Evening Post.

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 64, 13 September 1943, Page 4

Evening Post.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1943.

LACK OF DECISION

Decisive ' action has never been a feature of the Government's handling of the man-power problem. There has been far too much hesitancy about reaching decisions and too much hesitancy about putting decisions into effect. The result has been confusion in industry, both primary' and secondary, and a consequent loss of efficiency. The conflicting statements made this week by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence regarding the policy to be followed in releasing men from the Armed Forces provides the latest example of a lack of cohesion. Speaking in Dunedin, Mr. Jones, after stating that since April 1 more than iI,OjDO men had been released from the Army to return to industry, announced that the Army would not be able to agree to further releases except in most exceptional circumstances. The home defence forces, he said, have already been reduced to the establishment approved by the War Cabinet. The very next day Mr* Fraser, fresh from a tour of the North Island, said that as a result of his observations ha had been further impressed with the need for still greater effort for placing more men in both essential -primary and secondary production. The question would be subject to further review, with the object of releasing every possible man from the Armed Forces

T*he statements are directly conflicting, and the comment of the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Holland) at New Plymouth that "this is further proof of the existence of a man-power muddle and the absence of any defined plan" was fully justified. Surely decisions regarding the disposition of man-power should not have to depend on the observations of the Prime Minister during a political tour. On numerous occasions we have urged the necessity fsx. a complete survey of the Dominion's needs in order that a proper balance might be preserved between the Armed Forces and industry. Had such a survey been made— and it is supposed to have been undertaken—the National Service Department would have been in possession of all the information that was necessary to enable a decision to be made. The fact that the Prime Minister has discovered that essential industries are not receiving all the consideration they need is itself a condemnation of the Government's approach to the problem. And the fact that on successive days Mr, Fraser and Mr. Jones should make such conflicting statements is a- clear indication that there is an extraordinary lack of cohesion in arriving at a definite policy.

The public are also entitled to know more about the position of women in the, Services. The chairman of the Industrial, Man-power Committee (Mr. Scott) stated in Palmerston North the other day that the call for women for the Forces had gone off. "In fact," he said, "I have been informed that if any girl wishes to get out of the Services she has only to make application and she will be allowed to leave." If this is so, surely the Government should make the fact known officially. The retention of women in the Services has an important bearing on the industrial needs of the country, and the policy to be followed should be definite.