UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 305, 12 September 1929, Page 4

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.

IT is unfortunate that Mr. Wilford did not give more details in regard to the insurance scheme which the Government proposes to introduce next session. In his remarks the Minister emphasised that the scheme would be based on that of Great Britain. If this is to be so it is unfortunate. New Zealand and British conditions are totally .dissimilar, while there are features in the older scheme which can be done without in a young country such as ours. Tt is true that the British scheme has been wrongly described as a system of “ doles.” Tt is far from being that, but nevertheless it has been abused, and it contains defects which should be remedied in any New Zealand scheme. It is merely a palliative. Tn the first place it must never be forgotten that any such insurance scheme must be a big drain on the resources of a country, as the money involved is totally non-productive. This being so, unemployment insurance schemes should not be looked upon merely as a necessary evil of our economic life to be administered by a new bureauci-atic department with water-tight doors, but on the other hand the scheme should be regulated as being linked with and

complimentary to an organisation to promote and regulate employment. The first necessity is to keep all such non-productive payments down to .the lowest possible amount, and this can only be done by linking the scheme up with such a body as the proposed Industrial Board as outlined by Mr. Cobbe. In other words, it is far better to create a huge insurance fund for ensuring work than merely for making enervating and non-produc-tive payments to idle workers. Such payments should be the last resort of all, and only made as a last resource to the few for whom it is impossible, for various reasons, to find immediate employment for or to remove to localities where work has been created. From the Minister’s remarks it would appear that he is content to remain a mere copyist of the British scheme, which has been drawn up to meet conditions in purely industrial regions, and which have little true relation to conditions in this young Dominion. The British scheme, which has already cost over £400,000,000, allows for minimum payments of 18s per week to men and 15s to women. The standard of living and of wages in New Zealand is far higher than at Home, so that contributions must of necessity take this into account. On ! the other hand the percentage of unemployment will be less here, but nevertheless the fund must be a very considerable one to adequately deal with the situation. It is therefore from an economic point of view far better to ensure that contributions are not on the low side —the British fund is stated to be bankrupt at the moment—so that a healthy fund will be created for constructive purposes. This could be used for establishing farm colonies, breaking in new land, reclaiming swamps and tidal waters, which in closely-settled districts would produce rich endowments for the fund. Indeed, the scope of the fund might even be made to cover such work as the Auckland harbour bridge, but all such work would need to be regulated to the economic conditions of the district concerned, with due regard to its effect on the nation as a whole.

With careful handling and suitable vision the scheme in fact could be made largely self-supporting, but in any case it is far better for the moral and economic well-being of the country as a whole that the trend of the measure should be creative and constructive rather than on, the lin n = of the British measure,, which has to meet and cover the social problems of the Old World. It is to be hoped that when the New Zealand scheme is finally announced in detail it will be found to be a healthy and vigorous measure, suitable to a young, virile country, rather than being merely a copy of another measure designed for a people with more inherent problems than our own. Cohstructiveness should be the guiding principle in any New Zealand rr,nasure and any scheme on British lines should be opposed as being unsuitable for a young and independent nation.