WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 5 February 1932, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

RELIEF WORKER'S. march on Wellington. Special Correspondent. WELLINGTON, February 1

The gathering of “Unemployed” from ■Lower 'Hntt, Petone and Eastbourne, which marched upon the Capital City on Saturday with a view to impressing the public in general and the politicians in particular with the needs of the workers was little more impressive than had been previous demonstrations of the same character from other quarters. The Right Hon. ,T. G. Coate-s, in his capacity of Minister in Charge of Unemployment, quite good-naturedly received a dozen or so of the trampors and heard them- repeat many 'things they and their associates had said before. On tne whole they . were concise -and reasonable. They wanted the abolition of the No. 6 Scheme of employment, which gives unmarried mien no jmore than 'two days work in a week and married men, according to their domestic obligations, no more than three or four days. Had they stopped here they probably would have obtained some definite cheer from the Minister; but their demand for the abolition of fthe number five scheme forthwith seemed to close his lips for the time being. “DEGRADING SYSTEM.” •Meanwhile the great body of- 'the protesting trampers had drawn up around the front entrance to the Parliamentary Buildings, and surrounded by several hundred curious; spectiVtons, listened to the impassioned speeches of a ha'ffrdozen enthusiasts apart al-togetherd-'frofh the decorum of the Minister’s'reception room. One of the speakers gave it as his opinion that the system of charitable aid wa s degrading to decent men and women. PI lam not a criminal,” he announced, waving his arms with the gesture of a windmill, “but you are driving me to 'crime, .and if a become a criminal 1 will ibe a good one.” Meanwhile his wrath was directed mainly to the Press * which he declared was misrepresenting the whole position. The climax of the day’s proceedings was the rush of the trampers to ’the train that carried them to their homes without, permission or. charge. Provision had been made for 'the rdturn of the women who had faced; the journey to the city, by one means or another, but the heroic males merely took possession of the seats they desired and the authorities thought it well to leave them undisturbed. TEN MILLIONS. In the course of his reply to the representations made to him by the in'ombens of the one-way tramp, Mr Coates explained that it would require ten million sterling a year to cover the whole of the demands of the workers alleged to be represented by the deputation. It was all very well, he protested, for the delegates to demand a definite assurance from him that all Would go well with the ' workers in the near future. 'He hoped and he believed it would, but the' future still presented many difficulties and his business, with hi,s colleagues and with 'Parliament, was to overcome these difficulties ns speedily and as effectually as possible. A great deal of headwayhad been made towards assuring the financial position of the Dominion and with the continued goodwill of the community as a whole ho had no fear of 'the ultimate -result. The Unemployment Board had only two and a half million at its disposal at the present time and the Government without consulting Parliament could not overreach that sum. NUMBER FIVE scheme. The Numlter Five Scheme, already mentioned, has been 'the occasion ot a good Ideal of dissatisfaction and real hardship. A single man receiving 26s a week, if frugal and painstaking, may manage 'to obtain bread and boaid ot a kind without further assistance : but a married man with a wile and ch'ld with kmlyj v £2 a week is in a woiv case, and'the married man with a wife and children and only '£2 13s a week is in a still worse -case. The preset* ■ mayor of Eastbourne, a delightful holiday place across the harbour from Wellington, more enterprising than his predecessors in office, .sought to ha\e both water and drainage established in his borough, 'and with the new year had a. .big gang of men preparing the way for this revolution. At the end of three or four days digging, however, fthe gang realised that the job was worth more than the No. 5 Scheme, and in due course it was abandoned by the workers and declared "black a.s described to Mr Uoat.es by his visitors.