COMPULSION URGED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20622, 1 August 1941, Page 6

COMPULSION URGED

RECRUITS FOR E.P.S. NEED FOR EFFICIENCY EXPERIENCE IN GISBORNE The need for compulsory powers for the enlistment of the necessary personnel for the emergency precautions service was emphasised at a meeting of the local executive of the organisation last evening when it was unanimously decided that representations be made to the Government to take whatever steps were necessary to permit of compulsory recruitment. The discussion arose out of references to the difficulty of securing the release of key men from the Home Guard and it was explained that without these men some of the essential services might not be able to function in an emergency. It was pointed out that even if the men were released there was no power to compel them to enter the emergency precautions organisation which might, for that reason, be lacking in the desired efficiency. One of the difficulties to which reference was made was that there was a natural tendency for men to link up with some branch other than the one connected with their normal occupation, there being a natural desire to get away from the routine of ordinary working life. It was felt, however, that men should be allocated for service in the section for which their training and experience best fitted them and it was considered that this result could only be achieved if compulsory powers of enlistment were provided.