South Australia - The Depression Years - 1930 to 1936
Introduction
Also see:
Adelaide - Destitution
South Australia - Industrial Relations - Miscellany .
Introduction
(Taken from Geoffrey H. Manning, The Grange Golf Club, p. 82)
The 1930s was to see riots upon the streets of Adelaide where workers, armed with iron bars and spiked sticks and branded as "communists" by some sections of the press, protested against the action of government in removing beef from the ration issue. Bailiffs, supported by police equipped with batons and sledgehammers, forced families from slum homes into the streets, while malnourished bare-footed children in rags, stood, forlornly, with their parents in queues at soup kitchens and dole centres.
Among the aggrieved were diggers from the first world war and widows of ex-servicemen who were refused a pension from the repatriation authority whose counterpart, the War Service Homes Commission, was "as ruthless as the banks in evicting those unable to keep up their rent payments." The promise of "a land fit for heroes" proved to be no more than idle rhetoric as misery upon misery was heaped upon a great majority of the working class.
In summation of the human degradation suffered during the depression years one commentator invited deeper thought, and wondered as to whether mankind had learned any moral lessons from that sad and sorry period of our history, when he said:
-
There seems to be no end to the selfishness, greed and aggression produced by a competitive society, with its inevitable tendency to divide into rich and poor. [Today] with the true figure of unemployed and under-employed people running at well over a million, social wastage and disillusionment continue at unacceptable levels. The task of creating a fairer society seems just as challenging, the way ahead just as obscure, as it did to the men and women who battled their way through the depression.
General Notes
The following references are provided for the interregnum period of 1927-1929 in respect of prevailing economic conditions in South Australia:
"The Unemployment Problem" is in the Advertiser,
1 April 1927, page 12e,
29 June 1927, page 12h.
"The Standard of Living" is in the Advertiser,
4 July 1927, pages 8e-11d,
"Work for the Unemployed" on
11 August 1927, page 8g.
"Unemployed Trouble - Trooper's Horse Slashed" is in the Register,
25 July 1927, page 9a.
For further representations from the unemployed and the reaction of government, unions and the Church see Register,
27 July 1927, pages 8d-9c,
10, 17 and 26 August 1927, pages 8e, 9g and 11b,
7, 9, 11 and 14 November 1927, pages 9g, 11c, 8g and 13g.
"Churches and the Unemployed" is in the Advertiser,
12 November 1927, page 16c.
For a comparison between "modern-day" events and those of the 1840s see under "History Repeating Itself" by Rev John Blacket in the Register,
19, 21, 25, 29 and 30 November 1927, pages 7c, 7g, 12g, 11c and 17e,
19 December 1927, page 13f.
Letters to the Editor in respect of unemployment are in the Register,
22 November 1927, page 3a,
2 December 1927, page 15c.
"On Bread Line - Unemployed Draw Rations" is in The News,
9 November 1927, page 12e.
"Militant Unemployed - Treasury Building Stormed" is in the Register,
29 November 1927, page 11a; also see
30 November 1927, page 13a,
1, 14, 15 and 20 December 1927, pages 12a, 11d, 12b and 8g,
7 January 1928, page 9g,
7, 10 and 11 February 1928, pages 9g, 9c and 11b.
"Maintaining the Unemployed" is in the Advertiser,
28 January 1928, page 12g,
"Unemployment" on
11 and 13 February 1928, pages 12h and 12e,
"Unemployment Relief" on
19 April 1928, page 11i,
"Unemployment and the Business Cycle" on
22 June 1928, page 12f.
A "unemployed camp" situated in an olive plantation between the police barracks is in the and the gaol is discussed in the Register,
14 February 1928, pages 10g-11e; also see
15, 16, 22, 23 and 25 February 1928, pages 9c, 13d, 7d, 8h-12b-13f and 10g,
2 and 3 March 1928, pages 11c and 12e,
4 April 1928, page 11b.
"Single Unemployed - How Homeless Men Exist" is in the Register,
23 February 1928, page 8h.
"Unemployment and Waterside Workers" is in the Register,
12 April 1928, page 2h,
"We Want Work - Police Draw Batons" on
17 April 1928, page 10a; also see
3, 9 and 16 May 1928, pages 13e, 9g and 9g,
4 and 5 July 1928, pages 11b and 15b.
