NATIONAL REGISTER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2626, 23 November 1915, Page 6

NATIONAL REGISTER

\ ITS COMPILATION MAN STRENGTH. CLASSIFIED 1 . 'liie Government of New Zealand ."'.fronts to . know quite', a ..lot of things about .every man. in the country: . It grants to. know our. strength' in : men, what those men are capable'of''.'doing,: •. what they/are "prepared to,' do voluntar- • fly,, and how: far iheir condition in .life . will permit .them doing, wliat .they wish "To'do;. This ..information' tho National Register, now 111 process,of compilation, will tafford in a very complete manner. By this time nearly every 'male : between ' tho ages, of 17 and ,60. years has given wo Government the desired particulars. , ■Tho cards,..however, are still coming to Band, though, theynveje supposed to bo in by November .9. Over 400 cards, for. instance, were ! received yesterday.: morning, and, as a rule, accompanied by a g053 and sufficient-treason for the deJay., ' In many cases iheso cards'were, those which/ had been delivered :to houses from-which:.the. male occupants: •' ivero away travelling; ' working,' or seeking work",' in 'which cases '.tlie; exouso -served." ' Tho receipt; of';the f Cards- at .•tho General Post' Office' ,;isi ;, however, only the beginning, of 'the y The task of classifying every male prepisely . V as to age, occupation",'etc:, is one, which ' ill present'is engaging the. attention, of a/'sta(f of fifty young men by-day aiid ■ .' about eighty at night (the nuiiibor fluci,tiia'tes: slightly). • These' arc employed fri tbo.classifying work' in a large, well■lighted room on:.the tot) floor of the ■ General Post: Office, under. the eye 'of tho Govorninent Statistician' (Mr; Mai. colm Eraser). " The first work to- be done in classifying the. registration citrds is: "to markin the right-harii corner the • number. of the military areii. the signatory belongs;,to. ' Those'are eighteen ill number, arid, cover the wholo of New Zea- . \land. .This done,; the men are classiEed as to occupations under the .following.' headings' domestic, commercial,-, transport,' industrial;' agricultural, • indefinite/ ' ; and dependants ''(non-breadwinners).. Having thus clear-: ed. the way, those employment headings nre subdivided into twenty-eight, orders. The orders of those orders are "cbmbed out" into sub-orders /and- ■: numbers, wHoh process gives tlie.exact informa'tlbii required as'far as the very particular nature of a man's , employment. For example, if you;, were to ask what Order. 24,'isub-order/1, No. 1 is, the official, would by a glance at his card , tell ,you it was a .farmer; so in this manner every particular, employment: that has a,defined character is, accounted for', in a perfectly understandable manner. •'. There'is just as'complete a cla,ssifica- ' tion as ,to servico.cowpassed in twentytwo orders or sections. No. 1 includes ; jhose who accepted service straight out; No. 2 j accounts for-all British subjects 17 or. 13: years of age; Nos. 3*to-7 accounts for all willing to'serve one way or another, ill a military capacity; Nos. Bto 12,: all who are willing to serve the State in,a civil capacity; Nos.: 13-tb_l7, iill who are, unwilling to. do anything, civil or-military; No." 18, ''-rejects from -jmßaryV service; No. 19, .physically , incapacitated for military service; No. 20, all foreign" subjects No: 21, all British subjects over .45; years; of age; No. 22,-- returned troopers, f..:-.- / , 'Tho information "fine-tooth combed" in tho manner narrated is duly noted By initial or, number,; on specially-pre-p'afeH b!uo index cards, which will hereafter form the real National Register-of . New Zealand. TSHiilst the. National ■■'Register cards a.re-being piled awa.y' i)i strict alphabetical order (regardless of anytliing else), the blue index cards are sorted into a-rea groups first of 'all; and afterHliat are sorted out according fo age. The index card is ingeniously arranged to contain within its restricted confines all particulars about every male between 17 and 60 years of age in New ' In the top left-hand corner' is a square for tho-number, of the area group, in the right a" square for the general classification number . There is a lino for tho surname and initials, and below is'a provision to show the birthplace. ' To ... facilitate, recording the names of/twelve: of the principal coun- -/. tries, are ,and a mark across any- ■ one -of them .signifies tho birthplace of the man concerned. There is also a Dlank space, in which to'write the name of tho-birthplace .if not enumerated 111 .print. Below that- again is the word' "Allegiance," and it. ate squares containing ' the letters "B," "N,". and '"F,"- which indicate tlie words British, naturalised British, or : foreigner. In the same line is a space for the nominating of'the person's .nationality. Below that /again,. in: a line with , the words . "Conjugal condition," aro squares containing the letters _"S," "M," and ,'W," which,stand for single, ■married, and widower/ In tho same 'line are spaces to enumerate the number of dependants or partial dependant's 01 man concerned, and bo.low that again aro spaces for numbers that indicate his employment, and, finally, under the word. "Status," appear five small squares containing the letters "E," "O,'* "A," "W," and which'interpreted' mca-ri "Employer," "On Own ; Account," "Assistant", (of father or relative, hut not in,receipt of full wages), "Working/for "Wages," and "Unomnloyed." And ttie. whole, of this information is impressed into a, card that only mea- : gures-Tour inches by two'and a half. ■