LAZY HUSBANDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1921, Page 6

LAZY HUSBANDS.

MEN WHO WON’T WORK. SCHEME OF COMPULSION. We are hearing a good deal now about men who cannot get work. A deputation from the Christchurch Coal and Blanket Fund, which waited on the Canterbury members of Parliament committee last week, had a good deal to say about men who don't want work. The deputation asked that something should be done to compel men to work, who would not work and provide maintenance for their families. It was suggested that there should be detention camps, or farm colonics, and that the money earned should be given to wives and children. The appointment of officers to collect maintenance moneys was also urged. Sister Grace instanced the case of one man who practically never worked, though he had a wife and seven children A member of the committee had been supplying the family with one meal a day for several months. Work in the country was obtained for the man, but' owing to his lazy habits, he missed a train. When he arrived on the job 24 hours’ late he was dismissed. She cited a case of another man with eleven children, whose ages ranged from two months tn 15 years. This man really did not earn his livelihood.

Another lady mentioned several eases, the general features of which were laziness on the part of the father, lying in bed till the day got warm, and indulgence in tobacco and drink. In one case a family of eight children, including a new baby, the husband drank, and though he obtained good jobs- he “simply won’t work.” Another man with 14 children preferred to play the flute in front of hotels, instead of supporting his family. Another woman had a husband who drank and preferred to go to gaol rather than support her. There were there children. Tn another case (the husband 28 years of age, the wife 24 years of age, and two children), work had been obtained for the husband, but he preferred to stay in bed. Two members of the committee knew of 50 cases of this kind.

The chairman (Mr. Isitt) suggested that a deputation representing the whole of the Dominion should be got up to wait on the Government during the coming season. He asked members of the deputation to supply the committee with any particulars they possessed of experience in other countries with detention camps.