WITHDRAWAL OF WORKERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16099, 13 December 1915, Page 7

WITHDRAWAL OF WORKERS

EFFECT ON INDUSTRIES.

ORGANISATION OF LABOUR.

The Minister for Munitions, the Hon. A. M. Myers, wag asked in the course of an interview on Saturday if employment would be found in the making of munitions for those men who, in filling up the National Register forms, had declared themselves willing to render service in a civii capacity. The Minister replied that at present he was receiving applications from the employers engag"d in the manufacture of military supplies to release certain of their employees from service. The attitude he took was that every encouragement should be given to employ those of a non-militarv age, or who had not passed the medical test, thus freeing those capable of doing their duty at the present time. ~ "We have now reached a stage, continued Mr. Myers, " in which the question of the policy that is to be pursued in reward to our industries has to be faced. It is often thought that New Zealand's position is such as to cast upon her the responsibility of supplying the United Kingdom with produce, such as meat, cheese, and butter, to enable her to feed her vast armies, and the industries, whose whole resources are being tested, have to be considered in this connection, «as well as those who are caterine for military supplies to the Defence Force of New Zealand. The information is now before the Government, and will enable it to deal | with the whole situation with a view to organising the whole of the resources of the country. Only as recently as last week I made arrangements whereby a number of females could be taken from one town to another to enable some of the employees of military age engaged in various manufacturing businesses to be released for service."