Unemployment Again Thrashed

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 162, 29 September 1927, Page 18

Unemployment Again Thrashed

GOVERNMENT ATTACKED ANOTHER DEBATE IN HOUSE (THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The subject of unemployment must stand as a strong favourite among members of the House of Representatives, and at every opportunity they turn to this as a weapon with nohich to batter at the tranquil countenances of the Government heads. T ABOUR members had a liberal share in a long debate on the Imprest No. 4 which was brought down to the House to-day, and the Government was asked several pertinent questions upon its method of handling the position in Auckland. The Minister of Labour says there are less men on relief work now than there were six months ago because the men are leaving the jobs of their own accord. “I think it is necessary to take advantage of the opportunity of drawing the attention of the Government and the country to the position of the unemployed,” said Mr. Parry. He referred to the statement of the Prime Minister on Saturday evening, giving the impression that the situation was only temporary. It was not temporary, Mr. Parry declared. He recalled the history of the trouble in Auckland in connection with unemployment, up to the time when the Prime Minister promised to set up a committee, and bring clown legislation giving power to the City Council to borrow money without taking a loan poll. This was done, and the City Council did very good -w ork indeed. The committee did everything possible to assist the Government,-'and played its part well, but owing to the Government’s indifference and lack of policy, and, should he say,, disgust on the part of the committee, it disbanded. Since then, everything had been left to the unemployed themselves. Not a quarter of the number of the unemployed was registered at the Labour Bureau, and notwithstanding that the Minister of Labour knew that, he persisted' in quoting the figures registered at the bureaux as the number of unemployed. Mr. Parry asked the Government to consider the advisability’ of subsidising £ for £ the money raised by public subscription for relief purposes. Sir John Luke, Wellington North, said that instead of attacking the Government, members should get together and see what could be done to meet the position. SAME AS 1889 The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, Invercargill, said that thousands of bowls of sou]) were being handed out daily in Auckland. That ought not to be. Sir Joseph recalled that the position was a. replica no-day of what it had been in 1889. The Government should rise to the occasion and pick out a lino of railway that required to oe completed—say. one in each island-, that would absorb about 10,000 men—and proceed with construction work. “Take the railway from Christchurch to Pieton,” said Sir Joseph. “Ten thousand men could be put to work there, and the benefit of their work would be felt long after the unemployment trouble had ceased. There are lines in the

North Island which could be dealt with similarly.” Mr. J. A. Nash, Palmerston: It was only the other evening, speaking at Raglan, that the hon. member for Invercargill was complaining about the Government’s increased borrowing. Where is the money coming from? “SOUND AND FURY’ “The sound and fury that has come from Auckland” is how the Minister of Labour, the Hon. G. J. Anderson, referred to the speech of the member for Auckland Central. The Minister reiterated his statement of the other day that the position of unemployment in Auckland was worse than in. any other part of New Zealand. This was understandable, because people flocked to the Northern city from ail parts of the province on account of the congenial climate during the winter months. He had never claimed that the Labour Department’s figures were an accurate record of the number out of work, but he asserted that this record was a barometer showing how the market tended. His investigations and the inquiries that had been made oy the department from all sources available, had shown the total number of people out of work in Auckland to be in the vicinity of 1,600. Mr. W. Parry: That figure would not cover half. Mr. Anderson: When this is taken on the population basis it is less than one per cent., which is a mere nothing so far as the people actually out of work jare concerned. But this does not get over the difficulty of those who are still unemployed. 1 cannot understand how anyone could be out of work for over six months up there, because there is quite a lot of work going there and the Government has put more work in hand there than in any other part of New Zealand. The Public Works Department is carrying 3,000 or 4,000 men more than it requires. The Minister added that last winter the Government had put works in hand from one end of New Zealand to the other, and he had had letters from all over the country expressing appreciation of what the Government had done. Mr. Parry: Who from? The Minister: From men who were out of work. We know what is going on in Auckland just now, in the newspapers, and we know the purpose of it. Mr. Parry: What’s that? The Minister: Anyone who takes any notice of what is appearing in the Auckland evening newspapers should think a bit. There was a storm of interjections, sharply quelled by the Speaker. The Minister said that men were employed as follows in the Auckland public works district: —Whangarei, 1,392; Auckland, 2,418; Tauranga, 997. In addition there were 1,035 men on relief works. The Minister admitted, in reply to an interjection, that much had been done by the cities of Christchurch and Wellington. MUSTN’T BORROW The Government was attacked if it borrowed for this work, and yet was criticised all the time for not spending moniy on it. Borrowed money h<\d been drawn upon to a surprisingly small extent during the present stress, however, much of the funds having come from the consolidated revenue. “This evening there will he 500 unemployed in Christchurch,” said Mr. D. G. Sullivan, Avon. “At the present moment the books show about 350,' and at 5 p.m. 150 men who had been found work by the Unemployment Committee will be put off, because the committee has no more funds.” The committee had spent about £ 10,000, the bulk of which had been provided by the public, continued Mr Sullivan. When the public subscription ceased the Government subsidy ceased. What did the Minister think was going to become of those 500 men, now that the funds were exhausted? What was the Government going to do? Either it must develop a big scheme to provide work, or it must face the question of development of an insurance scheme to maintain the unemployed.