1939-02-17 — Page 12

Britain's

THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 17, 1989

"Standing

Army"

Of 2,000,000 Unemployed

IDEA REFUTED BY MINISTER

OF LABOUR

London, To-day.

An unemployment censure motion, introduced in the House of Commons by the Labour Party yesterday, was defeated.

FRENCH ENVOY RESIGNATION LEAVING TO-DAY OF BURMESE FOR BURGOS GOVERNMENT

PARIS, TO-DAY.

RANGOON, TO-DAY.

OF AN-

con-

SENATOR BERARD, THE BURMESE GOVERNMENT FRANCE'S EMISSARY TO NA-HAS TENDERED ITS RESIGNA- TIONALIST SPAIN, IS LEAV- TION, AND THE GOVERNOR IS IMMÉDIATELY ING FOR BURGOS TO-DAY PROCEEDING The motion was moved by Mr. Arthur Greenwood, WITH TWO MEMBERS OF THE WITH FORMATION

|DIPLOMATIC CORPS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT. deputy leader of the Labour Opposition,

The Government's · resignation was the aftermath of long It expressed regret "at the continued failure of the THE RANK OF SECRETARIES

tinued riots and disturbances.

In the House of Representatives Government to produce a definite policy which OF EMBASSY.

President Azana, who fled

yesterday the opposition accused recognises that the problem can only be solved

France before the fall of Barce-the Government of failing to main- by application of socialist principles."

lona, left for Madrid by air last

tain law and order. to meet the situation; reviewed the evening. Mr. Greenwood said: "We are get-position in shipbuilding, cotton,

Senor Alvarez del Vayo, the ting into a position now where we agriculture and other industries shall always have, in good times, a which were in a depressed condi- Spanish Foreign Minister, visited standing army of about two million tion, and contrasted this fact with Paris for the purpose of persuad- the assertion in the memorandum ing President Azana to return to unemployed.

Reuter. "Even rearmament is not keep-of the Royal Economic Society that Spain.

of the increase in physical output per ing pace with

last five years operative in the trade."

the recession

—

The Minister of Labour, Mr. amounted to 27 per cent., and in Department in reference Ernest Brown, replying to the Lab- the case of the engineering indus-new form of competition

which had to be met. our attack, said the next returns try to 57 per cent. would show that the number of un- employed was not two millions.

He declared that the standing army of unemployed was nothing like two millions.

NOT A STANDING ARMY

un-

un-

Mr. Brown said that only 289,000, or fifteen per cent, had been employed twelve months or longer.

Seventy per cent. had been employed less than six weeks.

That showed that the vast ma-

not jority of unemployed were standing army, and also showed that two million people were not decaying in idleness.

a

Last year nearly three million men had been “placed" by labour exchanges.

Mr. Brown declared the gravest section of the problem was rooted In the international situation, and connected the three great exporting industries-coal, cotton and ship- ping."

FEWER LONG-TERMS

He urged the need of great pu- blic schemes of land drainage and development of ports, harbours, transport as well as roads and work in counection with the pro- tection of the civil population in time of war.

to

to the abroad

If all nations would join in put- ting into force the Van Zeeland Re- port there would be a great improve- ment, but unfortunately some, na- tions were not yet convinced of that.

He recommended consideration of the construction of camps, which he' believed would make an appeal to the younger unemployed, and drew attention to the success attending the United such development in States,

FOUR-YEAR-PLAN

The recent report of the com- mittee enquiring into the riots at- tributed the reasons to the unsatis- factory condition of land tenure, immigration, the effect of Indian marriage of Burmese women with foreigners, particularly Indians, and the attitude of the press and other political influences.-Reuter.

BAN ON CATALAN LANGUAGE IN CATALONIA

Barcelona, To-day.

GRAVITY OF PROBLEM

Mr. Ernest Brown said although

The use of the Catalan language in as a second official language difference in the there was no

Catalonia has been prohibited by a country about the gravity of some aspects of the problem it could

special decree signed by General Mr.

Franco. Spanish will be the only not be stated in the terms

He also advocated extension to official language throughout the Greenwood had used.

such works Grants for public

last other areas of schemes

as Catalan province. All Catalan po- those already put into operation in litical and self-administrative year amounted to £300,000,000.

There were twenty residential the Special Areas, and said he saw thorities have been dissolved and

not replaced by officials of Franco. instructional centres for unem-no reason why Britain could

two none-residential. have its own four-year plan com- Trans-Ocean.

construction of ployed, and At any given time they had 22,000 prising

camps,

in residential and four thousand amenity schemes and special hous➡

ing schemes.-British Wireless. in non-residential centres.

HOME DEFENCE

Mr. Brown discussed the oppor- tunities for employment in

the

MR. OLIVER STANLEY'S REVIEW

After the considerable but not

au-

be made on the number of unem ployed.

do

TRADE TALKS

Referring to the coming Anglo- There were fewer long-term un-home defence programme, including extreme trade recession beginning German trade talks, Mr. Stanley employed then had been registered provision at the expense of £20,000,- last year, the curve flattened out said: "We want to ascertain whe- for years. « The number declined 000 of shelters and the vast amount in the late summer and since then ther it is possible to reach a

work from 483,000 in May, 1933, to 289,- of constructive

in the has

been either steady or has modus vivendi with the totalitarian

or whether we can basements and tended slightly to rise, declared states 000 now.

strengthening of Over 109,000 unskilled unemploy-provision of domestic and communal Mr. Oliver Stanley, President of nothing but fight them with their

the Board of Trade, concluding the own weapons." ed men had been trained for various shelters.

Alluding to the demands for trades, of which 89 per cent. had He claimed that the Government unemployment debate in the House

of Commons yesterday.

colonies Mr. Stanley said that if had made great efforts to set up

all those countries' demands were granted, whatever they derived therefrom would add less to the prosperity and happiness of their peoples then they could get by a stroke of the pen in helping to re- move the tension which they have helped to create.

found work..

At instructional centres where men. were prepared for labouring work, 80 per cent had found em- ployment.

The lower percentage was due to the fact that many, of the men had to be brought back to physical fitness.

The political tension and the drop in prices of primary products had had a great effect on stopping the marvellous recovery from 1938 to 1987.-Reuter.

"RATIONALISATION"!

Mr. Greenwood, in calling upon Government to advance proposals

new industries but a live policy of He disclosed that the Govern- allaying tension abroad and secur- ment regarded shipbuilding as a ing peace must be the best and matter of great urgency. surest way of providing more em- ployment for the people.

Major Lloyd George (Liberal) urged the necessity of measures for, reviving the export trade, and advocated full enquiries into condition of agriculture.

the

1

-

some

NEW POLICY Formerly the policy on economic old grounds had been to scrap tonnage and build new, but the

LIGHTENING TENSION pólicy in relation to defence now was to lay up old tonnage and

He believed there was build new.

solid basis for the recent feeling Defence expenditure would have of lightening of the tension. Cer Mr. Anthony Eden (Conservative) | an.... Immediate effect on employ-tainly it was the Government's in- referred with approval to the re- ment. If the export trade could tention to provide such a basis. cent declarations by the President be held and increased in the com- The Labour unemployment mo- the ing year, effective inroads would tion of censure was rejected by of the Board of Trade and

Reuter. Secretary of the Overseas Trade Continued at foot of Next Column. 844 votes to 148.

MR. EDEN'S SPEECH