Rotorua Morning Post

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 569, 28 June 1933, Page 4

Rotorua Morning Post

WEDNBSDAY, JUNE 28, 1933. UNEMPLOYMENT BOARD A qnestion which will engage the attention of the Government in the near future will be the ' personnel of the Unemployment ! Board. According to the Unem- ! ployment Act, the three members of the present boqrd, Messrs J. S. Jessop (deputy-chairman), W. Bromley and P. R. Climie, are due to retire next month. Their term of office' is two years, but according to the act they are eligible for re-appointment. The remuneration of the deputy•chairman is £400 per annum and that of the other two members £300 per annum. They are also entitled to "reasonable" expenses. It is well-known that the ! Government and the board have not always seen eye-to-eye on the different aspects of the big problem which has engaged their attention, but this poiiit is not likely to be considered wkeri the question of re-appomtment comes up. Should the prhsent members d^sire it, there is every likelih'ood that they will be given a further term. Whether this re-appointment of the present board is a good thing from the point of view of the general public is an entirely different thing. The present j | board has had many difficulties j | to contend with bnt it cannot be j Isaid that it has- distinguished ' itself in its administration. It is | difficult to determine, of course, J how far its policy and general attitude has been directly dictated by the Government bnt apart altogether from that, there has been definite evidence on many occasions of a lack of understanding and sympathy which has done something to complicate its problems. The alienation of a number of the relief committees in different parts of the country is an example. Citizens giving their time and energies to the assistance of the board have not met with the co-operation which they are entitled to expect in carrying out their difficult and self-imposed

duties; This has been the experience in Rotorua and also in a number of other centres, notably Wellington and Christchurch, where dissatisfaction was very openly expressed. The present personnel of the board, as we pointed out when it was appointed, does not possess any noticeable qualifications to deal with the complex problems of unemployment. Its deputy chairman's previous experience is that of a sheep-farmer and an officer on the Meat Control Board. Mr. Climie, before his appointment, was organiser of the Canterbury Progressive League, and is by profession, a patent attorney, while Mr. Bromley is an unsuccessful Labour candidate with the somewhat doubtful qualification of having been a trades union secretary. None of these records, however meritorious in their own spheres, appear to constitute the qualifications for dealing with the diverse problems of unemployment. It is iihpossible to make any arbitrary definition of what these qualifications should be, but they should certainly include some training in economics and sociology with above all ari understanding sympathy above the mere efficiency of the bureaucracy. The present board has had an' opportunity to prove itsfelf and the mere fact that it has held office for one term does riot, in our opiniori, constitute a sufficient reason for returning it for another. A change in the personnel of the board might be a very effective means of infusing more vigour into the present unem-

y 7 1 ~ ^ r ployment polifey 'anJ''^thoi§qni'e tiriie prrdttiote a foetter understanding With the members of thb outsidg piiblfe who ahfe atteinpting to°assf'st:the boar'd: At the preSent time, ffiowevef; thfe' oMy member whose re-ap-pointmerit appears td be doiibtful'is Mf. BfOmley' fbii it is- cbhtefided in 'som'e' 'qri^ir tehs : that/ h'e , dods not adequately represeht thg views of the Labour movement on the board. The Labour pafty itself has made no official prOnouncement but there -have bedn various expression& oi' diS- { satisfacti'orf emanating from-fn- 1 diVidual unions or deputatibris i frc/m the urieriiployedx These iii- i tefests iri'a^f or nri t> tbej stfong ehodgh tqteffb'ct his removal buLthfe im itself is ribt desifhble. The board should not be coiistituted to repTeserit seetidnal 'Interests buf to bring expert kribwledge to bear upon the greatest and most complex ' social '■ pfobletft " which the world is f acing to-day.