The Press THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1942. Manpower and Appeals

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23805, 26 November 1942, Page 4

The Press THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1942. Manpower and Appeals

Figures given in “The Press” recently suggest that the present procedure for conscripting men into the Army has become impossibly slow and cumbersome. In Canterbury 3355 men were called up on September 17 in the 35-37 age group; and in Christchurch alone some 1600 appeals against service were lodged. A further 3224 men were called up in Canterbury on November 11 in the 38-40 age group; and the total of appeals for the whole district is about" 2400. It is clear from the local situation that this flood of appeals has swamped the administrative machinery for dealing with them. The No. 1 Armed Forces Appeal Board will finish dealing with appeals against general service on Friday and will then make a beginning with appeals from the September 17 callup. The No. 2 board has begun hearing appeals from the September 17 ballot but is still hearing general service appeals lodged as far back as June. In addition, a large part of the time of both boards is taken up with appeals for the release of men from camp and with appeals by grade 3 men. At this rate of progress, it seems likely that the boards will not have disposed of appeals by men called up in the last two classes until about the middle of next year. This is a highly unsatisfactory situation, It is unsatisfactory to the men concerned in appeals, who will be kept in suspense for months. It is unsatisfactory to employers, who will be in a state of protracted uncertainty over their labour supply. And it is unsatisfactory to the Army, which will have the greatest difficulty in maintaining the steady flow of postings necessary if units are to be kept up to strength and continuity of training maintained. What it all amounts to is that the economic and social life of the country is being subjected to an inordinate amount of dislocation In order to provide the Army with a comparatively small number of men. There is a clear case for a simpler, more efficient, and more expeditious method of deciding what part of the country’s remaining. reserve of manpower should be retained in industry and what part drafted into the armed forces. The system of appeal boards may have been satisfactory when ballots were spaced at wide intervals and appeals were few; it is certainly not satisfactory now. The boards, to reach consistent decisions on all the appeals before them, would require to have a knowledge of industry which in the nature of things they cannot have. In addition, the proceedings of some boards have made it painfully apparent that their members have little capacity for eliciting relevant facts and assessing them. But it Is also clear that mere administrative changes cannot improve matters much unless the Government arms itself with the courage and the knowledge necessary to formulate and carry out a national manpower policy. 1