"Feeding the Hungry" is in The News,
28 June 1928, page 6f,
"Wood for Poor" on
6 July 1928, page 8e.
"Salvation Army Meals for the Hungry" is in the Advertiser,
2 July 1928, page 9a; also see
Register,
19 July 1928, page 13a,
3 August 1928, page 17d,
"The Cheerless Dawn - Pathos at a Kitchen" in the Register,
14 July 1928, page 10a; also see
2 and 24 August 1928, pages 8d-11c and 12a.
A Salvation Army free soup kitchen in Light Square is reported upon in the Advertiser,
28 June 1929, page 12f.
"Salvation Army Free Meal Kitchen" is in The Mail,
24 August 1929, page 32.
Also see Religion - South Australia .
Photographs of meals being distributed to the unemployed in Hanson Street in the old Zion Chapel are in the Observer,
14 July 1928, page 37.
"Unemployment Relief and Public Works" is in the Advertiser,
2 August 1928, page 12e.
"Work Among Unemployed" is in the Register,
26 September 1928, page 11e,
"Homeless and Workless" on
22 November 1928, page 15d,
"The Unemployed - Suggestions for Relief" on
8 and 11 December 1928, pages 11d and 11a; also see
12 December 1928, page 10a.
"Unemployment - The Government's Responsibility" is in the Advertiser,
12 December 1928, page 19a,
"Relief in Rations" on
7 March 1929, page 16e,
"The Poor and Needy" on
1 March 1929, page 30e.
"Italians Invade Rural Areas" is in The Mail,
29 December 1928, page 1f.
"Children Gnawing Dry Crusts in [Port Adelaide] Street" is in The Mail,
19 January 1929, page 3f,
"Dread Spectre of Want" on
26 January 1929, page 3f,
2 and 9 February 1929, pages 10c and 6a.
"Unemployed on River Bank" is in The Mail,
26 January 1929, page 1b.
"Tragic Stories of Port Hardships" is in the Register,
15 and 19 February 1929, pages 8b and 9a.
Information on the Whitefield Congregational Institute at Hindmarsh and its campaign to raise funds to provide meals for "underfed children" is in The Mail,
9 March 1929, page 3a.
Also see Place Names - Hindmarsh - Schools and Churches.
"Causes of Unemployment" is in the Advertiser,
3 and 5 April 1929, pages 8h and 22d,
17, 23, 27 and 28 May 1929, pages 12f, 10h, 12c and 12g.
"Relief for the Unemployed - Fine Response by Lady Sympathisers" is in the Advertiser,
10 April 1929, page 15a,
"Unemployment - An Appeal by the Lady Mayoress" on
15 June 1929, page 15e,
"Unemployment - Finding a Solution" on
12 July 1929, page 22e.
"Big Public Works Policy Advocated" is in the Advertiser,
17 and 29 April 1929, pages 21d and 8g.
"Poverty and Distress" is in The News,
14 May 1929, page 6e.
A charity football match for the Unemployed Relief Fund is reported in the Advertiser,
4 June 1929, page 17g,
"Great Carnival for Charity" on
12 August 1929, page 15a.
"Household Pursers - Feminine Purchasing Power" is in the Advertiser,
3 July 1929, page 12f.
"Distress Relief - Button Day" is in the Advertiser,
10 and 11 July 1929, pages 12g and 12h,
"Demonstration by Unemployed" on
5 September 1929, page 18c,
"A Rent Moratorium" on
10 September 1929, page 16f,
"Facing Facts" on
29 October 1929, page 18e.
"Diary of a Tramp - Fruitless Search for Work" is in The Mail,
31 August 1929, page 3f.
"Secondary Education Blamed for Unemployment" is in The Mail,
9, 16 and 23 November 1929, pages 3a, 16 and 21.
"Adelaide Girls Face Misery and Despair" is in The Mail,
30 November 1929, page 1a,
7 and 14 December 1929, pages 1f and 3a.
A party for "children of distressed families" is reported upon in the Advertiser,
9 December 1929, page 22c.
"Where Workless Sleep" is in the Observer,
14 December 1929, page 70b.
The Depression Years - Choose again
Females
"Wives of the Unemployed - What Are They Doing" is in the Observer,
21 August 1930, page 53d.
"Domestic Work - Serious Position of Unemployed Girls" is in the Advertiser,
24 and 26 September 1930, pages 8i and 18g.
