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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 5 (August 1, 1936)

Work for the Workless

Work for the Workless.

The happy solution of the political problem in Samoa is only one of a
(Rly. Publicity photo.) Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.

score of directions in which the liberal and humanitarian policy of Mr. Savage and his Cabinet has operated to the public good in a few months. The last Government was helpless in the face of the unemployment nightmare. When the Savage administration took charge it set to work immediately to place workless men in employment that would be a permanent benefit to the country besides giving them a decent wage. They established a bureau for the purpose of fitting the men into jobs which suited them and in which they would be contented. They instituted a bold programme of public works that took away the breath of some timid people who immediately prophesied ruin and desolation. That new works policy steadily reduced the ranks of the unemployed and the deadend relief workers; it put new heart into thousands of men and their families.

The responsible Minister, the Hon. Robert Semple, thus summed up the position after the new methods had been in operation a few weeks: