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EXEMPTIONS AND ESSENTIAL INDUSTRIES

Sir,—ln your issue of the 181.li instant' appears au article with the above heading. After criticising tho action of tho (iovernment and various other public bodies, you slate: "Theßecruiting Board memorandum, which has become the subject of comment, is a somewhat belated move towards establishing such a policy. It emphasises tho seriousness of the position which is arising in tho Dominion owing to tho depiction of skilled farm workers through enlistment, and states that the Government is of opinion that production must be maintained to the fullest possible extent, in view of tlio enormous financial burden imposed on tho Dominion by the war. In order I hat each farm may be left with labour to work if ._ the memorandum continues, it. is cmiriiijered- absolutely essential that in no case should tho man who is doing tlio whole of the work on his own farm, or thu last sun on the fiirni. of parents who are unable through age or infirmity to do 1 the work themselves, or skilled agricultural labourers, (unless eilieieiil: labour is available to replace them) be taken for military service."

The llci-miling Hniird'ri recommcndaliun is a. case of "locking (lie stable door :il'l.(.'P tlio steed has been stolen." T know of one e.nee when not only the J os |, man was taken off a, farm, but the last

son. tho father being too old to work the farm, the last son put all Iho land in grass before leaving for the front, tins is notjan exceptional ease at all; there aro many such through tho country. A lot of tnrms are lying waste, and Jiavo not been ploughed since last year because ploughmen are not to be had the loss lo tho pastoralists in this island last year was something like ,£250,000 through lack of inusterers. What it will bo' this year one cannot elate, but it will be_ very- heavy. What Air. Vavasour calls indiscriminate conscription has gone a long way towards "killing the goose that lays the golden egg." At Home, when there is a scarcity of labour in any departments men are returned irom the trenches to do the work, but our men, once gone, ure irrevocably lost— wo cannot get them back. If tho Government sent no more farm and station ?-n i °" 1 of Hl ° ou-ntrv we should still be in n bad way, as there are not enough now to keep up our production Jt is our skiJled labour that has gone Jlow we are to pay our way with a. tailing production is more than I enn tell, and I think it will puzzle the wisest heads. If you hail published similar articles to the one under discussion twelve mouths or two years ago, yon might have done some good, but it is w/o late in the nay now. Tho men have gone. ). wrote you some time since supporting Mr. Vavasour's letter, which you publisned, on indiscriminate conscription, but you neither published nor acknowledged it, so porhups this will share tho same fate, and be thrown into tne waste-paper basket, as not worth v of > notice.—i am, ete.

1\ LISSAMAN. HVe have been publishing- articles on (he subject discussed by our correspondent for at least twelve luonths. Our recollection is .that wo also published tho previous letter lorwariteu «s by Mr. Liesaman. It ho will let us know the approximate date we will have the matter looked np. |

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171027.2.27.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 28, 27 October 1917, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
572

EXEMPTIONS AND ESSENTIAL INDUSTRIES Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 28, 27 October 1917, Page 6

EXEMPTIONS AND ESSENTIAL INDUSTRIES Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 28, 27 October 1917, Page 6

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