WORK AND LEISH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 700, 28 November 1933, Page 4

WORK AND LEISH

ADDRESS TO ROTAlM SOME ASPECTS OF THEH GERALD LANE ■ SCHEME ' ■ ROTARIAN HAMPSON'S The case for and against th&H| • ald Lane scheme for the relief o^B employment was outlined in dress to the Rotorua Rotary Rotarian M. H. Hampsoh at the^H "ly luncheon yesterday. |H 1 In opening, th'e speaker de^H the proposals of Mr. Gerald^H placed before a recent. districl^H semhly meeting at Wellington "As short 'working time mean^fl duced earning power, I strongl^H vocate the shortening of our lives. The male population Zealand is approximately 810, whom, let us estimate conservati^B 10 per cent are over the age years, that i's 81,000. "If, upon attainiug the agecH years, a male were retired , the aid of a compulsory superajW tion scheme, many openings forH ployment would he thus created, not preferahle that a man retiriH sixty when he can have1 a which to devote his leisure tH than to have the younger generaH whieh' is at a very valuable andH ceptihle age, forming wastefulB destructive ha'bits, and thus deHj for life all constructive effiH hahits they might possess." ■ It was proposed, said Hampson, to constitute a supH nuation scheme of 30s weeMy^B men of 60 years and over by inH ing a levy of 2| per cent on reeeived by all employees and^| wages paid by employers. ThisH would be compulsory unless theH ployer had any similar superaiM tion scheme in force. The pi'kH had heen generally approved byH eral Rotary cluhs in the DomS with a modification regardingH National Provident Fund as a fl ium of collection. H In his proposals, Mr. Lane hadH sidered unemployment as a penfl ent evil and had inyestig%d ■ poor laws of England to show tkS a series of' enactments the Goh ment could cope with the evil,H was also considered that acceyH unemployment as permanent, it fl necessary that any schemes s|fl be definite and conclusive for afl ployment was undoubtedly tke S serious of all social troubles. l&H third argument the desirability fl leisure was stressed and that itfl

necessary that even those beloiH years of age should be able tolH forward .with some certainty tfl reasonable degree of comfort andH sure in their latter years. AlthoB it was conceded that no proportioiH harm would he done by the scheiB v/as agreed that in some casesM forced leisure would prove a buiB but that as the average man hafl family to support at the age-ofB years, the numher of these cases ■ relatively unimporant when co'im ed with the factors causing -vifl ployment. Argument regarding the ability of instituting a spending, against an earning' class represei two- different schools of thought) the speaker. Oue considered three per cent of the population duced all that was sufficient for existence of the remainiity 97 cent and that the great majorit; these last were engaged in wast trading. These also went on to p out how essential it was to coi tute another class having the ffif of spending. The other opinion that which constantly referred to case of poverty in the midst plenty. . _ In the opinion of Rotarian ha son, the> case against the propoj was made up of uusound and ! truths which entirely disregarded true position of affairs applyty New Zealand. He recalled the P tion in Rotorua 15 years ago, ? during the influenza epidemic the thorities had pointed out that torua was iso-lated and had hept disease from spreading in the to In this particular case clear-h^ men could not he stampeded by ? penings overseas and he contefi that the same parallel could be plied to unemployment and the P tion at the present time. He t briefly touched on the question .dairy production and showed hoW proved meth'ods and the study overseas markets could improve position by further exploitation these markets. There was alsj numher of subsidiary ways inWJ markets for citrus fruits, toba tung oil and particularly timber] duets could be secured. In regar^ afforestation, he predicted a , mendous future for the industry : "thought that if the Government' prepared to set up a board in w control of .all these lands waS 1 ed, the proposition would prove ; of the most popular means om ing- capital on the home market failure to xealise the possibilit$ the sulphur and pumice deposre Rotorua for use for pharmacea purpioses was only one instance c country's resources. Regarding the proposals f°r ? per cent tax on wages, Hampson oontehded that this ^ greatly increase production costs, could not agree with the sugg^ regarding the desirability f°^ ! and eontended that man lived work and that true happiness gained only out of work. ThiS - often shown hy the shortening ° years of life 'of men who had to up their work. Poverty amidst W had always existed in the1 worWj always would do and it had proved that where poverty exb$ ■ parts of the .world, other pafis. ■ a condition of pldnty. This hadshown throughout the Ages. . In conelusion, he said tha ■arguments for and against the; posals were most interesting hoped, would he the subject ther discussion at a forunaBB club.