CORRESPONDENCE THE UNEMPLOYED.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 November 1931, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE

THE UNEMPLOYED.

(To the Editor). Dear Sir,— Kindly grant me space to ~place before the residents of the town and district the unfortunate plight .of the unemployed. To those in employment the sight of gangs of unemployed engaged on various jobs in town or county is no novelty, and if-.they .'ever , give any thought to them, it ,is doubtless to the effect that the Unemployment Board is providing sufficient work to enable them to keep their wives and families from starvation. /This, however, is not correct, as employment under scheme 5 has -been. reduced almost to the vanishing point. Two instances will better il- . justr&te my.meaning:— A. and B. are both married men with two- children, and .are . supposed each to receive, . .under scheme 5, three days work per • .week for three weeks—that its nine . days in four weeks—£s 12s 6d—a ..totally inadequate sum on which to „keep a family, .pay rent, light, fuel, clothes etc. But '"worse is to follow. jEor .the past four weeks A. and B. each received only 6£ days work—£4 ~.ls :3d. Need I say that this would not . provide for two adults and two children,, and-provide at least £3 for rent, light etc. At the above rate how long " clo you think it will be before starva- ■ j'tioh.,i s rampant in this town and dis-.-.trict ? The Minister of Health stated in the .House a few weeks ago that the sum of £170,000 had been set '. aside 'for the purpose of assisting Hospital Boards to deal .with necessitous cases, but I have been informed /by a,local hospital authority that the .-.Whole,,r,of this -sum will be spent in rtbe four, centres. Seems to me most i unjust that the smaller Boards should not participate in this fund, as at present they are able to do absolutely

nothing for lack of funds—notwithstanding that the Minister stated that Boards were to allow no one to starve. Cannot the Mayor and Council, the Unemployment Cbmmittee, uocal bodies, and townspeople put their heads together and bring forth some scheme to raise some money to supplement the Unemployment Board’s allotment, and thereby provide an extra day or two’s work per week. From the foregoing, I think all will agree that there is urgent and pressing need. Tn conclusion, permit me to ask the executive of the local Unemployment Committee why the men doing work for the Hospital Board, under scheme 5, are given their full allowance of work when the men on the Borough and County Councils are cut-to as low as one-third their allowance? I am told it isi because they are doing useful work, but this is pretty thin,. and no reason why one gang should receive more favourable treatment than the rest. The matter should be brought under the notice of the Unemployment Board. Yonrs, etc., SCHEME: 5.