RELIEF WORK.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1921, Page 5

RELIEF WORK.

MEN ON ROADS AND RAILWAYS. MINISTER AND LOCAL BODIES. The number of men employed by the Public Works Department on relief works at present is in the neighborhood of 350. The department was employing 4760 men on ordinary public works at the end of last year, and the number on the roll at the* end of last week was 4500. The reduction is smaller than would normally be made, in view of the season of the year. Commenting on the relief works, the Minister said that unemployment seemed to be worst in Wellington and Auckland. Provision for employing men had been made in various parts of the North Island, and he had to acknowledge the ready assistance that the department was receiving from the local bodies. “We have been authorising local grants in urgent cases,” the Minister said, “and in all cases we give preference to expenditure on work that will not require the purchase of expensive material. The amount of money available is limited, and we select works where nearly all the expenditure takes the form of wages. We endeavor to postpone the purchase of material, especially heavy iron work, which has to be imported. The important point when considering local works under present conditions is how much will be spent in giving employment in New Zealand.”