The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1919. THE WORK AHEAD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16513, 14 August 1919, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1919. THE WORK AHEAD.

For nearly five years the chief energies of the great nations were directed to the waging of a war which not only caused an immense amount of destruction but also in a large measure prevented construction. The war is over and the nations, more or less crippled and weakened by their exertions, are faced with the task of repairing the effects of destruction and overtaking the arrears of construction. New Zealand has escaped the ravages of war so far as its territory is concerned, though it has suffered severely by the loss of so many of its young men who answered the call to arms and made the great sacrifice. The Dominion has, however, a great accumulation of work to overtake as a result of the war, work of its own, and it owes also a duty to the Mother Country to assist her as far as possible in overcoming her difficulties, especially with regard to the supply of foodstuffs and raw materials such as we produce here. The discharge of this latter duty will help us to pay for the many works which stand ur-

gently in need of being carried out within the Dominion. Mr. Massey referred to some of these in a speech at the laying of the foundation stone of the new State Dire Insurance buildings in 'Wellington on Monday. That building is one of many which have had to await the termination of the war, and it is gratifying to find Mr. Massey acknowledging that attention must be given to these. There were hundreds of school buildings, he said, which had to be erected.' This is the solid fact, and they cannot be long neglected without irreparably handicapping the education of thousands of children. Many thousands of houses are urgently needed for the people, while in every progressive city and town-in the Dominion the erection of new warehouses, shops, and other buildings has Jiecn allowed to stand, over until peace is restored. Thus the building industry alone will provide work at high pressure for a long time for every man procurable. Then in the matter of such public works as railway and road construction, the carrying out of hydro-electric schemes, and harbour works there is an immense amount of work to be done. In Taranaki alone works to the value of hundreds of thousands of pounds are planned by local bodies, which will provide employment for thousands of workmen if they can be secured, skilled and unskilled, men of all trades. The Dominion is unfortunately without more tkau a very small reserve of mined coal; its stores are full to overflowing of produce awaiting shipment; its shipping cannot keep pace with the amount of freight to be handled. On all sides there is work waiting to be done, and, he it added, good money waiting to be earned. In the matter of production, the world is crying out fs)r food and raw material which New Zealand is in a position to supply in some measure at once if the transport services were adequate. But it could supply a very great deal more if the labour were available on the land. The men returuiug'Trom the front will help to fill the gaps in the ranks of labour and possibly we may presently have an immigration policy, but with all the assistance likely to come from these sources there is far more work in sight than can be accomplished unless everyone turns to with a will. It is no time for reduction of hours and restriction of output, no time for men who are still physically fit for work to give it up and live a life of ease and retirement. The ordinary individual, when there is an accumulation of work to he cloiie, puts iu a little extra effort and time to get the work through and earn the extra money, which he can enjoy when a slacker time arrives. That is what the whole community should do now. It has a heavy war bill to pay some time or other, and just now it has the opportunity of receiving more than ordinarily high prices for its products and high wages for its work. The. good times may not last very long, so now is the time “get into it.”