“LIMIT TO PATIENCE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 394, 30 June 1928, Page 1

“LIMIT TO PATIENCE”

Unemployment Made Subject of Vigorous Attack on Government LONG DEBATE IN HOUSE (2 HE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) T WELLINGTON, Fridav. . P?* 111 ?? 111 Auckland to-day beggars description,” said Mr. M. J. Savage, using unemployment as a weapon for attack upon the Government in the course of the Imprest Supply debate to-day. “There are hundreds and probably thousands in Auckland to-day who are not getting enough to eat, let alone of other things,” he said. There was a limit to the patience of men applying dav after day for registration at Labour Bureaux, and the fact that, after a certain period, men failed to register, partly accounted for the contributions the Government claimed to * have made toward the solution of the problem

'Ey Governor-General’s Message Imprest Supply Bill No. 1 was introduced and read the first time. The sum appropriated by the Bill was £2,937,000. Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland’ West) said he proposed to give the House an opportunity' to consider* one of the most pressing problems which the Dominion had to face. He therefore moved the following amendment to the motion th.at the House should go into Committee of Supply: “That this House expresses its strongest disapproval of the Government’s incapacity and neglect to deal adequately with the acute and increased national unemployment problem, for which the Government must bear responsibility, and which is causing such widespread destitution and distress. This House further condemns the Government for taking advantage of the helpless position of the unemployed to reduce wages by professedly fixing the rate of pay for men on relief works at 9s a day for single men and 12s a day for married men, thus lowering the workers’ standard of living, and also for having failed to pay to relief workers even the totally inadequate minimum wage promised.” Mr. Savage described the position of the labour market in Auckland, where, he said, there were hundreds of men out of work and thousands who were not getting enough to eat. It was not a local, but a national question. He quoted cases of the payment to men working on the NelsonHope Junction railway, where 12 men worked 727 hours for £33 3s Sd. That was not 9s and 12s a day, and the Government was not carrying out its own alleged policy. In another case men had worked 1,047 hours at the rate of 7.09 pence an hour, which he claimed was a sweating wage. Again, eight men had worked 945 hours at the rate of 92d an hour. The Prime Minister, Mr. Coates, asked if Mr. Savage had taken into account the number of wet days. Mr. F. N. Bar tram (Grey Lynn): Wet days are no excuse for starving men. IMMIGRATION BLAMED Mr. Savage contended wet days did not enter into his argument. He said the cause of unemployment was largely due to the introduction of a large "number of immigrants, without having made adequate provision for them. , In seconding Mr. Savage’s amendment to the Imprest Supply motion, Mr. H. T. Armstrong said there appeared to be very little justification for the Prime Minister’s recent statements that New Zealand was round the corner. In spite of the present volume of unemployment, unemployed men were so tired that now only a small percentage of the unemployed took the trouble to register. Moreover, there ■was no record of a number of women out of work, nor of the boys leaving schools. Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) said he was not in sympathy with the amendment moved by the Opposition, because he was not disposed to make party capital out of unemployment. They should help the Government to find a solution. The Prime Minister said it must be remembered that in all cases work given to the unemployed was in the nature of relief work and was not tional work in the proper sense. it was therefore not work for which full rates could be paid. Belief work was th Q only immediate solution of the unemployed problem. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland, said that instead of answering the particular cases of low wages the Prime Minister had picked out certain of the best cases and put them before the House, but that did not help the man who could earn nothing to send home and that did not pay the rent. NOT LEAVING COUNTRY

The Minister of Lands, the Plon. A. D. McLeod, denied that people were leaving the land in New Zealand in anything like the numbers stated. I* l ® Percentage of rural people compared with people in the towns might have decreased, but their actual numbers had increased. . Mr. 11. G. R. Mason (Eden) said the serious position of was the utter indifference of the Government to the problem. The Hon. W. Nosworthy claimed that unemployment was less serious in New Zealand than in any other coun-

and cameramen, are now “on location” at Ohiwa completing the final shots there before proceeding to Rotorua to make other scenes for the production, try, not excepting Russia. His opinion was that when people had the opportunity of reviewing what the Government had done for the unemployed they would unhesitatingly return the Reform Party to power with a greater majority than ever. Mr. H. Atmore quoted from the paysheets of men on relief works who, he said, had neither wage nor sustenance. At this stage the debate was interrupted to permit of the introduction of the extension of the Local Authorities Empowering Relief of Unemployment Bill, for which the Prime Minister claimed urgency, and this was granted. Mr. D. Jones said that Labour was m power in Britain for nine months and did nothing to solve unemployment. If the Labour Party in New Zealand had any policy they should produce it. Mr. E. J. Howard held that excessive immigration was to blame. The Hon. O. J. Hawken said that they had heard much about unemployment, but no one had submitted any remedy. To his mind, he thought the remedy was a higher rate of production. Gangs of men who had not earned the standard rate of pay on relief works were the exceptions. If the Government offered men on relief work 14s a day the result would be that men would be enticed away from farm work. Mr. F. N. Bartram said that the solution of the problem was not to produce more but to secure a better distribution of the work available. The debate was carried on by Mr. J. Horn, P. Fraser find T). G. Sullivan. The Hon. K. S. Williams, Minister of Public Works, promised to make a personal investigation into the cases of hardship brought before him. Mr. Jordan asked during the early morning stages of the debate if the unemployed in Auckland suburbs could be spared the expense of tram fares in coming in to the city to register. The Hon. R. A. Wright, Minister of Labour, promised to see if registration could be effected at suburban post offices, A SHARP BRUSH The closing stages of the tedious protracted debate were marked by a sharp brush between Mr. Holland and Mr. Coates, the former taking Mr. Coates and Mr. Hawken to task for statements made during the proceedings. The division on the amendment resulted in its rejection by 40 votes to 14, Mr. Atmore voting with the Labour members. The Bill was flnlly passed at 3.20 a.m. after a prolonged discussion that broke a minimum of new ground. The renewal of the operations of the Local Bodies Empowering Bill, for the relief of unemployment, was then sought by the Government. Speaking to this measure Mr. D. G. Sullivan drew attention to the difficulties of those bodies seeking to ease the unemployment situation. Mr. Coates promised consideration of the points raised, and the Bill was put through without further discussion. Before the rising of the House at 3.40 a.m. Mr. Coates outlined the next week’s programme, consisting of obituary speeches on Tuesday, and then adjournment to Wednesday for the Ad-dress-in-Reply debate. THROUGH ALL STAGES COUNCIL PASSES BILLS Press Association. WELLINGTON, To-day. The Legislative Council met at 10 a m. and passed the Imprest Supply Bill and the Local Authorities Empowering Relief of Unemployment Amendment Bill through all their stages, and adjourned until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.