FARM WORK AND RECRUITING

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21043, 21 February 1940, Page 6

FARM WORK AND RECRUITING

Should farm labourers and farmers’ sons be encouraged to enlist in the New Zealand forces, and should men from other walks of life be trained to take their places on the land ? That question has been exercising the minds of the Auckland Council of Primary Production and similar bodies throughout the country. A lead from the Government is being sought. In the first place it seems extraordinary that men already skilled in primary production should be sent away, to be replaced by men who have yet to be trained in what must be regarded as a highly important occupation. Why not, it may be asked, take the shortest route and recruit the Army from those who are not skilled in essential economic services ? There is more in the problem than that, however. It would not be equitable for all men on the land to escape military service. There is no likelihood of such a happening, because the farming community has shown greater readiness to serve in the Army than any other section of the population. While assuring an adequate enrollment of recruits the Government has also to be certain that the industries producing foodstuffs are fully manned. It can either retain all the present farm workers in their occupations, or it can train other men to take their places. But there is also a middle course which the Government will probably decide to adopt. There are thousands of men in New Zealand who for various reasons cannot be accepted into the Army, or whose turn is not yet. Many of these could with advantage to their country and to themselves find useful occupations in the productive industries, thus releasing men who are fit for the Army. They should be given every possible encouragement to find such places. Some may need training, and that is a problem that has not yet been satisfactorily settled. But it is obvious that these men must be available for farm work before the land is stripped of its skilled workers. If the Government can devise a scheme that will make a supply of useful labour available it will have gone a long way towards solving the immediate problem of the production and recruiting committees.