THE LABOR MARKET

Evening Star, Issue 16236, 4 October 1916, Page 6

THE LABOR MARKET

AND MILITARY SERVICE. [Special to the ‘ Star.’] WELLINGTON, October 4. A shortage of labor is being fell, severely in some of the farming districts at the present time, and no relief appears to bo in sight. In .ibe Hawke’s Bay district, for example, the demand for competent farm labor ia keen and unsatisfied, and reports indicate ihat farmers arc being embarrassed severely by their inability to'get the help that they require for spring work. Cultivation that would have been undertaken under ordinary conditions has had to bo abandoned. It is stated in some quarters that the shortage of labor may have au appreciable effect upon production during the present aca-son. There is still a fairly largo supply of unskilled labor of .sorts, but that is not of very much use to the farmer. Efficient farm laborers of ail kinds are very hard to find, and the trouble is aggravated by tho fact- that so many of tba farmers’ rons have joined the Expeditionary Forces. It is expected that many of the men who receive notices under clause 35 of the Military Service Act will claim exemption for one reason or another. It will bo the duty of the recently-constituted Military Service Boards to hen r these claims and -adjudicate upon them. Steps have been taken already to lay down Ihe lines of policy for the boards, in order that reasonable uniformity of practice may be secured in dealing with appeals.. The grounds of appeal allowed any man who is summoned for service as a conscript are wide. The man may object to being taken into camp, or apply for exemption on several pleas. The first sections deal with matters of fact, and the Military Boards are not likely to have any difficulty in settling claims made in this respect: but the other sections present difficulties. Claims for exemption will be made by men engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, who will urge that their enlistment woukl bo “con:rary to the public interest,” since it_ would tend to reduce prociuction. They will be able to point to the serious shortage of competent farm workers and to the necessity for maintaining tho Dominion's expert trade. Sections may also be invoked by the employers of labor, v - l! 9 Iria .V. argue that if they go into camp their businesses must dose down and their hands be throwu out of work. Many claims ot this nature have come before tho Appeal Boards in the United Kingdom, and exemption has been granted in n large number, of case?, either permanently or for a limited period. The general rules laid down for the guidance of the boards will be few iu number, and will he designed rather to secure uniformity in dealing with ike broad issues than to provide guidance in solving the various knotty problems that are sure to arise. The boards will, bo warned by tho experience of the United Kingdom, where the tendency in the early stages of the compulsory system was to make exemption far too e a;y. Just how a religious objector will be treated lemains to bo seen, but it may be noted that the provisions made by Parhsment do not cover merely a “conscientious objector." Tho objection must be based on a religions belief if it is to be valid in tho eyes of the Military Service Boards.