TEACHING SERVICEMEN TRADES

Chronicle (Levin), 9 February 1948, Page 7

TEACHING SERVICEMEN TRADES

^ ■» . 1 SEBABSIiTATION DEPARTMENT HAS DONE GO0D JOB | The gTound covered by the Eehabilitation Department's trade : training schemes in the i'ew years it has been in existence has . elicited unstinted praise from overseas visitors when they coinpare ! New Zealand's facilities for receiving ex-servicemen back into the 1 eivilian ranks with the opportunities offered by other countries to >v/ar veterans. It is eertain that the Bomihion's? comparative safety during the recent war and its singularly unaffected position in the world and its markets at the present time must receive some of the kudos for this happy state of affairs, but in generally congratulating ourselves v/e should take stock of the great amount that has already been aecomplished by the department.

Ferhaps the first aspeet of irade training whieli springs to lnind is tlie carpe'ntry and joinery course whicli en- , compasses most things to do with the working of timber after it has ieft the mill. After a period of infensive training in special workshops and under selected instruetors the men are put into the field, mostiy on the eonstruetion of State houses still nnder an expert tutor. With' the gradual development of the trainees the. spotiight ean be thrown on vet anotlier sphere of the earpenry trainees ' work.

Variety of Contracts^ Timber-w'orkers ' cottages, rural housing on land development blocks, liomes i'or textile workers, houses for hydroelectrie workers, and even a postmaster 's residence, have b'e'en or are being construeted in various parts ot New Zeaiand by reliabiiitation trade trainees as apart from their notmai output on State rental housing contracts. At Mangakino, site of a townsfnp being built to house .Workers engaged on the Waikato ftiver hydroelectrie scheme, a number of trainees are already emploved, and rnore have expressed their wiiiingness to follow. The trainees — now^tradesmen — are emploved by private eontractors. Tire department made it a condition that they must have already completed at ieast 18 months! training and have attained classilication as all-round tradesmen up to State housing standard. This condition applies to all releases from training before the end of the normal training term of two years. Kejeases are made for work of nationai importance and trainees have the right shou'ld they feel they need it, to apply ror re-admission to a ceutre to complete their course. Forestry housing contracts have been un.dertaken with trainee builders in the Rotorua district, at \\raikaremoana, and at Golden Downs,. near Nelson. Over a year ago the trainee intalce at the Rotorua Carpentry • Training Centre was doubled to ensure a' suppiy of trainees, half of wliom, i'oliowing their four nionths; indoor instruction, do the remaining 20 months' outdoor training on forestry housing instead of State housing work. At Nelson 12 trainees volunteered to take their outdoor training at Grolden Downs. This followed failure to interest private eontractors in the forestry housmg work required there. Four cottages for timber workers were needed at Waikaremoana. Arrangements have been made for trainees to prel'abrieate them, as far as XJOssible, at Napier, and after transportation to the site at Waikaremoana to erect them. At Foxton 18 trainees, mostiy - from the trade training centre at Petone, are working with a contraetor engaged .on the lirst group of 50 State, houses for workers in the woolpaelc industrv. iVithin one month of - commeucement seven of the trainees' houses were being roofed and foundations were being poured for a further six. More contracts are expeeted to follow and the eontractors are keen to engage more trainees. An example'of rural housing work is at Hurumua, near Wairoa, where trainees are building farm houses and outbuildings foj AI aori ex-servicemen who are to be settled on sub-divisions. Other rural contracts are pendiAg. New Training Departures Leaving Ihe knoun paths of reliabiiitation instruction we find tliat the Reliabiiitation Board has extended its Ihough'ts to such undertqLkings as raspberry p,rowing and poultry farming. Raspberrv growing as a reliabiiitation umlertaking is discussed in >a statement from the Reliabiiitation Board. The board considers there is seope to produce a considerable addij tioual quantity of raspberries annually in New Zeaiand and lind a protitable ' markgt for theni. Probably from- (50b to 700 tons more couhl be absorhed. This should warrant establisliing a large number of new units, although raspberrv growing by itself is neitlier favoured nor recommended. The board states that it has gone thoroughly into tlie subject of growing and marketing raspberries as a reliabiiitation ayenue for qualiiied ex-servicemen. It maintains that raspberrv growing sliould be undertaken oniy in conjunction witti other suitable crops. This would sjiread the risk incurred with a fruit which is so ' susceptible to frost and drought. It would also provide continuity of employment for seasonal workers at other tlian raspberry picking times, sinee an extended season mav help to attract and hold such workers in the locality. It is felt there is scope for quite a number of suitable ex-servicemen to undertake raspberry growing, providing they du so combined with some other form of subsidiary farming.. It will proffer loan assistance, at reliabiiitation concession rates, for this purpose to ex-servicemen graded "A" for small fruits, flower growing, market gardening, asparagus, horticulture or poultry farming, _ and' who wish to establish new units for growing raspberries as a main undertaking in conjunction with other crops for which they liaye been speeifically graded. The extent of the loan is £2000, which is for house and land, on the basis of a rural workers' home, together with further advances for economic capital expenditure, providing the applicant is able during the de velopment of his Unit to earn liis living from. cash crops or from outside work • Such extra assistance will also be conditional on the ability of the property and the ex-serviceman's proposition to provide a reasonable living' after meet ing commitments and other outgoings.

