WORK-MORE WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 81, 5 April 1941, Page 10

WORK-MORE WORK.

DEMAND ON CITIZENS. NEEDS OF THE COUNTRY. "There arc only two rides of the

fence at the present time—the enemy's Mde, or our own. We will heve to work for ourselves, or for Hitk-r-or some other foreign Power. There is no alternative. And the (nice of being on our side -is work, and still more work, effort an 1 still more effort, loyalty and still more lovaltv."

This declaration was mode this afternoon l'V the Hon. 1!. Sonij)l<-. MiuUtcr I of National Service and of Railway*. That wa* the demand ho was making on raihvaynien, but it did not iy>i>iy only to them. It applied to every person in the country. Thousand* of- our men had left the country to fight overseas. That meant that a greater responsibility was placed on three who were left behind to keep the country's resources in use to the maximum. '•We have got to accept that responsibility—and take it with a smile"—he said. "Loitering Won't Help." The loee of production caused by the departure of so many men had to be. made u.p by the application of scientific methods of production and the organisa- | tion of man-power. We had reached a i stage in New Zealand's history when we had to use our resources to the full. We had to bend to it as never before. '"Loitering won't get us out of our present problems/' he said. 'Hard work will." Referring to railways activities, the Minister said he had told the men at the Addington and Hutt workshops that he intended to have a complete investigation made of workshops and organisation to sec that the highest degree of efficiency was got out of tho machine, equipment and that maximum service was obtained from the men. This investigation would take place when he had had time to draft out the form that the inquiry would take.

He ■was not casting any slur on the work men were doing now, he emphasised. He was satisfied that the great majority of the men in the workshops were as willing and as loyal as anyone else. It was merely his determination to apply scientific methods and the proper organisation of man-power to his own Departm-ent. ,

The use of the workshops for the manufacture of munitions depended largely on circumstances, he said. They were already being used, and used effectively. Much depended on the requirements of the army.