CHANGE WANTED

Hokitika Guardian, 9 November 1932, Page 3

CHANGE WANTED

-ELIEF WORK ADMINISTRATION,

PRESENT DAY POLICY,

WELLINGTON, November 7

A changed policy in the igdministration* of unemployment relief work is desired by, parties . opposing; the Government. There is dissatisfaction with; -the present , under which .much swork. isbeing done by local ,bcdies. , This i?_ believed, in mvny quarters, to be. uir .ound< ,

The proposal that there should he a j complete investigation- into unfinished' Public Works to .s' many supporters. It. is argued that if it ws shown as the result.of such an ..investigation' by, say, a select committee of the House, that, the losses on these works would be less when they are finished than they) are now in their unfinished state, then it would be good policy to devote i" portion of the unemploy men t funds to finishing them. If it was found that wlien. the annual lassos would lie greater than they are tr-day, then the works should be abandoned. One member wi.h many years of experience holds the belief that it would-be of vhlue to the Dominion to complete tbe.;South I land Main Trunk ' Railway and tin*. Nopier-Gisbdrne line. The Opinnmrib.ti' repotted that I it. would cost another v .£I,SPi),OCO to I finish the .iVaipii-er-Gishorne line, and £2,000,00)) to finish the South Island Mirin Trunk. Sufficient plant for the completion of these nk'eady % the, possession .-of the Public Works Denartn;eat, "•

In both cases, the RfiiKv&ys Commission re.pcirted advdiyely- oil/ the '-..proposuilo, but it is argued ..hat the Coinmission investigated the uncompleted lines on the basis of how they would • affect tho Wm-king Ph.ilways Account, and: not from the fr-atit of view of the can era 1 taxpayer, jvho, in any case, had' to nuke "tod any losses suffered by that account, and nko had to pay the huge annual* interest bill on these, incomplete works. However, tho e who have been expressing these* views state that all they ask:for is a complete investigation. They point out that - work h'cs been rdowed down on the Waitaki hvdro-elAr-tric. scheme. The longer the job takes to complete the greater are the interest costs. “We are spending £3,500,000 oil the relief of unemployment, atld, wlier? the . slump .is over, what assets are we going; to have for all this expenditure.?” risked one member. “The principle of spending public money on private property is unsound; it should be used to create assets for the people. Presently, we a*re .going to find that the slump is over, that prosperity will demand the completion of some of these incomplete jab’s, and we will have to face another burden of taxation to (iTry on the work. r lh© wages tax is the most severe, tax that has ever been imposed on the Dominion c<s a whole, and as much as possible of it should be. devoted to easing the burdens of the future”