UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE

Hokitika Guardian, 18 March 1932, Page 6

UNEMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE

At a meeting of the above at Greymouth, last week the following report was read by Mr J. Murdoch of Ross:

There are various aspects in treating an article on prospecting for gold to be considered, but I wish particularly to deal with prospecting as a means of alleviating distress amongst our unemployed. Particularly during the last six months we have been pained to see the number of men, all sorts 'and conditions —unemployed and unemployable—many down and out, who arrived here from all over New Zealand with the one intention omy of prospecting for gold. AVe have a number of our own unemployed in Ross and surrounding districts, who would be only to pleased to do some prospecting. They formed a local Prospecting Association and applied !to the Mines Department, for assisti ance with the result after waiting for six months, they were informed by the Mines Department, that at the ■ present time no funds were available for prospecting. A number of applications were sent in to the Unemj ployment Board with the result that I the Commissioner of the Unemployment Board drafted a number of conditions which had to be complied -with before a grant of 30s per week for married men and 15s per week for ! single men could be granted. \A T hen JI read these conditions of Mr Malcolm j Fraser, I was convinced that the proposal would end in utter failure. Time has proved that as far as Ross and district is ■ concerned, I was correct in my belief that liis scheme would be a failure. Mr Fraser, as a Statistician, is out on his own, but when it comes to prospecting I cannot understand why Mr Fraser did not come down and confer with the | various Prospecting Associations on I the ’ Coast. Had be done so there I would have been a- chance of opening up some virgin country by the systematic organisation of men and means. It was a had day for AA r estl a nd when we lost the late Richard John Seddon. I AA 7 e have never had the assistance or i encouragement from any of the many i Ministers of Mines since his day. In ' those days a miner holding a Miners ! Right, could for a few shillings obtain ! the” right to work his claim whereas | to-day it costs in one case specified recently at a public meeting in Hoki- | tika the sum of £7 9s for one man’s 'application. Is it any wonder that | Air Bourke moved that the Mines DeJ partment be requested to abolish these 'excessive fees and allow miners during | the present depression to mine without 1 these restrictions. AVe have also ro j take into consideration the experience lof the men who apply for assistance Ito go out prospecting. Very often I they admit that they have no experience in mining, and do not know where to 'start. One party of four men informed me that they were going blackjsanding. I ,asked what experience have you. “Jtfohe, but we were told how it was done * a'-d we will give it a trial.” Another party was made up of. a carpenter, a baker, 'etc., hut had no experience of lhining. I suggested they should engage a local miner for a few months on ' wanes then they would get an idea how to go to work. If the carpenter took on the baker’s job, or the baker book on the carpenter’s job, what j would the result be? The majority of the men who come here want to P'os- ' pect near the town, but this is only I fossicking amongst the old workings 1 where even the Chinamen were starved out. AA 7 o want to see a new i gold field discovered that would employ hundreds of men. I cannot understand why there has not been a follow up of the geological survey ibv Dr. Bell of the Mikonui SubdmIsion. I was on the field when tne I late .Percy Alorgan was engaged in | this dangerous undertaking over I twenty years ago and the Mines wepartment have done nothing to assist in profiting by the work entailed by ! this 'survey. Splendid maps have been j prepared and indications marked J where auriferous gravels and quartz i reefs were found. If we want to see |„ew gold field opened up, there will ; have to be more system in the work, | plan the work, then work our plan. AA'c must have better organisation, hotter leadership and better supervision before we can expect success. Let us get the men hack into virgm country," where the earlier prospectors of forty and fifty years ago ran over the field and unless they could „ot rich quickly, they passed on. The principal handicap that hampers mirny of our registered unemployed i-s their lack of mining experience. Tf | the Unemployment Board would allow these men a leader who had the ! necessary experience t.o teach these j men how to go about their work, ' much hotter results would he obtained. Tn these days with so many Government Commissions, would it not Ihe a wise move on the pait of the I Government if a Mining Commission 1 was set un with, a view o! searching ; for now goldfields to absorb hundreds iof the unemployed? The following resolutions were ear- j ried unanimously : That the local un- j employment Committee he authorised | bo spend the allocations to open up (racks to facilitate gold production, | oik] employ the men on consecutive j do vs. equal to the to tal number al- j lowed for four weeks. j

Tlml the Unemployment Board allocate, each week, a special sum to he ii,-ed for gold prospecting, over and nhove the amount required for the N T o. . r , scheme.

That it is desirable to concentrate on locating or proving new reefs, in j-mi of fossicking and that, when ap-

proved by the committee, the latter may allocate money out of the unemployment funds to provide food and tools, the committee to have a general supervision of the work, with power to extend the subsidy period, on the recommendation of the local experts, or of the Inspector of Mines. It was decided that the Central Committee should meet every three months, or, if it was found desirable, even more frequently.