Dominion Unemployment Relief

PRESIDENT STAPELLS introduced the speaker who said:-The warmth of your welcome, together with the honour done by members of the Ontario Cabinet in coming out in the midst of a busy season, and the protecting care of General Draper, whom I see present, inspires me to assume that I may at least speak freely (Laughter). But in the exercise of free speech I promise that I shall not trespass beyond the bounds of the law. When my wife asked me a few days ago why I was coming to Toronto I said, "I am going up there, because I can say just what I like." (Laughter.) I am glad to have this opportunity of discussing with you and with those who are listening to me over the air, some of the questions that are rather uppermost in the public mind during these days.

Industrial and business activities are perhaps not at their zenith. It is encouraging to feel that an honest effort has been and is being made to minimize the distress of our people who are not at present fully employed in industrial activities, and that considerable results are already apparent" showing that the policies followed are bearing fruit. (Hear, hear.) I noticed in the press this morning that the Rt. Hon. gentleman who speaks for His Majesty's Loyal Opposition expresses the view that conditions are worse than ever. I remember that it was only about a year ago that the same gentleman indicated there was no unemployment in Canada; therefore I regard the utterance reported to come from him now quite as accurate as the one he made a year ago. It is true that unemployment has not been eliminated in Canada. I believe it is true that no thinking man in Canada ever expected that it would be eliminated in the space of a few short months; but I believe, likewise, that every thinking man admits that an honest and earnest effort has been made to try to relieve the trouble, and that there is an endeavor to get at the basic causes and try to avoid a repetition of what we have been passing through. (Applause.)

When the present Prime Minister travelled throughout Canada early last year and realized the significance of the approaching situation, which was bad enough then and growing worse, he determined on a practical remedy if the people desired it. They apparently did, and steps were taken forthwith to convene Parliament. The matter was promptly dealt with by Parliament, and within four days of prorogation the plans laid down and the regulations governing the administration and operation of the unemployment relief measures were adopted, and promptly put into effect. A very great deal of detail work was necessary; gentlemen from every province in Canada came to Ottawa and promptly accepted the basic principles which the federal government felt were necessary to lay down, in order that this work might be carried into effect in a manner fair to all concerned.

It has long been recognized that the care of unemployed people or of people in distress was primarily the responsibility of the community in which they live, that is, the municipality in whose jurisdiction they reside; and if a municipality is unable to provide relief" the assistance of the province is sought; but never has it been recognized by any federal government that a constitutional obligation rested upon them to deal with this subject. Therefore, in order not to impose upon the jurisdiction of the municipality or province, the authority of the federal government was secured, and Parliament permitted a substantial sum of money to be placed at the government's disposal for the purpose of assisting municipalities and provinces to discharge their respective duties to the citizens and residents within their respective jurisdictions.

With this basic principle in mind, it was decided that unemployment relief should be distributed as equitably and as widely as possible, but only where there was need for it; and so the work has gone on. I shall not give you a detailed account of the results, and the provision made thus far, except to say that up to this time public works have been approved to be carried on cooperatively by municipalities and provinces, with the aid of the federal government" in 1087 municipalities in Canada. Provincial undertakings are being carried on cooperatively with the provinces to the number of 267, anal there are between 150,000 and 175,000 men working today who would be unemployed were it not for this cooperative plan. (Applause). When any gentleman, be he Rt. Honourable or otherwise, publicly states that the situation is worse than it was a year ago, I do not propose to differ with him, but suggest that he realize what conditions would have been like if nothing had been done. I think perhaps that is the best way to answer any criticism that the federal government's activities have been useless. However, it is natural that during periods of depression such as we have been experiencing for a year and a half, the public mind should be somewhat disturbed" particularly the minds of thousands of men who are unemployed or living in daily fear of being unemployed.

I think the efforts that have been put forth to stem that tide of fear have brought hope and renewed confidence to many a man and his dependents during the past few months, and that as winter is passing and we come into springtime, we shall be better off in the main than was the case a year ago. We would be substantially better off if there had been no problems to solve other than to improve the situation in our own country. But in the country to the south of us there are said to be roughly 5,000,000 unemployed men today and it has been held that their situation is worse than our own; it is certainly true that nearly a million Canadians who crossed the border within the last ten years have found themselves recently .being compelled to give way to native citizens in the matter of employment opportunities-to which, in my opinion, we can make no objection-and so have been coming back to Canada in substantial numbers. They hoped that, by reason of the activities that were being undertaken in Canada, they might secure employment here. The effect of that general policy is that we have had a large immigration of our own Canadian-born people at a time when we had unemployment difficulties. Therefore I feel we need not be discouraged if some gentleman rises up and says the situation has not improved. I say that it has improved; between 150,000 and 200,,000 of our people have work in ,Canada today who would not have had, but for the government's policy.

