UNEMPLOYMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 28 January 1931, Page 5

UNEMPLOYMENT

THE BOARD’S GRANTS

(By Telegraph —For Tress Association)

WELLINGTON-, January 27

A statement, giving some of the Unemployment Board’s activities to date, was issued to-day by the chairman, Hon. Mr Smith. I rider the No. 1 scheme, the Board paid out £32,A4G by way of subsidy, at the rate of £2 for £l. There were 121 local bodies to participate. Approximately five thousand men were each given a fortnight’s work. Under the No. 2 scheme, £36,000 was paid for improvement to. and development of land in the country, and for specified work in the towns. In a third scheme, under which £IO,OOO was allocated to local bodies for ’Xmas relief, 92 local bodies participated, and over 7000 men benefited.

CRITICISM OF BOARD. CHRISTCHURCH, Janaary 26. Mr J. M’Combs, M.P., said that in his opinion, the Unemployment Board had been wrongly constituted. Mr M’Combs said that lie could name an engineer in this city who could, in less than a week, map out a programme of useful works which would absorb the whole Of this unemployed In Canterbury. If work was not found, it was clearly the duty of the Unemployment Board to provide sustenance, because in a civilised country men and women and children could not he allowed to starve. The law provided that it wor\ »ns not found then the small amount of sustenance provided could he paid for thirteen weeks, when a fresh application could be made. The Unemployment Board, in the exercise of the discretion which had been given to it, had usurped the function of Parliament and virtually rewritten the law to read five weeks’ sustenance, then three weeks without sustenance, and then another five weeks of sustenance, with a total of fifteen weeks’ sustenance in any one year. The result was that if a man was out of work for a whole year he would receive fifteen guineas in all for the whole year, or lOd per day. A married woman would receive less than 9d a day, and children would receive less and 2d a day.

DEBTS OF UNEMPLOYED MEN

MAGISTRATE’S PROBLEM

GISBORNE,, January 27

During the hearing of a judgment summons case at the Magistrate’s Court to* day, against a Kuputt railway Worker, now out of employment, Mr £). Chrisp, solicitor fur the creditor, fctmed that the debtor had rung him tip pointing put that, by the remarks jnado by Mr Harper, S.M., at Wuiron, there was no chance of getting the money. After hearing the evidence of the judgment debtor to-day, Mr Harper, S.M., adjourned the case for one month to see if the debtor could reduce the amount in the meantime.

Mr Harper said that he was glad that reference had been made to his remarks at Wairoa. He said: “Those remarks were misreported. .It could appear from the account published in the papers that I am not going to make an order in any Public Works case until the debtor gets work. This is quite incorrect. I adjourned the case at Wairoa until the man had had a chance to get work. I want it clearly understood that each case must be judged on its merits. K .a man has the means to pay up, whether he is a Public Works employee or not, and it is shown that he has the means to pay, an order will be made. I take this opportunity of correcting the remarks previously published or emanating from Wairoa. I stated emphatinlly in that court that my sympathies were with the tradespeople wno had stood to the workers, but in that particular case, the man had received his last pay, and, as he was a married man with a family I could not see my way to make, an order, but adjourned the hearing for two months, and impressed upon the debtor the necessity of reducing his liabilities should be procure work in the meantime.

LOW WAGE RATE

ADOPTED IN WAIMATE

WELLINGTON, January 25

The following extract from a letter by the Mayor of Waimate (Mr George Dash) to the Unemployment Board in Wellington, shows how the schemes for finding work inaugurated by the Board are regarded in Waimate. “Scheme No. I,” wrote Dir Dash, “justified itself hero, while being an economic gain to the Borough, as the work was good and permanent value. “This Waimate Committee is paying on a 10s per day basis and has a maximum of 18s per day. We would become the general employers of 14s per day here, and do harm where we hope to do good. So far as this district is concerned, there will be no call to give maintenance allowance without work. Money without work is demoralising. and we shall make it necessary here at all costs to ourselves. So far, we are at one with the stops taken by the Board and that after much study of the problem.” One of the conditions on which the Boards grants subsidies is that the rate of wages paid is to ho agreed upon between the employer and the employee.

BRITAIN’S WORK LESS. LONDON. January 20 - Mr Lloyd George has tabled in the House of Commons a resolution dealing with unemployment, and demanding that the Government shall-formu-late and submit to Parliament an extensive policy, for the utilising of the wo rkf ess in schemes of development. cost of which is to l>e del rayed b\ means of national loans from the capital that is awaiting investment.