Districts which are considered to offer scope for settlement are Hawke's tiay, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and Otagp. Poultry Farming A sliglit easing 6f its restriction on rehabiiitation-llnanced poultry farm establishment has been deeided upon oy' the Eehabilitation Board." This will; allow qualified ex-seiVicemen to undertake poultry farming on a part-tirne basis until the wheat position iinproves. The board 's previons poiicy was to eonflne meantime establishment of exservicemen as poultry f armers, witu

eehabilitation finance, to those purchasing or acquifing existiug economic runs. This poiicy still stands, but applies to full-time poultry farming only. Loans may now also be forthcommg for farmlots whicli will uitimateiy depend for main source, of income on poultry production, but which are eapable of producing remunerative sidelines untii such time as the wheat pnsition improves and permits of the farmlets being developed to full economic standard as poultry units. The loan limit will be £2000 for l^nd and house, plus such additional finance as may be required for the capital improvements needed to start operations with up to 400 birds. The above decisions were based on reeommendations from tne' board 's farms advisory eommittee, which stated that there was a number of ex-servicemen who had been awaiting settlement in tlie poultry field for some considerable time. The relaxation in poiicy now agreed upon should provide the opportuuity for a number of the men Who are prepared to combine poultry-keeping with casli cropping, and allow them to commence in the near ' future on their own account. While the present diilicult feed position continues, Jiovvever, the board does not favour linancing new propositions which are wholly dependent on poultry for their present income. ' 'Home-servicemen Considered Many exliome-servicenien did not seem to know that tfhe Reliabiiitation Board had adjusted its priorities system for trade training to allow them to be considered for entry into the board 's trainiiig centres for instruction in tlie building trades, says a statement from the Reliabiiitation Department. Subject to their general suitability, men wlio had served in the home forces only were thus able to apply, for entry into a trade: traihing "centre and have every chanee.,qf their application being. successful. '' ' Similarly home-servieemen wlio had previouslj" applied and had their entry into a centre ueferred sh6uldL iiow' re^apply if tliay were 'stiil interested. This ih ho'way- alt/red tlie eligibility of returned serviceinen to apply. i ; ' ' The board through its centres trains in five distinet building trades, ' ' adds the statement. " These are carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, painting (including paperhanging and glazing) and joinery. For the last-named trade — -joinery- — there is, at the moment only one centre, at Miramar, Wellington. Throughout New Zeaiand there are 24 carpentry centres, of which three are in Auckland, two in WellingtonPetone, and one eaeh ia Kaikolio, Whangarei, Rotorua, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Thames, New ' Plymouth, Hamilton, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Masterton, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, Westport, Dunedin and Invercargill. Painting centres number eight, two being in Auckland, two in Christchurch, and oue each in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Dunedin. There are four bricklaying and four plastering centres, one of these each being at Auckland. Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. ' ' Eehabilitation Legislation During 1.947 nine Acts of Parliament were passed affeeting, directly or mdirectly, the reliabiiitation of exservicemen and women. These were: The Emergency Regulations Continuance Act, the Fair Rents Amendmem Art, the Maori Purposes Act, the Finance Act, Land Laws Aniendinent Act, the Masterton Licensing Restoration Act, the Milk-Aniendment Act, tlie Eehabilitation Amendment Act and thF Bupply Regulations Act. t An amendment aifecting those exservicemen concerned was also made to the Motoy Drivers' Regulations ( 1.940) This amendment permits in eertain eircumstances a person who has suffereo the loss of one eye to be a lieensed driver of a public vehicle. Occupational reestablishment, power of .attorney, servicemen's wills, stamp duty -exemptions, apprentices' suspensions, concessions for Voluntary Aids and provision of war service gratuities to ser.vieemen and women, are other subject heads of wartinie and post-war regulations affeeting ex-. jservicemen and endorsed by the above Act. Under tlie Fair Rents Amendment Act (1947) th'e fapt that a person vacatpd a house to become a servicem an is considered ground for recovery of possession. There . are other mi'nor amendments affeeting ex-servicemen tenants. Although that part of the Act affeeting unused houses was primarily meant to assist ex-servicemen to obtain honies, _ there is no specifie mention of ex-servic'emei; as such in the wording. The right to apply for revision oi charges after not less than three years' occupation and not more than six was given under the Land Laws Amendment Act to ex-servicemen who have aequired by hallot a Crown leasehold of a farming property. v . By the Maori Purposes Act (1947),' (Continued on Page Bi

(Continued from Page 7) the Board of Maori Aft'airs was given the right to grant leases for certain Crown lands for terms exceeding .50 years, This is' to enabie Maori exservicemen settied- on Grown blocks thtoagh the Maori Behabilitation Finahee Copimjttee to be granted leases similar to those granted ex-servieemen under the Small Farms Act. The Masterton Licensing Restoration Aot gives a limited preference to ex^servicemen in the gfanting of new licences and the trarisfef of ather licences, It allbws the Direetor ot Behabilitation or his representative to be heard by the- Lkensing Gommittee. Provision for the prateetian of rohabilitation loans made to exservicemen milk roundsmen was made in the Milk Amendment Act. Under the Rehabilitation Amendment Ac.t, the powers of the Rehabili tation Board to grant assistance were extended in certain direetions. ' The board may now-admit to its trade traiiiing centres discharged servieemen or the British Cominonwealfh forces. It may • also grant the widow of an exserviceman, who has died from causes not directly €ttributable to ,war ser vice, the same housing or furniture loan assistance as the serviceman would have been entitled to at the time ot his death. This provision applies for flve years as from the passing of the amendment, The Act also extended for rehabjlitatioh purposes the definition of the term "cliild" to inelude a stepChild, an adopted child or an illegiti■mate child. , Another sectio-n adds the Oommissione.r of Works to the personnel of the Rehabilitation Board.