‘WORK FOR EVERY MAN’

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20987, 14 December 1939, Page 6

‘WORK FOR EVERY MAN’

SCHEME 13 FOR UNFIT MEN i I j HON. P. C. WEBB’S ASSURANCE I (special to Times) CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday i “I want to say most definitely that I no able-bodied man willing to go j where the work is need be out of J employment at the present time,” said the Minister for Labour, the Hon. j P. C. Webb, when emphasising in I an interview that work had been arj ranged for every man willing to ac- | cept it. I Unfortunately, work could not be : provided in the cities, but in the task ! of bringing the country into greater ! productivity the Government could ! find employment which was probably ! the best in which men could be en- | gaged from the Dominion’s point of : view, added Mr Webb. “Scheme 13 could be abolished to- ; morrow and every man found a job ! if the men were fit,” said the Minister, “but unfortunately a large numj ber of those employed under the ! scheme at present are men advanced | in years and practically ‘worked out.’ I In the case of others, their trades and professions have been taken by the ■ machine. For example, there are i many experienced ledger men and bookkeepers to be found in the ranks of the unemployed, the adding machine and typewriter having taken their place.” Untrained for Manual Work | These men were not trained for manual work and it was hard to expect them to fit into jobs requiring physical effort, although many of the stronger ones had done so splendid- ; ly. The Minister also said that many ; older commercial travellers had : found themselves out of employment since the depression period and i where their places had been taken it j was mainly by younger and more I active men. j “Scheme 13 is kept going largely | to provide work that these men can do,” Mr Webb said. “Then there are men with large families whom it would not be wise, fair or humane to take from their homes. We try to arrange work for them through local bodies but unfortunately that work is fast reaching an end. Local bodies are finding it increasingly difficult to provide work even when wages are ; found by the Employment Department.”