Unemployment

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 207, 2 October 1929, Page 9

Unemployment

THE PROBLEM AT HOME Mr J. H. Thomas At Labour Conference HIS CANADIAN TOUR. (Received Thi3 Day. 1 p.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 1. The unemployment problem was cliscussed at the Brighton Labour conference to-day by tlie Lord Priyy Seal, &lr J. H. Thomas, the Minister ; in charge of nieasures taken ior alleviatmg tne situation. His speech aroused special interest, as it was the hrst occasion since his return from Canada that Mr Thomas bas pubJicly made an exliaustive examination of the position. He said that the Government would be judged lightly because the Labour movemenr must make the right to work carry with it the right to live. Dealiiig with the difficulty and the great expense mvolvcd in securing relief through public* woyks, he said that £1,000,000 of public money spent- did not provide work for more than 2000 directly and 2000 indirectly. That was the answer to those who assumed that the mere pouring out of public money was a solution. Public works were hampored in two respects. Firstly, in order to obtain the necessary Government grajit they had to show a certain lixed |>erceutage of unomployed in their districts. A HUGE SUM. The Government immediately said that no percentage of tliat kind was fair and they had removed that anomaly. The second difficulty was the question of acceleration and when Parliament met there would liave been sanctioncd over £6,000,000 for municipalities smce the Government took office. The Government had also sanctioned five years' road progress, costiug £10,000,000, while programmes of £28,000,000 for unelassified roads were sanctioned and negotiations were taking place in connection with them. Proceeding, he referred to other directions in which the Government had endeavoured to stimulate employment. Representatives of railways, docks, harhours, electricity and workers and other industries were invited hy the Government to a private . .discussion. . As a result magnificefit scbemes tliat would provide work and would lielp make the nation to be more _ efficient had heen submitted and sanctioned. MAGING GOOD PROGRESS. Regarding colonial development he said that large scheines of improvement that would provide work for people at Home wero making good progress. Migration would also help the unemployment problem, hut Canada, ho found,, had unemployment diffigulties oi Lts own at preserit. Trade development with Canada, however, offered considerahle pfospec-ts. particularlv as it appeared that for every £1 Canada spent with Britam she "spent £5 with- the TJnited States. He b.elioved that the Canadian roarket for. Englisli coal might be. encouraged and without .anypne knpwiim, except a few of his .colleagues, Mr Thomas said that he took a shipload of coal -to Canada and interviewed eveiyoue withiri the Quebec and Montreal areas wlio purcliased large quantities of coal from the TJnited States. . The collieries of Nova Scotia had organised against him so he brought back some Nova Scitian coal and. was going to show the benefit of blending it with British coal. _ He next applied Jiimself to steet.. and some of the -biggest firms were now going to order steel from Britam that did not order here before. MINERS AND RAIL WORKERS. Mr Tliomas dealt at considerahle' length with his visit to Canada, describing his efforts to get Canadian consumers to buy coal aud steel irom Britain. , „ He pointed out that every 300 tons of coal would • provide work for U months for a Britisli collier to enable him 'to lieep his wife and family. It would also provide work for railwaymen transport workers and a hundred and one other trades: It was far better dealing with the unemployment problem hy getting perraanent trade than to adopt artihcial means of providing work. He had succeeded in getting the' Canadian Racific Railwav, the Canadian National Railways and 'the Canadian Steamship Combany to test British coal. "When he returned to England he called together the coalowncrs' and representatives of the steel industrv and there was a full and frank discus61*011. Tlie coal owners and steel manufacturers expressed their higli appreciation, and at the present moment scliemes were being worked out to •give effect to the missionary work which he had done. The Lancasliire cotton trade would also, in his iudgm«nt, benefit from his visit to Canada. At the present timo the preference give n by Canada to this country ^ was given conditionally on 50 per ceht_ of the Labour used in the article being British. Lancasliire in the past two vears had suffered bccauso the raw material of the cotton, essential to their goods, must be hroupht from outside the British Empire. Therefore they were penalised in that particular trade. He'Iioped raw material would be excluded from theso cohditions and, Lancasliire "benefit as a result. ; NO, PROMISES YET. Mv Thomas said tliat lie was'aware of the difficulties of liis task of- dealing with the unemployment problem. "I don't make any promise- o'f numbers at this moinent," " he declared,, "but I am confident that when Februarv coraes ;our figures of unemployed will he different and" hetter than under the late Government." The Minister remindcd _ his hearers that though on the resrister to day there were nearly L200.000 unemployed, there was actually employed in industrv 100,000 more persons than durinc the hoem period of 1914. Tb© hirth rate, however, was exceeding the death rate hy approximately 200.000 yearly and there were a far greater number of women enga^d. in industrv th»u evAr liefore. Mr Thomas an'd -Mrs Thomas hav* heen invited to spend n,-few days at Sandringham- with the'King. _ •• - -Thov will arrive there oir Fridav. ^ . T+. is un';'erstood • that, . f he - -Kiue .n-ishes to discuss with Mr Thomas his t Canadian- twr... , ... .