RELIEF WORK

Hokitika Guardian, 18 October 1932, Page 3

RELIEF WORK

UNFIT UNEMPLOYED. ADMINISTRATIVE SCANDAL ALLEGED. WELLINGTON, October 14. : The administration of the Unemployment Act so far B2 men are con-cerned-—men who are fit only for light ' work— was described, as a grave scandal, in the House this morning, by Mr Sullivan (Labour, Avon), who declared that the responsibility for these men had been repudiated by both the Unemployment Board and the hospital hoards. . 4 Mr Sullivan said that the position was both impossible and intolerable. It threw a light on the futility of the. Government in being unable to settle j the dispute between hospital boards , and. the Unemployment Board. These men paid their levies and were entitled either to relief work or sustenance. The Unemployment Board, added Mr Sullivan, said that they were a char no on the hospital hoards and the hospital 1 hoards repudiated the responsibility and said they were a charge on the Unemployment Board. Mr Forbes: We have heard this before. Mr Sullivan; Tt shows the futility, if rot the inhumanity, of the Prime Minister in not taking the question in hand and settling it. These men are now without resources of any kind, while . the Government, through the Unemployment Board, repudiates them and while the Go-e-nment, through the j hospital hoards, also repudiates them.

The Mayor’s Fund. Mr Forbes: What about the Mayor’s | Fund? | “The Mayor’s fund is for the relief 'of women antd children,” rejoined Mr Sullivan. “We raised £2;),030 in C'hriste'iUrch and spent it on relief. I know |no place anywhere in tlie world where the community has risen move ! magnificently to the occasion than in Christchurch.” | Mr Sullivan added that it was a scandal that- the Government was unable to bring the question to finality. Mr Coates, interjecting, said that B2 j men had always been the responsibility o“ hospital boards. Mr Sullivan said that these men ' were a charge on the Unemployment Board. The Government had said through the hospital boards that they were not the responsibility of the hospitals. They were fit for light work jin many instances, but no work was given them.

“What Sort'of Government?” Mr Forbes: Can’t you find light work •for' them about the city? “1 don’t- know what sort of Government iam speaking to,” remarked Mr Sullivan. “1 have alreadjy said that the Unemployment Board, has lepudiated the responsibility and refused to find money to pay wages. How can local bodies employ them if they are given no funds by the board?” Continuing, Mr Sullivan said that the Government was failing in its responsibility to sustain the B2 men. Its action constituted one of the gravest s au.idals in the administration of the Act. Mr Speaker asked if 1 Mr Sullivan was using the term about the Government. “It is a scandal that the Government has failed to make the Act effective and has failed to make its authority effective,” said Mr Sullvian.