LABOUR SERVICES ABROAD

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22523, 4 October 1938, Page 18

LABOUR SERVICES ABROAD

AMERICAN AND NAZI SYSTEMS

COMPARISONS MADE BY MR J. O. KIDSON "Comparisons of the labour services in Germany and America" was the title of an address given to the Christchurch Businessmen's Club at a luncheon at Beath's yesterday by Mr J. O. Kidson, a master at the Christchurch Technical College. Mr Kidson gave details of the Nazi system of compulsory service as he found it during a visit to Germany. He visited several labour camps near Hamburg, where young men between the ages of 13 and 25 were serving. The only pay they received was 25 pfennigs a day (a£out 3d). The labour service there had been placed on an equal footing with education and military service. One impression he gained was that the purpose of the camps was to unite the youth of the country with absolutely no regard for class distinction. The type of work was purely constructive and was largely associated with improvements to land. Camps for girls were also organised, and after being trained, the girls were sent into the poorer areas to look after children and in harvest time to look after the children of the peasants, and to some extent to assist with the harvest. "Ultra-Military Discipline"

"One thing that did jar my mind was the ultra-military discipline that existed in the camps and training schools." said Mr Kidson. Everything was done by word of command. Classes marched in and out of the barracks with stools on their shoulders like military units. When the instructor arrived .the class would stand and sing, and then sit down again. He could not help wondering if conditions were not being built up such as existed in feudal times. In America, he said, the Civilian Conservation Corps was started just after the war and was extended in 1932 to include youths, much in the same way as in Germany, except that the American system was purely voluntary. The boys were paid 30 dollars a month, and the work done was much the same as that in the German camps. There was a different routine, however, and no military drill. The four main departments of government which controlled the camps were defence, agriculture, labour, and education. The defence department was called upon because of the , tremendous amount of work entailed in organisation, transport, and barracks accommodation. Discipline was fairly rigid and a military officer was in sole charge of the camp. Although discipline was necessary for the success of the scheme, there was no suggestion of military training as in the Nazi camps. The services of the department of agriculture were most necessary because of the unlimited scope provided in America for agricultural development and the solution of the many problems associated with it. As a result much work had been done by the boys. It might appear to be forced labour, but actually it" was not. The work could not be done at all if it •were not for this scheme. The function of the labour department was mostly administrative, and staffs were extended for this purpose. "No Provision for Education" When the camps first started no Srovision was made for education, and te boys had to use their leisure time for this purpose, said Mr Kidson. Experiments were tried in the use of unemployed teachers, but it was found that the average academic teacher was not the best type for the camps. The man with sound business training made a better instructor. There was an extensive library system in operation, and all kinds of literature were available to the boys. Scheme for Dominion "I hope these points might enable some valuation to be made of any scheme that might be started in the Dominion," concluded Mr .Kidson. "As far as compulsory military training is concerned, I think it be much better for the country if something on the lines of the American camps was organised rather than a training system of a military nature." A vote of thanks to the speaker, moved by Mr J. F. Hutchinson, was carried by acclamation. A pleasing interlude at the luncheon was the playing of the brilliant boy violinist, Alan, Loveday. Those present were* urged by Mr K. G. Archer to support his further musical education. ..