"What is Being Done for Unemployed Girls" is in the Observer,
23 October 1930, page 61a.
"Lot of the Factory Girl" is discussed in the Advertiser,
3 December 1930, page 10e,
"Jobs for Girls" on
29 July 1931, page 15d.
"Man Who Mended Boots for Unemployed Girls" is in the Advertiser,
7 and 12 August 1931, pages 26c and 18d.
"Work for Women" is in the Advertiser,
15 August 1931, pages 5c-14h,
"What it Costs a Woman to Live" on
21 October 1931, page 15e,
"Girls Reluctant to Take Rations" on
4 November 1931, page 16c.
"Story Behind a Little Shop" is in The News,
28 May 1932, page 6a.
"Problem of Workless Girls" is in the Advertiser,
19 October 1934, page 20h.
The Depression Years - Choose again
Finance
"Investment Stocks Decline" is in the Advertiser,
1 February 1930, page 19b,
"Expenditure Under Control" on
1 February 1930, page 23c,
"Mr Hughes on Empire and Wealth" on
6 February 1930, page 8e,
"Less Borrowing and Spending" on
10 and 12 February 1930, pages 14f and 14g.
"Imports and Cost of Production" is in the Advertiser,
17 February 1930, page 14g,
"Tightening the Financial Belt" on
21 February 1930, page 18d,
"Australia's Problems and the Solution" on
13 March 1930, page 14d.
"Deflation and the Investor" is in the Register,
8 September 1930, page 8c,
"Cessation of Loan Works" on
13 September 1930, page 15a.
"South Australia's Debts - Terrible Price of Past Extravagance" is in the Advertiser,
16 September 1930, page 15b,
"Money and Money's Worth" on
17 September 1930, page 14e.
"Investors' Losses- How Wealth Has Melted" is in the Advertiser,
19 September 1930, page 19f,
"Property Owners - Losses Through Depression" on
20 September 1930, page 19d.
"Landlords Suffer - Rent Values Drop" is in the Advertiser,
23 September 1930, page 9,
"Plight of Landlords" on
2 and 7 November 1932, pages 14d and 18c,
"Landlord and Tenant" on
7 August 1933, page 8d.
"Bankers Are Not Monsters" is in the Advertiser,
7 April 1931, page 6f,
"Concessions in New Laws" on
7 December 1931, page 14h,
"Relief Works Delay Explained" on
3 August 1932, page 9g.
"Buy Home Manufactured Goods" is in The News,
1 July 1931, pages 11-19.
"Farmers' Relief Plan" is in the Advertiser,
6 December 1934, page 8d.
The Depression Years - Choose again
Industrial Relations
"Industrial Peace" is in the Advertiser on
22 January 1930, page 14g-h,
"Reds and the Scullin Government" on
23 January 1930, page 14h.
An editorial on the carters' is in the Advertiser,
3 and 4 September 1930, pages 9b and 8g.
The introduction of a Public Safety Bill is discussed in the Advertiser,
5 September 1930, pages 18e-19a.
"All Quiet on the Waterfront" is in the Advertiser,
11 September 1930, page 8f,
"Waterside Problem" on
23 September 1930, page 8f.
The need for a reduction of wages is canvassed in the Advertiser,
16 September 1930, page 16b.
"Communism in Our Midst" is in the Advertiser,
25, 27 and 28 October 1930, pages 15f, 10b and 8e,
14 and 20 January 1931, pages 8d and 6d.
"Iron Bars and Spiked Sticks in City Riot" is in the Advertiser,
10 January 1931, page 9a,
"Anarchy at the Trades Hall" on
12 January 1931, page 6c.
Photographs are in the Observer,
15 January 1931, page 32.
"Labor and Communism" is in the Advertiser,
26 June 1931, page 18e,
"The Truth About Wages" on
20 August 1931, page 6d,
"Should Awards be Suspended" on
2 and 3 September 1931, pages 9f and 12d.
