RELIEF WORKERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 858, 30 December 1929, Page 8

RELIEF WORKERS

Sir, In explaining the reasons for the dismissal of 160 men from the Railway Department on Christmas Eve the Minister of Railways, Mr. Taverner discloses the manner in which the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward cleared up the unemployment proiilelllD lrl ■ Ne y'' Zealand - Apparently all the Prime Minister had done was to hls ,. lla T ld and allocate a certain sum ror the immediate relief of unemployment with the provision that as soon as that amount became exhausted the men were to be dismissed, if th -t be the case there is a cheerful message awaiting a few more men who are noiv livmg solely upon relief works. An Piime Minister could have done that if he had budgeted for a substantial surplus through increasing the taxa-

of the working man’s breakfast table. It is a comparatively simple thing to increase taxation with one hand and say on the other: “Now we have some money to spend upon unemployment relief.’* But the part that hurts the working man is that those wdio are struggling hardest for sustenance are those whose meal table isbit by . the extra taxation. The Minister of Railways appeals to employers throughout the Dominion for assistance in relieving the unemploy* ment, and suggests that if every employer took on one extra man tho problem would be solved in a night. But for how long? And at what cost? If the unemployment problem can bo solved only for as long as S r Joseph Ward solved it, it might as well not be touched, for this boomerang method i*s very little ultimate good. One of these days—perhaps early in the New Year—the Government will awake to the fact that there are industries in this country which may be developed if tackled upon correct lines. WAGE-EARNER. .