POSITION IMPOSSIBLE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 688, 14 November 1933, Page 6

POSITION IMPOSSIBLE

OAMARU MEN PROTEST TO MEMBER FOR DISTRICT A DEFINITE WARNING Oamaru, Monday. On Saturday a deputation from Relief Workers' Association waited on Mr. MacPherson, M.P., and emphasised that they found it impossible to buy the necessities of life on the present allocation. Members of the deputation said that unless Mr. MacPherson brought pressure on the Minister of Employment and the Board for an increased allocation to Oamaru the association would not be responsible for the safety of the town. If it were possible to put members of Parliament on relief wages for three months without other source of income the situation would soon be cleared up. The cost of administration of the relief fund was too high. The salaries were so good that the men so employed would be sorry when unemployment ceased. Men from Christchurch and the North Island who had been employed by the Railway Department at Oamaru in discharging coal received two shillings per night allowance in addition to their wages. This work should have been done by local unemployed. The mayor, Mr. M. F. Cooney, said he could bear out what the other speakers had said regarding the distress in Oamaru consequent on the reduction in the allocation. Big Deputation to Board Mr. MacPherson, in replying, expressed sympathy. He said he had done all that could humanly be expected of any member. The administration costs were large, but com.pared with other organisations they were probably the lowest. A big deputation of members of Parliament would be formed to wait on the board, especially in regard to districts where seasonal work had not begun yet. The Government knew the position. Many districts were despex*ate.