THE SAD STORY OF “BILL”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 881, 27 January 1930, Page 10

THE SAD STORY OF “BILL”

WHY HE IS UNEMPLOYED HOW CAN THE GOVERNMENT HELP HIM? (Written for THE SUE) The observations made by the writer on the subject of unemployment a week ago on this page have provoked quite a little comment, mostly hostile, and of small value, but not without interest. The chief points I sought to make were: (1) That unemployment, so far from being a social problem for which someone may some day hit upon a sure and certain cure, is an individual difficulty, from which the persons chiefly concerned must extricate themselves. (2) That the Government is responsible only in so far as its fiscal policy and administrative methods fail to produce economic conditions which will create a demand for employable labour. (3) That the only way immediate relief can be given is by public expenditure on relief works, which is indistinguishable from charitable aid, and that financial difficulties severely limit the amount of money available for this purpose. (4) That another conference to discover the causes of unemployment, and to advise the Government on the subject, can add nothing to information already available. HIS LIFE STORY

Most of us have come into personal contact with men who are out of work, and know something about the history of individual cases. They vary only in detail. Here is the life story of one known to the writer. His first name is William, and he is usually called “Bill.” It is submitted for inclusion in the next edition of ‘‘Who’s Who in the Queue at the Soup Kitchen.”

Bo,rn 1895; father a labourer; left school at 15; got a job as a butcher’s boy; at IS was in the packing department of a warehouse, earning 30s weekly; gave his parents very little; was an enthusiastic barracker at popular football fixtures, and began to take an interest in the trots; at 21 was still living at home, and earning £3 a week; agreed under pressure to give his mother £1 a week. She was fond of Bill, and didn’t make much fuss when the payment got into arrears, partly because Bill had acquired the habit of dropping into a pub. on the way home from work. A year at the war. Back in T 7 -with some wounds to heal, but after a few months of hospital treatment he made a good recovery. Got a job again with his old firm at £3 los. Saved nothing, mainly because he was a regular patron of the hotel bars, and through his Inability to hold his own with the bookmakers. Another year passed, and then a little trouble occurred with the boss over goods going out that were not invoiced up to customers in the usual way; but because he had fought for his country, the boss was content with firing Bill, and didn’t prosecute. Various casual jobs followed during the boom, in the course of which Bill earned and spent quite good wages. At the age of 26 he got interested in a girl— unfortunately for the girl. A hasty majrriage, while in a temporary job at £4 a week, and about £lO in hand to furnish the home with. A succession of casual jobs, sometimes with the P.W.8., sometimes with private employers. Position in 1929; Very little work; wife trying to make ends meet by going out charring; three children, inadequately clothed and fed; Charitable Aid Board assisting; outlook for the winter of 1930 decidedly gloomy. Bill’s case can be multiplied several thousands of times —with variations. Put in the right way it excites a lot of sympathy. In fact, It is easy to get hot about It. Here is an ablebodied returned soldier with a family to support, in want of work, and can’t get it. What is wrong with this rich young country that such a thing should be possible? We can put eight millions of money through the totalisator, show a trade balance of some thirteen million pounds of exports over imports; spend millions on imported motor-cars, and yet .here is unemployment! What is the Government going to do about it? Why doesn’t Sir Joseph Ward put Bill and company on the land, etc., etc. SYMPATHETIC M.P.'s One does not require the gift of second sight to see that the Government will do very little. There is no lack of sympathy, and no disinclination to help, because the average politician is just as humane as the next man. Besides, to turn a deaf ear to the cry of the unemployed would affect an M.P.’s popularity, and incidentally his chances of re-election. Still, employment either by private individuals, companies or public departments, is primarily a matter of money, and a Government which added about twelve millions last year to the public debt without being able to solve the unemployment question cannot do very much more in the face of an adverse money market. The simple half-wit, who writes to The Sun to say that the necessary funds can be squeezed out of the taxpayers speaks without knowledge. The Government already appropriates for public purposes, anything from a quarter to one-third of the net earnings of the private capital of the community, and the fact that it takes so much is one of the deterrents to enterprises that would otherwise be undertaken, and be the means of providing jobs for some of the men now seeking them. Let us, however, put sentiment aside for the moment, and apply a little cold reasoning to Bill’s case. Bill undoubtedly suffered from careless upbringing and was never taught that duty comes before pleasure; that thrift and industry bring comfort and happiness; that waste, slackness and self-indulgence inevitably produce penury and hardship not only for oneself, but for innocent dependents. If he had taken the same Interest in his work that he did in sport, and used the brains that he exercised in studying the form of racehorses, in trying to better his position, he might have been bolding down a decent job today. Even on the limited earnings given above, he could easily have saved several hundreds oi pounds by the time he was 26, and had to marry the girl. Hundreds of others have done so, and the exercise of a little self-denial, a little forethought and the performance of the most ordinary duties of citizenship, would have made him a useful member of the community in which he lived in stead of a liability to the State and a source of anxiety to his relatives. A sad feature of the business is that on every side, one can see scores of young men following faithfully Id

