The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1925. BETTER FORM OF “DOLE."

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 19 May 1925, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1925. BETTER FORM OF “DOLE."

“Patriotic motives, “ _ tlie cable morirftiges iniorm us this mornnig,: pi'oiiLpied. Hurit Vestey and bn jitdmuud V estey the muon maligned meat uisiributoi's, "to pay jjntisli smpbuilders AuUU,UUu | more titan trie cost oi Uio steamers ’ivould have been it built on the Uontineiiit.” Inis is practical patriotism of the iugiifest order. Previous messagfcs j reported the decisions of the Blue I biar Erne to place an order tor a fleet of ships lor the ArgentineDondon chilled meat service. It was not suggested, in the earlier j messages mat the orders were being allocated to British ship- j builders only by tlie patriotism 1 of the owner's of the jjlue Star Line; indeed, the cireumstanee was -welcomed as a happy omen j lieialcliug- the restoration Of the j Dritisii shipbuilding industry as • competitors on equal terms with, tlie roreigner. borne months ago we suggested that the Govern*-; meat snould apply the millions I provided ior the payment of the j uoiei to subsidise Heavily handicapped industries. Emce the Armistice industrial conditions in Britain have gone steadily to the bad; By the beginning* of 192.1 tlie number of unemployed m Great Britain was over a million; by. June, 1921, it was 2| million; by March, 19Y3, 1| million. At tno last of these dates there was a general expectation that the drop would steadily continue till a normal level was reached. Tho drop did not cume. Another way j of approaching- the hg-lifes is by j observing them in relation to the coming and going- of Government. We then hud the follow-' m ® : • . .. . Number of unemployed. Conservative Government goes out of office, January 7, 1924 1,267,675 Unemployment vote of censure oil Labour Government moved iii the Hoiise of Commons, May, 1924 1,021,000 Labour Government goes out of office November 10, 1924 1,218,392 March 21, with present Government in office for five months 1.219,200 As has been repeatedly pointed, out, these statistics cietiliy show, mat, cast the blame where we cndbse, whatever Government mis been m power, between r,II>U,UUU and l,cuu,UUU unhappy people tire pdipetuaiiy receiving allowances', SUieiy on * condition mat they have no work to do. Dut a better use can be made of relief funds than applying- tiiG money as doles to iuie multitudes. Since the'Armistice, about =t'dUU,UOU,UUU lias been spent in Britain in one fbl'm dr ahotiier ior unemployment relief. Purely British statesmanship Should have have discovered some methods by which “unemployment benefits'' might have been used not to keep men out of work but to enable them to engage in productive employment. lids aspect of the prodeni is now' engaging the attention of British captanls of industry and members of the imperial Government. An interesting- suggestion was made late m March by Mr P. E. Haldin, manager of the Court Eiiio, at a meeting of that company’s sharenoiders. Mr Haldm pointed out that 120,QU0 miners were out of employment, “in receipt of the dole —the dole that the taxpayers have to provide, winch impoverishes us and is unproductive.” lie therefore proposed that the Government should say to tho miueowners: “Go ami get ail your miners who- are unemployed down into the pits—re-engugo them and pay them lull wages ipr the lull work they do. Yv’e, tho Government, instead of paying ' each man every weals his doie, or 1 whatever he receives, will pay tlie equivalent amount to tho colliery-proprietor.” ±n this way Mr naldm hoped that two results would be obtained—the men would bo kept at work and coal would be produced at a cheaper price. The effect of cheaper coal would then, be thought, be felt throughout British industries iii giving the manufacturers cheaper non and steel, and tlie ref ore it would finally aid in the cheaper building oi ships, in place or wasting money on tlie “uole,” wmeh goes to 2>uy people not to work, me samei amount would bo used iii stimulating industry. Lord V estey and tali- lAlmund V estey have given the imperial Government an excellent lead. Tlie sacrnicc these practical patriots have imposed upon memselves in order to provide work lor British workers in British shipyards will substitute production ior unpruduction, aild i provide au escape ior thousands of workers from the demoralising influence of the dole. Surely | VesLey Brothers’ example will j not only awaken the patriotic spirit in other wealthy trading corporations and help them see tlie light, but will encourage tho imperial Government to provide a belter class of-dole in the form of substantial subsidies to baitstavved industries by diverting muck of file money now applied to unemployed reiicf, with all its attendant evils, to- the rehabilitation oi: such classes of productive, work as will restart tlie now silent wheels of industry and give thousands of workers and their dependents new* hppo arid brighter prospects.