Now I touch upon a delicate subject. During the past year and a half unrest has been growing in the minds of many people, especially those who are unemployed, or are living in fear of losing the jobs they have. It is inevitable that they should feel distressed and concerned. Ten years ago, when we had a somewhat similar situation, that condition of mind in our people, particularly those unemployed, was fertile soil in which to sow the seeds, first of discontent and then open opposition to our existing systems, both political and social. So it is not surprising that unrest should have recurred; but I assure you" from some knowledge of the situation the country over, that there is no cause to be unduly concerned about it. So large a proportion of our Canadian people have a substantial financial interest in property or securities, that they will not follow a phantom, and accept the propaganda which is being spread abroad by those who have no stake, or comparatively none, in this country, and do interest to serve except their theories; we need have no fear of those theories prevailing. It might be interesting to say a word or two more in detail on this subject. On the 19th of December last I had occasion to make the following observations when the subject of the increase of Communism in Canada was under review. I said:

"So large a proportion of the Canadian people have a 'direct monetary interest as property and security owners, representing the savings of their own toil, that they will not be easily swayed or controlled by Communistic doctrines, and are ready in the protection of their own interests, as well as the preservation of their belief in our present political and social systems, to protect them. It is most important, however, that the closest cooperation and sympathy should exist between what Communists describe as the 'capitalistic interests', and the workmen who are primarily dependent upon employment opportunities whereby they may maintain themselves and their dependents in keeping pace with Canadian standards of living. There should be a constant, earnest effort on the part of both of these indispensable partners in our national industrial life to maintain existing standards of working conditions and wages, because the prosperity of the country necessarily largely depends upon the purchasing power of the common people."

Shortly after that, a letter was written to me from a far-away part of this Dominion, on the Pacific Coast, by a gentleman who signed himself as the Secretary of the Economic Freedom League (Canada). Now, that is a rather splendid-sounding name-(laughter)--and it might represent almost anything. However, it was written on official paper and had a list of the names of the Directors of the Economic Freedom League printed thereon. I will read one sentence which is typical of several more that the letter contains

"You and your Colleagues of the Government are deliberately, for a price and for your own personal ends, betraying the interests of Canada and all Canadians."

Now, it so occurs that I did not believe that-(laughter)-and I did not believe that two of the gentlemen, whom I knew personally and who are shown as Directors of that Economic League, ever subscribed to any such statement as this, and so I wrote to those two gentlemen, both of whom were members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and in sending them a copy of the Secretary's letter I said:

"I notice further that the letterhead bears a motto apparently calling for 'Responsible Government', and that your name appears on the letterhead as one of the Directors of this League. The communication is a somewhat unusual though interesting one, and at the outset refers to a matter that is cited from me through the press on December 19th ....I am quite sure that many of the statements in the communication are equally unfounded, and would call your particular attention to the following"

Those are the words which I have just quoted. I added that as the writer of the letter was the Secretary of their League, I would refrain from replying until I knew whether or not they agreed with the words expressed.

These two gentlemen live a considerable distance apart in Western Canada, but apparently they met in a Western city very promptly with respect to my communication, and sent me the following telegram. Referring to Crafter,, the name of the Secretary, they say:

"Regard Crafter 'non compus mentis.' Liberty League entirely his own creation, never existed except on letterheads, and was repudiated by us years ago."

Both the members. of Parliament signed the telegram. I mention that incident, gentlemen, purely for the purpose of indicating to you my belief that we do not need to get excited about a lot of this kind of material that is in circulation, anti to which some of our public press has given encouragement. I think the Canadian people are too sanguine to pay attention to it. The officials in our large municipalities, such as the city of Toronto, having detailed information concerning these matters, deserve the people's confidence and support. I trust that the discussions that have recently occurred may not recur, and that some gentlemen who feel that they are better informed than their fellows, and may be enjoying the title of "Professors", even in the universities-(laughter) -may realize that there are two sides to the story, and that they had better not take too seriously the trash that is being spread about to make people believe that a grave state of affairs exists. (Hear, hear, and applause.)

