The Sun WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1918. WHAT OF SOLDIERS' BUSINESSES?

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1339, 29 May 1918, Page 4

The Sun WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1918. WHAT OF SOLDIERS' BUSINESSES?

The cry has been—still is—for more and more fighting men. The downfall of Russia has made Germany a greater menace than ever, and until the might of the United States manifests itself the Allies are going to'have a hard and a hazardous time. France, Rritain, and Italy have risen to the occasion. Recruiting in Australia has brightened up. Here in New Zealand the call has been responded to with characteristic willingness. Everywhere our Military Service Roards are dealing with appellants promptly and without discrimination. An eligible man must have an unusually strong case when he appeals to the average board before he is allowed to remain at home. Acting apparently under instructions, these tribunals set appellants an exacting test. If a reservist, physically qualified, is not to don khaki, it is very necessary that he should be asked to present a case convincing beyond all possibility of disproof. We agree that that is as it should be. The married men are going into camp, and it is only just that the exempted single reservists should be combed out as far as is practicable. Many members of the Second Division are proprietors of, or financially interested in, business concerns. Instance after instance of this class having [to sell out in order to comply with I military requirements has been dealt w'ith by the boards. Such men are 'taxpayers in the best sense'of the term. A considerable number are professionals, who have either to sacrifice the work of years or look about for a substitute who will carry on in their absence. Even fanners in a large way are being compelled to sell or find a manager. The board usually holds that the well-to-do farmer can afford to offer enough to obtain a substitute who can be trusted to keep the farm up to its normal productive capacity. This arrangement will not always work out satisfactorily, and it was with the idea of removing any risk of depreciation to the owner that the Amuri settlers banded together to look after the interests of neighbours called up. If that principle could be generally, there would be less chance of hardship to the small business men of military age, while the Minister of Finance would more tranquilly regard the future. He proposes to ask the country for £20,000,000 during the year. The last loan was raised only with difficulty, and the previous drain, coupled with the conversion of thousands of re-venue-earners into soldiers, when they become a charge on, instead of contributors to, the Exchequer, is bound to fceact to the detriment of the next loan. The' point is, cannot more be done by those not eligible for service across the seas to maintain intact those businesses, professional or otherwise, which have to be closed down because their owners are sent into camp? The Amuri example in this respect has been noted. District committees arc working in co-opera-tion with the Efficiency Board throughout the agricultural and pastoral areas of this island to see that primary production is not diminished by the undue depletion of essential labour. The land provides our main line of economic defence, and therefore deserves first consideration, but Ihe principle might be extended on the lines suggested. We are not blind to the fact that there are small business places for which no goodwill could he obtained, even in ordinary circumstances. These concerns need not trouble us much. But there arc, and will be, others, where flourishing proprietors, who are also reservists, will become the prey of cold-blooded speculators. What recourse have they when the time comes for them to begin soldiering? We seem to remember the existence of a local organisation, connected, it is understood, with the Industrial Association, which was formed for the purpose discussed, but we hear lillle of its activities on behalf of soldiers'; businesses. It may be doing good j by stealth; we do not know. We do I know, however, that there is an ; ample field for the operations of such a body, judging from the current reports of appeals. No business, great or small, that is worth saving should be permitted to collapse as the result of military exigencies. It; was laid down last year by an I English magistrate that the law did not require that one-man businesses which could justify their existence should he closed because the owner was required for war purposes. The change for Ihe worse in the military situation may have resulted in an alteration in that policy: nevertheless it is a policy which might be adopted with reservations here. How far have the Efficiency Board and Ihe committee mentioned gone in this connection?