Man-Power Council

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21508, 22 November 1939, Page 6

Man-Power Council

ANOTHER advance in the Dominion’s war effort has been made by the appointment of the Central Advisory Council which is to advise the Minister of Mau-Power in the most efficient utilisation of the country’s man power resources. Control of some kind is necessary to prevent wasted effort, and universal endorsement must be given to the principle that men who are able to serve the nation best by remaining in their present employment should be prevented from joining the military forces where they would not be able to perform service of like value. It is clearly understood now that New Zealand will be helping Great Britain best in the meantime by assuring the maintenance of food supplies, and with this end in view it is essential that nothing likely to reduce the productive capacity of the Dominion’s farms should be allowed. At the same time the Government should recognise that it too has responsibilities and from now on the bulk of its energies should be directed towards the encouragement of production. When this is admitted, as it must be, the Public Works policy of the Government has to be viewed in a new light. There has already been one report from Great Britain that the transfer of men from Public Works to farms is not beyond the bound of possibility, and it may be that the Imperial Government will tell Mr Fraser that it would like this to be done. However, in the past there has been some resentment at threatened dictation from overseas and the Government really has no call for direction on the point. The need for checking Public Works expenditure is clear, and the need for increasing farm production is equally obvious. In these circumstances the Government should not hesitate to make the best use of the labour at its command. The issue is so plain that there is no need even for a recommendation from the council which is to assist Mr Webb in his new and arduous tasks.