Now may I say a word or two looking into the future a little? Unemployment is a reality. Human distress that results from unemployment is always a reality. It cannot be cured by theoretical observations. It requires personal study, a great amount of research, anal practical means whereby it may first be minimized and possibly ultimately controlled. A number of influential people and powerful business men both in this country and in the United States now strongly believe and advocate that during periods such as these there ought to be not only cooperation between employers and employees as in normal times, but that available employment opportunities should be spread as widely as possible among the men who are entitled to them. (Hear, hear.) Many institutions today are doing that; some institutions and employers are being severely criticized by the propaganda to which I referred, which in effect says to the Canadian people, whether they be employers or unemployed, "Whatever any government or any employer does is wrong". I wonder how they expect to delude the Canadian people into believing that these ills can be remedied when they offer nothing constructive in place of criticism. (Applause.)

I believe that there are many large -employers who feel that, by mutual consent, organized labour and organized employers should agree that every man who bas a job, and can earn six days' pay a week, ought to be satisfied with it during these days, and give to the man who has no job an opportunity to share with his more fortunate fellow. In my opinion there is nothing that would obliterate Communism more quickly in Canada than the exemplification of this spirit. (Applause.) I realize that there are many labour men who, will disagree with some of the things that I have said today. That has happened before. My friend, Rt. Hon. Mr. Meighen, was in the thick of the controversy, as I was, and knows that it is difficult to please everyone; but I feel that the experiences and actions of those days were adequately justified, and that if it should ever occur that irresponsible men decline to respect the law, they must accept the responsibility, and not endeavor to shift it upon those in authority.

I trust, gentlemen, the unemployment situation will continue to improve. A few days ago I received a communication asking what proportion of the federal government's appropriation for the relief of unemployment had been expended" and what provision we expected to make for the continuance of this assistance. My answer is that the federal government's appropriation as voted by Parliament was not $20,000,000, but that $64,000,000 worth of employment opportunities are already authorized, and not more than 25 per cent. of them have been -completed; that the works already authorized will carry on and employ a larger number of men than have been employed up to the present, because some of the larger works are only starting; that the allocation of the major portion of the federal government's allotment toward the relief of unemployment has been made, but the money has not been spent, and that the completion of those governmental or cooperative undertakings between the municipality, the province and the federal authority, will go on in the winter, with increasing relief to, the Canadian people. Parliament will be in session long before there can be any need for further appropriations; but I do not anticipate this need.

There is some indication, and no little criticism to the effect that all this relief was for industrial work, and nothing for the farmer. That is quite incorrect; for example, take the province of Saskatchewan, which was probably more severely hit than any other, by reason of drought conditions; we made special provision with the Saskatchewan Government for that situation, and $860,000 was spent in work provided for the farmers in the dried-out area, which comprised roughly 125,000 people. The accounts from Saskatchewan came in the other day, showing that over 9,000 farmers in that province had participated in the benefits of the work provided; that 3,000 teams of horses had been used; that the federal government's portion of the cost was $424,000; and that of the $860,000 odd, all but $40,000 went into wages; 9,000 farmers in that area were permitted to earn roughly $100 each to provide them with what in some districts we term "grub stake," to help them through the winter. They were helped just as well as the industrial workers. I could mention a great deal of work now going on from which the farmers have benefitted fully as much as anyone else, because it was the policy of the federal government and the desire of Parliament that everyone in need should be treated alike.

I thank the Empire Club for having given me the opportunity to deal with this matter, and to give some information that may be helpful. At the same time I want to leave this message of hope, that in my opinion there is no country which has better opportunities and prospects than the Dominion of Canada; we need not fear any of those scare headlines that are being thrown out, or propaganda and red-hot speeches emanating from irresponsible persons throughout various parts of Canada. We should realize and trust the character of the Canadian people, and believe, as I do, that they will not make any mistake. Having an eye on the future prosperity of this country, believing that it has a better chance of rapid development than almost any other country on earth., all we need to do is to have faith in our institutions.

Governments deserve your confidence" and you should give it to them, because I think that men in public life probably meet with discouragements quite in excess of those that come to men in other positions. When the Rt. Hon. R. B. Bennett and others give their time, almost entirely without compensation, to make an honest effort to serve Canada, they should not be addressed in words such as I read a few moments ago-that they are deliberately and for a price betraying Canada and the Canadian people.

I thank you sincerely for this opportunity. I expect that at the opening of the coming business season we will find Canada happier and more prosperous, and one of the first countries to recover from the business depression that is world-wide at present. (Loud applause.)

The Rt. Hon. Mr. Meighen voiced the thanks of the Club for the informative and inspiring address.