RELIEF OF DISTRESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 389, 25 June 1928, Page 13

RELIEF OF DISTRESS

WHAT FOUR MAIN CENTRES HAVE DONE MINISTERS CONSIDER PROBLEM In order to find out how much money the four large centres of New Zealand have spent in relieving unemployment, the Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour wrote to the Town Clerks of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and asked for their figures. These were available this morning, , nl l were read out at a meeting of the Auckland Ministers’ Association, of which Mr. Scrimgeour is secretary. The amounts expended on relieving unemployment last year in the four centres were as follow: Auckland expended £25,000 last year, including all subsidies. It has not yet been decided what action will be taken to relieve unemployment this ' year. The Auckland City Council raised a loan of £710,000 to be spent on street ' improvements to be spread over five years, but this amount has been spent ' 13 months before its time. Wellington spent £BO,OOO last year. Of this sum £40,000 was'raised by the City Council by special order, and the sum of £20,000, inclusive of a Government subsidy and the contributions of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, wa« raised by the Mayor’s Fund. The total expenditure on relief work, including the above sums and the Government subsidy, amounted to £BO,OOO. This year the Wellington City Council proposes to raise the sum of £IO,OOO for the relief of unemployment. Christchurch spent over £56,000 last year, made up as follows: Kelief of un- ' employment loan, £25,000; general re- : lief, £ for £ subsidy on public sub- : scription up to £2,000, £2,234; public ' subscriptions. £8,923; £ for £ subsidy on subscriptions for the relief of ! unemployed soldiers, £700; Reserves Department vote, £2OO. Waterworks reticulation works entailing wages i amounting to £19,500. were expedited, with a view to absorbing a large num- 1 ber of unemployed. This year the Christchurch City ' Council proposes to place on its estimates a sum of between £3,000 and ! £4,000 for the purposes of subsidising public subscriptions. This will also : carry a Government subsidy of a similar amount. Provision will also be made on the estimates for the employment of as many men as possible un- ; der the general works of the council. Dunedin spent £IO,OOO last year in > relieving unemployment. This year the City Council proposes to put a similar i scheme in hancl. STILL GREATER PROBLEM At the meeting of the Auckland Min- ! 1 , Association this morning most uf the time was spent in discussing the problem of unemployment after the above figures had been read. Mr. Scrimgeour said that the probem was far greater this year than last, n so far as something had been done h a 1 ’ "' hereaa this year very little had been done in Auckland. This Jff?, Ji! ere i was fitr more unemploythan last - The public had been called upon to such an extent by the SJ— charities that the only solu™i, aS far ;is could be seen by social workers, was either that the Government or the civic authorities should take up the problem in earnest. It - beyond the Power of the charitable institutions to do anything ex--22* *° “ttend to the most urgent cases, the vast army of unemployed simply had to go on short rations as best they could. The Rev. Evan R. Harries said that whereas last ye®* the Auckland City Council had employed 250 men in one of its particular departments this year only o 0 were being employed. He pointed out that the great difficulty which faced the men with dependants was that they were unable to find any employment at all. He was not referring to the “down and outs,” but to i the men with families, and he mentioned that several members of his < congregation had been faced with only two weeks’ work in five months. The Rev. C. B. Jordan, who is a ‘ member of the Royal Economic Society, said: “We must become agitators and i by some means arouse public interest.” Once that is done something material will be the outcome.” The Mr. Brake (Epsom) pointed out the difficulty in which the City Council was placed by the fact that the ' ratepayers had turned down practically every loan proposal which had been put ; forward. This handicapped the City Council. " ' It was finally decided that the whole subject be referred to the Council of Christian Congregations and that the : Ministers* Association offer them its 1 co-operation in any action the Council of Christian Congregations might deem advisable to take. A resolution was also passed thanking the Commercial Travellers’ Association for its work in the big drive which it has organised to raise funds for charity in Auckland.