“PUBLIC MUST ACT”

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 175, 17 March 1932, Page 4

“PUBLIC MUST ACT”

UNEMPLOYMENT 7AILURE OF GOVERNMENT TO DEVELOP POLICY SEVERELY CRITICISED FATAL LACK OF INITIATIVE Dlscussing the Waikato Social- Welfare League's group settlement plan reported in another column of this issue, with a representative of the "Post" yesterday, Mr. H. Valder, who is ehairman of the League, had some caustic criticism to offer of the GcVevnment's method of play ing with the Unemployment problem.

During his visit to Wellington in connection with the League's plan he had seen several Cabinet Ministers and the. ehairman of the Unemployment Board. He had been told by a gentleman- known to be in close contact with the inner councils of the Government that Mr. Coates had on the stocks a scheme very similar to that advaneed by the League, but as a result of his interviews with Ministers and officials he had to eonfess that he could see no sign of any constructive ! effort of any sort on the part of the Government or the responsible Minister to solve the unemployment problem. Tbe dominant attitude, said Mr. Valder, seemed to be one of waiting for something to turn up, while it was obvious that the Unemployment Board whatever its policy might be, was in practice merely doling out its x'evenues as they were received and hoping i for the best. The most that could be said for the board wa's that it appeared to have made some effort to ' apportion what money was available equitably among the thousands of workless men, whose position was being steadily more desperate. Of any real attempt to alleviate or cure the trouble by placing men on productive work he could see no sign. Periodically the Minister or the Board made a statement promising something definite, but nothing came of these promises.

Unhelpful Talk As for the Labour Party in Parliament, they were equally unhelpful. They talked a great deal about the necessityi for getting the men back to productive work, but so far they had advaneed no practical scheme of a constructive nature. All the talk about getting men back into secondary industry by more or less artificial means was sheer nonsense. Take, for instance, his owi^ industry, timber milling and its associated industries. There was not a man in the business to-day who was not losing money. His own firm had been working three days a week with 50 per cent. of its normal staff, but found it impossible j to continue even on this scale and | would have to cut down to two days i a week. It was thus reduced to less than 25 per cent. of its normal basis and still experienced the greatest difiiculty in finding a market for its reduced output. Only Sound Way '"What," he asked, "is the use of offering me more men under these conditions, even . though their wages were paid by the Unemployment Board? No. There is only one sound way to re-establish the country's secondary industries, and that is by a sound and progressive policy of land settlement. A certain amount of help could also, of course, be given through the tariff. The present 10 per cent. exchange rate undoubtedly has been useful in this respect.

"From what I have seen and heard : in Wellington, however, I am convinced that to hand over to the administration of a department of State a land settlement scheme such as that outlined by the Welfare League would be fatal to its chances of success. Supervision and control on the spot practical business men and farmers with a knowledge o'f all the local conditions is essential and I feel sure that if a plan on the lines of the League's proposals were generally adopted a very large measure of success would be achieved. Personally, I am prepared to undertake to enlist immediately the services of as many men as necessary in and around Hamilton — responsible business men and farmers with a practical knowledge of tbe requ'rements — who would be only too glad to give their services to further a plan such as this, which offers a genuine promise of practical results."

Anxious for Chance Mr. Valder also said he had discussed the scheme with numbers of suitable unemployed men and he had found them only too anxious for a chance to take up land under some such scheme, reeognising that, although they might not at first be able to secure more than a bare living from the land and would have to accept somewhat primitive conditions of living, they would at least be free from worry by a hopeless landlord and the depressing effect of periodical spells of idleness. In addition, he found "the men generally recognised the value of having something to work for in the future and he believed- that this spirit would go a long way toward ensuring the success of the group settlements, provided they were wisely and competently supervised and directed in the first year or two. "Something must be done, and that quickly," Mr Valder concluded, "and if the Government won't do it on its own initiative, the people must themselves make a move. The Mayor of Rotorua is, I understand, at present working on a very similar scheme to the League's. This is a move in the right direction and I hope his example will be followed in other centres, until at last the Government is forced by the sheer weight of public opinion either to take action itself oi to make it possible for others to dc what apparently it is incapable oi doing."