The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News,The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 8. 1942. INDUSTRY AFTER THE WAR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 238, 8 October 1942, Page 4

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY. OCTOBER 8. 1942. INDUSTRY AFTER THE WAR

JHE Statements i>.-ued b\ the Rehabilitation Board for publication afford a substantial answer in those who occasionally ask what the hoard is doing. Obviously it i- doing much, and preparing to do a great 'leal more, though whether it will lie able "to cope successfully with the i ush honi r ' alter the present wai" is. ami must be. doubtful. The board's task ought to lie more widelv rccogni.--cd as one of the most complex .uid at. the same time one of the most challenging tasks ever undertaken l-.v a hody of men in tin- D..minion. Ii knows the number of men— "Idiers. jailor.-; and ainnrn - - who an- on active service abroad, the number who are prisonei s. and how mmy arc in uniform in New /ealand. Itul ii cannot know when "the rush home" from abroad will begin, or how long ii will Ia -1 Ii cannot l;now when the men mobilised mi New Zealand will be demobilised, or whether their demobilisation will long precede the return ot the men who are abroad. Possibly, though no one can tell, the course >>l the I'acilic war will allow of at. least a partial demobilisation of forces within the Dominion long before the 2nd N.Z.E.K. can return from the Middle East. These and ether unknown tailors, which must affect Hie task of rehabilitation, necessarily make a large pari, of the board's plans tentative and provisional.

Despite these irremovable handicaps, the board feels able to say that "quick post-war re-employment, of at least 40,000 men is assured." Kor this re-employment it is evidently depending much on those State Departments which are large employers, and on the law which obliges private employers to reinstate men in their former occupations. Whether great reliance should be placed on the latter is extremely doubtful. Circumstances have changed since the law was passed, and they will inevitably change a great deal more before the war is over. Many jobs no longer exist, either because the employers themselves are in uniform or bccause their business has shrunk or disappeared. Regulations can close or restrict a business; but regulations cannot revive it.

Perusal of the board's account of its activities ancl plans leaves the impression thai it is in danger of being influenced, unconsciously, by a \ery common assumption, which is that the task of rehabilitation is confined to restoration and reinstatement of conditions that existed in .1039. Although none can predict precisely the economic changes which will come about when the war ends, it is certain that there will be great changes, and that this Dominion will not. escape, nor should it wish to escape, their effects. One of those effects will be that some industries and occupations, formerly of small importance, or even nonexistent, will expand rapidly, while others hitherto substantial may decline. The task of anticipating and shaping such changes is so difficult as to be almost impossible; but it may be suggested to the board lhat there is one step it can and should take. It should endeavour, in < oncert with the education authorities at all levels, to foster in the rommunity willingness and determination to learn and to apply the most modern industrial and technical processes.

Under the spur of war necessity many things are being done in the Dominion now which formerly were not done. Some were not done because they were not thought economical; others because of ignorance that they could be done. No doubt much else is not being done now because of ignorance of what is being done elsewhere. It is a necessary part of the Rehabilitation Board s task to grant loans for the purchase ot farms, houses, furniture, etc., but the source from which such loans are made, and the livelihoods of the men to whom they will be made are dependent ultimately on productive industry. If this is clearly recognised, the Government, through the board, might well decide even at this time to appoint and send abroad, especially to the United States a technical commission (on which talented youth should not be overborne by experienced age) to furnish information continually concerning possible new industries, and new processes in existing industries Provided the commission were well chosen, and its advice were made public and not pigeonholed, its work could not fail to be of benefit to all those concerned with the task of rehabilitation.