“ABSOLUTELY DESTITUTE.”

Shannon News, 27 January 1922, Page 3

“ABSOLUTELY DESTITUTE.”

; MEN FROM MANGAHAO. Mr W. Murdoch’s complaint to the last meeting of the Palmerston Hospital Board about flooding Shannon with -unemployed in search of work at tlje. Mangahao hydro-electric works when in reality none was offering, was substantiated by an official of the Palmerston branch of. the Labour Department, Chatting with a. Standard repoilfer he stated that there was a good deal of truth in the statement, in that men from various centres were trekking through to Palmerston North after a fruitless search for work at M-angahao. 1 He believed that at the present time there were two or three men from Mangahao knocking about Palmerston North in an absolutely destitute condition. He bad accordingly communicated with Wellington asking whether the Government would agree to sending these men to their respective homes. At the present time he had no' authority to do so. In pointing out that the men averred that they had been led to belieVe that work was awaiting them at Mangahao, he said that there must be confusion somewhere. He was in close touch with Mangahao, he said, and lie had no authority to send men there and had never done so unless on the advice of the engineer in charge. He could not understand how other towns were diverting labour to Shannon. There must be some misapprehension somewhere.