TE AWAMUTU COURIER Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays MONDAY, 26th JANUARY, 1942 MAN-POWER PROBLEM

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4528, 26 January 1942, Page 4

TE AWAMUTU COURIER Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays MONDAY, 26th JANUARY, 1942 MAN-POWER PROBLEM

WHILE no doubt much of the experience gained in, the years 1914-1918 can be made to serve most useful purposes in the crisis which confronts the democracies to-day, there is a very marked difference between the position and the requirements then and those obtaining now. Both called for the enlistment of large numbers of men in the fighting forces; but mechanised warfare, which is a recent development, the wider sphere of active hostilities, and a war of movement, all create much heavier demands on the material resources of any country. It has been said that the recruiting campaigns a quarter of a century ago were for the Army, but that to-day they must indude the industry that provides essential requirements. The adoption of the compulsory' system in connection with the creation and maintenance of militaryunits placed that vital branch of national service on an assured basis. As reinforcements are required they are called up and trained. But that very process tends, and must tend, to make more difficult the reinforcement of the ranks of workers in essential industries. It has been stated that the inclusion of any undertaking in the list of essential industries does not, en blop, exempt those engaged from military service, so that the numbers of men of military age, and up to the physical standards, now employed on work regarded as of importance to the national war effort must steadily decline, or application for their release from military duty be made, and granted. It is apparent that the mobilising of strength for national defence, and for the industries essential to make that defence effective, are inter-related, and as service in the armed forces demands certain physical standards there are distinct limits to the numbers of men available. But those numbers could be increased if fit men, now employed on really essential tasks, could be replaced by others, not liable for military service but able, and trained, to do that particular work. That is the course now being followed in Great Britain. Men of military age, even if employed on the manufacture of armaments and munitions, are not given exemption from military service if older men, or women, can be trained to do their work. That, as the Wellington Dominion observes, is an aspect of the mobilisation of manpower which has not received here the practical attention it should have. And it cannot be said that there is any lack of urgency. In Great Britain the scope for civilian employment was deliberately cut down in various non-essential works for the purpose of freeing men and women who, with some training, could replace men of military age in the war factories. There is not nearly the same scope here, but that simply adds to the necessity for making adequate provision for the training of what manpower is available. The question arises in connection with the statement made by the Minister of National Service regarding the outflow of labour from essential industries. The sole test is not whether a man is actively engaged in work that is deemed essential, but whether, in view of the continuing demand for men of military age, the man could be trained to do really essential work. Future requirements, as well as the immediate position, must have close attention. The system of selecting

men for the defence forces, for service either here or abroad, is working smoothly although there seems to be a need for more elasticity to enable men fit for certain branches but not for others to play their part. But that system is absorbing the reserves of man-power in all industry, and it is the problem of mobilising and training resources for the support line that demands attention. The Dominion wants what the policy of the British authorities has been designed to ensure, “ a thorough and articulated plan to marshal man-power,” and as, like the soldier, the employee must be trained, provision of that training would do much to ensure maintenance of the supplies and commodities required.