"Tackling Communism" is in the Advertiser,
1 March 1932, page 8d.
The Depression Years - Choose again
Miscellany
"Helping the Farmers" is in the Advertiser on
17 and 18 January 1930, pages 18e and 22d,
"The Existing Depression" on
9 and 21 April 1930, pages 14e and 8c,
"Standard of Living - Must be Reduced" on
17 April 1930, page 19c.
"A Helping Hand for Idle Youth" is in The News,
21 July 1930, page 6c.
Photographs of prospecting for gold in the hills are in the Observer,
21 August 1930, page 31.
"Retrenched Civil Servants" is in the Advertiser,
15 September 1930, page 14e,
"Equality of Sacrifice" is mooted on
22 September 1930, page 8d.
A citizens' protest meeting is reported in the Advertiser,
14 October 1930, page 8f.
"Four Hundred Sly Grog-Shops Flourish in Adelaide" is in The Mail,
31 January 1931, page 3a.
"Australia's Future" is in the Advertiser,
11 April 1931, page 14g,
"Education and State Finance" on
7, 11 and 15 July 1931, pages 8e-9c, 8a and 14f.
"Children in Distress" is in The News,
22 May 1931, page 9a.
"Radio Censorship - Citizens' League Broadcast Prohibited" is in the Advertiser,
22 and 23 July 1931, pages 9a-10b and 9g.
Gold fossicking in the Torrens Gorge is described in The News,
12 August 1931, page 9b.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
16 April 1931, page 37.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Gold.
A photograph of a street demonstration is in the Chronicle,
15 January 1931, page 45,
of a tent on the banks of the River Torrens on
27 August 1931, page 47.
"Education Cuts" is in the Advertiser,
25 August 1931, page 10e,
"Young Men Look for Minerals" on
12 January 1932, page 10c.
"Lowest Marriage Rate Since 1851" is reported upon in the Advertiser,
19 January 1932, page 8e,
"Clash in Berri Street - Fruitpickers Fight" on
7 March 1932.
"Hard Times Have Flogged Us Back to Church" is in The News,
2 August 1932, page 4e.
"Not an Ordinary Shop - Where Hope Flourishes" is in the Advertiser,
21 May 1932, page 10h.
"How Wheatgrowers Have Been Helped to Stay on the Farm" is in The Mail,
14 May 1932, page 6d.
"Equality of Sacrifice" is in The News,
8 June 1932, page 4d,
"What Depression Has Taught Us" on
18 June 1932, page 6a.
"Depression is Making Us Sober" is in The News,
21 February 1933, page 4f.
"Soldier Settlers' Arrears" is in the Advertiser,
15 March 1933, page 16b.
"Why the Blanket Fund is Necessary" is in The Mail,
13 May 1933, page 13.
"Unemployment and Church" is in the Advertiser,
11 May 1933, page 8e,
"Poor Need More Than Rations" on
29 June 1933, page 8i,
"Harsh Relief" on
15 February 1934, page 8e.
"Helping the Poor by Writing Sentences", being information on the "Obstinate Artist" competitions, is in The News,
14 July 1933, page 6f,
10 August 1933, page 1e,
9 September 1933, page 4.
"West Coast Farmers" is in the Advertiser,
28 May 1934, page 14d,
"Social Tragedies" on
22 October 1934, page 14e,
"Finding Work for Youths" on
14 and 15 December 1934, pages 25h and 19e.
"Placing Unemployed on the Land" is in the Chronicle,
26 July 1934, page 6.
"Poignant Story of Distress" is in The Mail,
25 August 1934, page 1e,
"Adelaide's Forgotten Men Await the Dawn" on
22 September 1934, page 2.
A "Retrospect of 1934" is in the Advertiser,
30 January 1935 (supp.).
"Need for More Factories" is in the Advertiser,
28 August 1935, page 20g,
"State's Great Recovery" on
26 November 1935, page 20a,
"Return to Prosperity" on
8 December 1936, page 28c.
The Depression Years - Choose again
The Unemployed
"Helping the Needy" is in the Advertiser,
3 January 1930, page 18c,
"Work for the Workless" on
7 January 1930, page 18c,
"Unemployment and Rations" on
12 and 14 February 1930, pages 18d and 22f.
