THE DUTY TO SERVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24433, 19 October 1940, Page 8

THE DUTY TO SERVE

The Minister of Manpower, Mr Semple, seems to have had ample justification for his impatient comment on the extent to which appeals have been lodged against the calling up of men drawn in the first ballot for territorial training. It is surely an extravagant assumption that of the 16,000 men already balloted some 7000 should be regarded as indispensable in their private occupations. If that were to be the rate of progress allowed for, then, when the high percentage of men who are failing to measure up to the required standard of physical fitness is taken into account, the process of filling each territorial establishment would be indeed exhausting, both in time taken and in the wastage of the reserves of suitable manpower possessed by the country. It may be, though it is highly improbable, that an extraordinarily high proportion of men whose occupations might fall into the reserved category came into the initial ballot. The likelihood is that employers, as well as reservists who have some objection to submitting themselves for the class of training prescribed, have taken the first opportunity of testing the attitude of the special Manpower Committees towards the granting of exemptions. If that is so, the committees will perform a useful service if, at the outset, they let it be known that their policy will lean toward firmness rather than leniency in respect of all appeals that come before them. That is not to say that their policy should be framed without the fullest appreciation of the difficulties of employers or of the private circumstances of men who are within the scope of the ballot. The committees

can be relied upon to be reasonable —to see that no man is called upon to make unnecessary sacrifice and that no avoidable obstacle is placed in the way ‘of the expansion of essential production. But, they also have a duty to perform on behalf of the State, for it is very definitely in the national interest that the country’s defensive organisation shall be developed to its maximum power with all possible speed. Employers as well as the men directly affected, the Minister has said bluntly, must realise that “it is useless to dodge” where the temporary absence of a reservist from his employment will cause no more than slight or even moderate inconvenience. This is an entirely proper attitude, which the Manpower Committees will be expected to maintain as their judgment dictates. , The principle of compulsory military service was not lightly accepted, either by the Government or by the country as a whole, and there should be no easy escape from the duty to serve on the part of any reservist possessing the necessary qualifications. The decision to look ahead as far as March of next year for the provision of training quotas, by doubling the size of the ballot which is to commence on Monday next, is a wise one in all the circumstances. The men called, whether for temporary training or for active service, should thus be ensured reasonable time in which to adjust their affairs before proceeding to camp, while employers might also be assisted in the consequent task of staff reorganisation. What appears from the outcome of the first ballot is that the proportion of appeals it too high. It may be expected to decline if it is clearly indicated by the Manpower Committees that it is their function to exclude the worker who is essentia] to industry and none other.