Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1939. DOMINION MAN-POWER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 38, 24 November 1939, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1939. DOMINION MAN-POWER.

The appointment of a Central Advisory Council to co-operate with the Minister of Labour in ensuring the most efficient use of the man-power of the Dominion is one of the steps on which the Government may be congratulated. If New Zealand is to play its full part in all fields of wartime activity it is essential that every man should be in the job for which he is best fitted. The organisation and maintenance of such a scheme calls for the exercise of expert knowledge of the varied requirements of civil and military life. Unsystematic enlistment of men for active service inevitably unbalances the labour market, a tendency that must be minimised. The personnel of the Council gives rise to confidence that members will carry out their duty efficiently and in the best interests of the Dominion. But if they are to be in a position to perform this work satisfactorily they,must have the full co-operation of the Government, The first aim must be to throw the fullest possible weight, both military and productive, into the struggle. It may perhaps be beyond the function of the Advisory Council to make recommendations to the Government in regard to the latter’s policy, but the country will hope that when the investigation of the position is made Ministers will realise the necessity of a curtailment of activity on Public Works so that men now engaged on undertakings of problematical economic value may be released to supply urgently-required labour on the farms. The Minister of Labour has endeavoured to show by figures submitted by Placement Officers that there is no serious shortage of rural workers, but the statements repeatedly made by farmers throughout the length and breadth of the land prove that the demand is far from being satisfied. The Government' implied, if it did not expressly undertake, at the outbreak of war, that there would be appreciable diminution of activity on Pubiic Works, and it is imperative that this should be carried into effect without delay. The country would thus be granted relief in more ways than one.