothing more tnan that taxation he increased to maintain die unemployed, and as the Government iis now spending quite £700,000 out of the Consolidated Fund, which, of course, is contributed by the taxpayers, the incidence remains the same a direct charge upon the taxpayers. Whether the £500,000 to be raised by contributions from salaries and wages will appeal to tbe Labour party and tbe Unions remains to be seen ; as a rule they prefer a policy which gives the workers for nothing, and they will not greet with enthusiasm any scheme of relief when labour has to contribute. If any large sums of money must be disbursed to give relief to unemployment, it would bo as well to divide those out of work, into three clashes, into one of which must kail all those who do not wish to work but to secure sustenance without labour tbe second division will be formed of men, who are not physically fit for heavy work and who are unemployable '•"'■■out for light work, while the remainder are honest in their efforts to obtain employment, and are only too "lad to get the chance of work and are willing to give a reasonable equivalent f'u- |l>o wages they receive. These are wcM’tb ivory eonsbleral ion, and dim second class are eouaMv so. but their inability 1 to accept heavy work renders their case more difficult. The sub-

joct is a difficult one to deal with and the .statesman lias not yet arisen, who can point out the cure, hut one phase of tiie problem stands out very clearly. Kish wages do not matter if the employer receives something equivalent of which he can dispose and out of which the wages and running charges can lie paid. If a worker receives £lO per week, hut reduces goods valued at I'lo which can be sold, both parties benefit; but if a wages is fixed by the Court which is uneconomical to the employer, he looks round for substitutes and uses more machinery, or enters in to combination with others to co-oper-ate in diminishing expense by .shortening paid labour and doing the work themselves. The introduction of mod ern machinery with a view of curtailing labour charges lias been a powerful and a growing Ifactor in the causation of unemployment.