MASS CALL-UP

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23968, 8 June 1943, Page 3

MASS CALL-UP

ACCOUNTANTS FOR ARMY ALL DRAWN FROM AUCKLAND "The Press" Special Service AUCKLAND, June 4. Evidence in support of appeals lodged by or for 23 public accountants and company secretaries in and round Auckland who have been called for service with the Army was considered by the No. 2 (Auckland) Armed Forces Appeal Board last week. The Army representative. Lieutenant B. C. Hart, called Lieutenant M. J. Cooper, of Wellington, who gave the reasons for the mass calling-up. “The services of 22 qualified or experienced accountants are required for statistical purposes in the preparation of returns for the War Office, London,” he said. “The returns cover major items of equipment and ammunition and a wide range of stores and on the basis of them the War Office supplies our requirements and arranges its own programme of production. Accurately-prepared returns are, therefore, of vital importance.” Quota Basis Suggested Every effort had been made, Lieutenant Cooper said, to secure the necessary qualified personnel from those at present in the forces, but there had been only two cases in which the particular man was not indispensable to his unit. The men called up were all grade 2 or 3, which left grade 1 men available for general mobilisation. It seemed odd, remarked the chairman, Mr I. J. Goldstine, that all the men required for the whole Dominion had been drawn from Auckland. Witness replied that most big business was in Auckland or Wellington and that in Wellington the public service required many men who might otherwise have been chosen. “Even so,” said Mr Goldstine, “there are qualified men throughout the country, not only in the main centres, and the selection could have been conducted on a district quota basis.” Increase in Work An executive officer of the New Zealand Society of Accountants, Mr E. D. Wilkinson, dealt with the extent to which war conditions had increased the amount of work for public accountants. The total membership of the society at the end of last November was 3136, of whom 895 were on active service. “The field of taxation to-day is so complicated and intricate that it is impossible for any but a qualified accountant to solve it,” he said. Detailed information to show the ex. tent to which staff depletion through the calls of military service had increased secretarial work required from reservists was brought by appellant companies, which included insurance companies, banks, the Auckland Education Board, Government departments, a musical firm and various other concerns. Several prominent firms of public accountants produced figures covering the large amount of secretarial work supervised by members of their staffs who had been called. The board reserved its decisions. Jay Walking Commenting upon the slipping back of street and road behaviour in Wellington and the doubling of pedestrian accidents, as compared with the previous year, the Chief Traffic Officer, of Wellington, Mr L. S, Drake, said that for some weeks inspectors in that city had kept a particular eye upon jay walkers. Court action had been taken against 24 persons. Many more had been warned, and more still had been stopped and advised as they were about to step from footpaths and about to ignore crossing places. “A big proportion of the worst offenders are elderly people, the very people who should take most care,” he said. “When they are spoken to they protest that they have lived in Wellington for 50 years and have always walked that way. It is hard to send old people to Court.” Separate Patriotic Zone Representatives of the Ashburton Patriotic Zone Committee (Messrs S. P. Taylor, W. G. Gallagher, M. McDonald. and G. Kelly), waited on the Borough Patriotic Committee last evening to discuss the application made by that committee for the formation of a separate patriotic zone in the borough. The discussion was taken in committee, and it was decided to apply for the formation of the Ashburton Borough into a separate patriotic zone from October 1. It was agreed to confirm the committee’s offer of amalgamation with the Tinwald Patriotic Committee, and the chairman (Dr. J. Connor) and Messrs H. G. Ferrier, S. W. Gower, and L. A. Charles, will meet the committee to arrange the organisation of patriotic efforts for Tinwald.

Film Censorship.—Of 1668 films examined by the film censorship department, three were rejected, three deferred as being unsuitable for exhibition meanwhile because of the war situation, and 125 were passed subject to excisions. This information is given in the annual report of the Department of Internal Affairs. Countries of origin of long films were Great Britain 28, Australia 1, India 1, Russia 8, United States 407. Of the rejections, one was a long film made in Great Britain and the others "featurettes” made in the United States.