H,— 35.

The net expenditure by the Board during the financial year 1933-34 in fostering gold mining and prospecting amongst unemployed men was £198,334, of which £7,293 was expended in subsidizing wages of men taken on by companies or syndicates and employed full time. Companies availing themselves of assistance under this scheme (No. 8b) are under agreement with the Board to refund all assistance granted from the Unemployment Fund before any dividends are paid or their interests disposed of to other companies. One company recently, in refunding to the Board all the assistance granted in accordance with their agreement, stated that it was only the timely and practical assistance made available which enabled the company to continue their mining operations, and, in doing so, to provide regular weekly employment for thirty men who would otherwise have been on part-time relief. As a result of the work carried out by this subsidized labour, gold-production at the mine was more than doubled, and further development work now possible will absorb a number of additional men. In this and other instances, substantial benefits have accrued both from the viewpoint of employment and to the mining industry. SMALL-FARM PLAN. The Small-farm Plan is administered by the Small Farms Board, but the Unemployment Board continues to assist in its operation by providing sustenance allowances for occupiers where it is established that they are not yet self-supporting. The maximum rate of sustenance, allowance is £1 per week, and the term thereof is limited to thirteen weeks, except in certain cases, where the position may be reviewed. Assistance from the Unemployment Fund in this direction during the financial year 1933-34 amounted to £16,476. Administrative co-operation between the two Boards is maintained through the appointment to the Small Farms Board of Mr. G. C. Godfrey, Commissioner of Unemployment, wee Mr. J. S. Jessep, late Deputy-Chairman of the Unemployment Board. FULL-TIME WORK AT STANDARD OR AWARD RATES. For the last two years the Board has been subsidizing the employment of men taken from the register of unemployed and placed on full-time work at ruling or award rates of pay. Until recently this form of "relief work" was limited chiefly to land-development and road-metalling jobs put m hand by the Public Works Department and Main Highways Board, and to gold-mining by companies and syndicates under Scheme No. Bb. In every case the Board had to be satisfied, before approving a subsidy, that the work could not lie done with the finances available to the employing authority. Having satisfied itself on this point, the Board would approve a wages subsidy based usually on the existing Scheme No. 5 allocation. This had the effect of transferring relief labour from work on a rationed basis, and probably of little value, to normal full-time work m industry Increasing numbers of men were found employment in this direction, and the Board sought ways and means of extending this policy as a major step towards a solution of the unemployment problem. Certain secondary industries have been granted subsidized labour, but the field is not sufficiently laige at this juncture to make an appreciable difference in the numbers on relief. The Building Subsidy Scheme, of course, has a close connection with this policy, but the basis of subsidy is dissimilar. However, this scheme is dealt with in another section of the report. _ The primary industries have done a great deal to absorb relief labour m full-time work on a subsidized basis. This is evidenced by the numbers provided with work under the various farm subsidy schemes, the majority being employed in circumstances which place them in comparatively the same position from a monetary standpoint as ordinary workers in the primary industries In the principal centres of population, and to a certain extent m rural districts, the Board is looking to local employing authorities for co-operation in employing relief labour at ruling rates of pay for full-time work. . . , Numbers of local bodies have made special efforts to put m hand new works such as street and footpath improvement, drainage, water-supply, &c. If they are unable to finance the whole cost of such work the Board, to enable the work to proceed, will come to their assistance by subsidizing the wages of relief workers, who must be employed at standard or award rates for a working-week of not less than forty hours. The Board's subsidy is not hard and fast, but is based principally upon the amount of funds which the employing authorities are able to find. Other relevant factors are, of course, taken into consideration. The advantage accruing to the men under this arrangement is obvious They have the opportunity of getting back to work under normal conditions instead of remaining on rationed work, and, incidentally, the Unemployment Fund is augmented to the extent of the wages-tax payable. Valuable community work is being_ completed m this manner m various parts of the Dominion, and it is hoped many more local bodies will submit similar proposals. SCHEME NO. 5 : WORK ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. Shortly after the inception of Scheme N O . sit was agreed that unemployed labour might advantageously be utilized in improving and developing farm lands, and the assistance extended by the Board in this direction has been extensively availed of by farmers whose financial circumstances would otherwise have necessitated an indefinite postponement of development work really necessary to obtain full benefit from the land. . , Where farmers were in a position to contribute towards the wages cost of relief labour employed on their properties they were required to do so, but a contribution from the farmer or owner of the property was not made a mandatory condition to the placement of relief labour on the improvement or development of privately owned farm lands.

3—H. 35.

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