"Man's Long Search for Work" is in the Advertiser,
28 February 1930, page 25c,
The ration system is discussed in the Register,
11 September 1930, page 9a.
A photograph of a soup kitchen in Grote Street is in the Observer,
12 June 1930, page 16.
"Relief Council to be to be Appointed" is in the Advertiser,
17 October 1930, page 19f.
"Riot in Adelaide Streets" is in The News,
9 January 1931, page 1,
"Work - or No Rations" on
31 March 1931, page 6c.
"On Rations - Is It Better Than a Regular Job?" is in The Mail,
21 March 1931, page 2c.
"Rations for Unemployed" is in the Advertiser,
21 March 1931, page 16g,
"District Councils and Gold Diggers" on
25 and 27 March 1931, pages 12e and 20f,
"Plight of Outback Unemployed" on
27 March 1931, page 22f.
"Outback Relief - Grateful Letters From the Bush" is in the Advertiser,
26 May 1931, page 7f; also see
30 June 1931, page 6e.
"Saving the Young" is in the Advertiser,
26 May 1931, page 8e,
1 June 1931, page 15e,
9 and 27 July 1931, pages 7f and 6h.
"Relief and Fraud" is in the Advertiser,
4 June 1931, page 8d,
"Work Instead of Rations" on
17 June 1931, page 9e,
"Frauds Rife in Poor Relief" in The Mail,
24 October 1931, page 1g.
"Unemployed Men Fossicking" is in the Advertiser,
18 July 1931, page 18e; also see
The News,
12 August 1931, page 9b
Advertiser,
4 July 1934, page 17e.
"Rations and Work" is in the Advertiser,
18, 19 and 21 August 1931, pages 9h, 15h and 19i.
"River Bank Dwellers" is in the Advertiser,
21 August 1931, page 18i:
-
Tucked away between the boundaries of the outer railway yard and the river are three little colonies of unemployed, each of about a score of men...
"Increase in Illness Rate Through Unemployment" is in The News,
4 July 1932, page 4e.
"Ration Frauds in Adelaide" is in The News,
29 May 1933, page 4f.
"A Peep Among the Shacks of the Workless" is in the Advertiser,
2 September 1933, page 9f.
A Mission fishing scheme for the unemployed at Port Adelaide is reported in the Advertiser,
10 October 1931, page 14h.
"Problems of the Dole" is in the Advertiser,
19 November 1931, page 8d,
"Depression Relief" on
3 December 1931, page 8h,
"Unemployed Youths" on
19 February 1932, page 18g,
"Unemployment" on
23 March 1932, page 14d.
"Getting Men Back Into Jobs" is in The News,
18 March 1932, page 6c,
"Workless Get Clothes" on
31 March 1932, page 7b.
"Disorganised Charity" is in the Advertiser,
24 and 30 June 1932, pages 18e and 8e,
6 July 1932, page 14e.
"Men on Rations" is in the Advertiser,
28 October 1932, page 28e,
"Helping the Unemployed" on
17 August 1932, page 8e-f,
"Continuance of Unemployed Camps" on
21 April 1933, page 21h,
"Unemployment Relief" on
14 June 1933, page 14f,
"How Unemployed Live on Murray" on
14 August 1933, page 9f.
"How a Workless Youth Views the World" is in The News,
10 September 1936, page 12f.
"Unemployed Youth" is in the Advertiser,
22 December 1933, page 20e,
"Unemployment and Relief" on
1 August 1934, page 8e,
"Ration Report Not Disclosed" on
30 November 1934, page 27f.
"Curing Unemployment" is in the Advertiser,
18 January 1935, page 20e,
"Rations for Children" on
21 June 1935, page 24f,
"The New Rations Scale" on
25 July 1935, page 8e.
"Pitiful Stories Told of Unemployed's Poverty and Distress" is in The Mail,
23 March 1935, page 1g.
"Striking Cases of Destitution at Port Adelaide" is in The News,
23 May 1935, page 3a.
"The Real Needs of the Workless - By One of Them" is in The News,
3 May 1935, page 4g.
"Ration Rate Injustice" is in The News,
11 and 12 June 1935, pages 3f and 4f,
1 and 6 August 1935, pages 1a and 5b.
"Bringing Christmas to the Needy" is in The Mail,
14 December 1935, page 12d.
" Migration and Unemployment" is in the Advertiser,
16 January 1936, page 14e,
"Fewer Men Unemployed" on
16 March 1936, page 16h.
"How a Workless Youth Views the World" is in The News,
10 September 1936, page 12f.
"Organised Relief" is in the Advertiser,
30 April 1937, page 28d.
"Treasury Building Disturbances" is in The Mail,
6 February 1937, page 4 (magazine).
The Depression Years - Choose again
