Communications and transit > Enquiry on national public works

223 —
unemployed had sunk to 78,918, is ascribable in some considerable measure to the increase
of employment which was brought about by the execution of public works under open-
market conditions. These works consequently represented an important contribution
towards the improvement of the unemployment position.
VI. Recapitulatory Comparison of the Financial Period 1933-34
with Previous Financial Periods.
The differences to be noted on a number of points between the financial periods
from 1929-30 to 1932-33 and the financial period 1933-34 have already been mentioned
on several occasions. It would appear desirable to give a summary analysis of them
by way of conclusion.
The principal difference relates to j)ublic works under open-market conditions. During
the financial periods 1929-30 and 1930-31, the action taken by the public authorities
to cope with the unemployment problem did not include works of this kind. Only in the
following two financial periods were credits—for small amounts—passed for this purpose.
In the 1933-34 period, however, these works formed a prominent feature of the system.
The rules previously applied for reserve works were extensively modified. During
the period 1929-30 to 1932-33, the works undertaken were not to be of such a kind that
they might be expected to be put in hand on the open market in the near future, and they
were, moreover, to be of utility to the State, to a commune or to some other public insti¬
tution. From the 1933-34 period onwards, on the other hand, there are no works that
may not, in principle, be carried out as reserve works, and it is, moreover, permissible
for such works to be carried out for the benefit of private persons, provided that they
are executed under arrangements made by a public body. As regards wages, too, the
principles applied since the 1933-34 financial period differ from those previously in force,
inasmuch as wages paid for reserve works approximate more closely to ordinary market
rates.
The volume of public work contemplated in the 1933-34 period shows a considerable
increase relatively to previous periods.
The following table, summarising certain data previously given in Sections III and
IV, will enable the position to be gauged :
Table 11.
Reserve State works
Number
of
schemes
State
contribution
Materials
Wages
1929-30 to 1932-33
1933-34
State-subsidised commu¬
nal reserve works :
1929-30 to 1932-33 • • •
1933-34
Work carried out under
open-market condi¬
tions :
1929-30 to 1932-33
1933-34
Total, 1929-30 to 1932-33
Total, 1933-34
418
368
i,389
1,625
4,116
34,387
5,923
36,380
Crowns
92,861,537
79,085,403
36,988,705
60,713,750
10,685,399
127,238,404
140,535,641
Crowns
76,205,723
69,701,977
16,073,635
34,758,110
7,684,292
65,623,641
99,963,650
267,037,557 170,083,728
Crowns
17,561,034
15,791,693
10,495,405
21,027,125
3,827,744
61,962,835
31,884,183
98,781,653
75,300,503
63,293,7IQ
26,493,300
39,686,625
6,857,655
65,275,569
108,651,458
168,255,904