Bill’s footsteps: they are qualifying in exactly the same way to be the unemployed of 1940, and having made a mess of their lives will be asking the Government, in 10, 15 or 20 years’ time what it is going to do for them? Ay UNPOPULAR DOCTHIHE In the article that incurred the disapproval of sundry readers, I wrote: “Whatever the future may bring forth, we still live in a world where the capital of individuals and corporations is the only source of employment for persons who desire to be paid wages for their services, and a profit out of the employment of labour is essential to the continuance of the job.” This seems to me to be a fairly plain statement of an obvious fact. If I could make it any plainer, I w T ould do so. Until it is fully appreciated many persons will remain under a misapprehension as to how far it is in the power of p?ivate individuals, local authorities and the State to help the unemployed. The prospect of gain is the only thing that induces men to risk their money in business undertakings that provide work, and where there is no profit there soon ceases to be a job for anyone. In trying to do something for those who are out of work the difficulty is to devise a means of getting a return on their labour, most of which is unskilled, unwilling and unremunerative. If anyone doubts this, let him go and watch a gang on relief work. The . correspondent, wdiose quiver °t indi ßuation causes his pen to shake, W'hen he asks: Is it reasonable to expect a man to maintain his

family on a relief wage of 14s a day? can have his choice of two guesses. The real question is: Can he earn it? Unless a man employed on a road formation contract can do at least 21s worth of work, to provide for his own wages, for the cost of supervision, interest on plant, etc., and a reasonable profit for the contractor, it won’t be long before his family is back on the Charitable Aid Board trying to keep body and soul together on much less than 14s a day. The unthinking citizen who says that the Government should solve the unemployment problem by putting Bill and his friends on the land merely talks foolishly. In the course of Bill’s lifetime, the Government has provided about 7,000 men with farms at a cost of some £2,000 apiece—not to mention millions spent and lost in trying to make farmers out of discharged soldiers. Most of the men in the ranks of the unemployed would starve on a farm, even if they got it for nothing. If they w-ere capable of working as hard as a man requires to work in order to make a success of a farm, they wouldn’t be unemployed. PROFITS FROM INDUSTRY For many years past the whole trend of legislation relating to work, wages, and industrial conditions has been in the direction of creating a high standard of living, without much regard to the volume of production. Wages are based on a curious statistical concept concerning the necessities of the average family. Innumerable laws have been passed relating to working hours, holidays, factory hygiene, accident insurance, and many other things designed to make New Zealand a better and a brighter place for the worker to live in. However admirable the ideal, the fact remains that these beneficent measures involve serious

increases in the cost of industrial production. To manufacture goods in New Zealand under these conditions, and sell them in competition with the products of countries where much longer hours are worked, and lower wages are paid, is far from easy. Because of this, millions of pounds are sent out of the country annually, and spent on all manner of goods which might be made here, and, incidentally, provide employment for a small army of skilled workers. A high standard of living is a very good thing: no sensible person, be he employer or worker, wants to see it lowered, but it can only be effectively protected by the imposition of import duties that will give the local manufacturer an advantage in his home market. The present tariff fails to do this, with the result that the expansion of New Zealand manufacturing industries is slow and unsatisfactory, at a time when rapid progress and increased output are very desirable. A wise Government would insist that if the foreign manufacturer wants to exploit this market, he must bring his capital and plant into the country and employ local labour. Although it might not materially affect the prospects of our old friend “Bill,” it would provide opportunities for the young people growing up, and incidentally improve "Bill’s” chances of fairly regular employment. To this extent, at any rate, the Government is responsible for unemployment, in that it has neglected to assist, encourage, and develop industrial production. There are indications of an awakening on the subject, but the existing political situation scarcely admits of much hope that anyone will come forward with bold, statesmanlike measures which will produce quick results. PETER SIMPLE.