MEN OUT OF WORK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 18, 15 February 1909, Page 4

MEN OUT OF WORK.

OFFICIAL FIGURES. PROSPECTS OF A HARD WLVTER. Masterton, Thursday. The Minister for Labor (the Hon. A. W. Hogg) has had an interesting report furnished to him by the Secretary of the Labor Department concerning unemployment in the Dominion. Summarising the official returns,, the hooks of the Departent show that the following numbers of unemployed arc registered thereon: Carpenters 100. painters 58, plumbers 20, bricklayers 20. blacksmiths 14, farm hands 14, engineers, litters, and trimmers 17, sash and door makers 80, cabinetmakers and •upholsterers 14, cooehmakcrs 10, laborers 411!). Unemployed in other pursuits 'brings the total up to 904, of which So are women workers.

"On the face of these figures," runs 'the report, 'this certainly does not show 'the difficulty to be extremely acute, but from outside sources we learn that there are large numbers of men idle. For instance, when painters were wanted for painting the mental hospital at Porirua we had only the names of twelve men ou tlie books of the Department, but on communicating with the secretary ol the union wc found that he had nearly sixty names on the union's books, and a record of a. score more who had not signed on. Unless* men were aware thai the Department had employment offering they did not apply in large numbers."

If some laboring work were available in the city to-morrow Mr. Tregear did not anticipate that the Department 'would have any difficulty in securing StOO men in a week, although he did not think they had had that number of applicants in a single week since the Department's doors were opened. A difficulty would also occur in getting a large number of men to go into the country from the towns. They would not go under any circumstances, preferring to accept casual work on the wharves or to depend entirely on the assistance of their families and relatives. Throughout Sew Zealand to-day the Department had work for approximately 250 laborers, besides openings for farm hands and harvesters every day. However, the position varied. With the exception of men employed in the building Irade he did not consider that there would be much trouble with unemployed in the secondary towns for some time to coine. In the four centres there was considerable distress among both tradesmen and unskilled labor, and everything pointed to a very hard winter. He sincerely trusted "that the Government: would be able to obviate any uncm-1 ployed difficulty in the coming winter,; but there would surely be agitations I amongst the idle unless conditions improved considerably. i