New Zealand's Proud Position

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 124, 12 February 1918, Page 4

New Zealand's Proud Position

\ .

. Military Service Act. I Our National Government, by means of the Mi'itary Service' Act, 1916, demonstrated to the Empire and to the world New Zealand's ■ determination to loyally assist to the utmost of its power in the defence of the liberties and privileges which its people enjoy under the ftvitish , .. ' ■•■ flag. Tho bold step then taken has enabled the Dominion to provide a . regular ilow of reinforcements to relieve and strengLhen our troops in ' ' the fighting lines. Altogether something like 90,000 officers and men have been dispatched. The admirable nature of tho plans made for the training and equipment of our troops is demonstrated by the magnificent-record of the men. The camps at Trcnthain and Featherston ' are regarded as equal, if not superior, to anything in the Empire toI day. The spbndid organisation created under the National Government has resulted in a steadily increasing efficiency which is reflected in the smooth working of the training camps and the handling of the large number of men who pass through the camps. New Zealand can well .take pride not only in the achievements of her gallant sons who . have won such fame on the field of battle, but in the courage and fore- . sightof the National Government which ensured that tho burden of '.. I sacrifice should be fairly spread over the whole of the eligible manhood of the nation. No patriotic New Zeiilander should forget that the National Government, in its war policy, has' set an example of courage and devotion to the cause of Liberty which has placed the Dominion in the forefront of the counsels of the Empire and won for it the respect iYγ and admiration of the'whole of the English-speaking race. I '■ ' ,- I -,- War Regulations. ! J ' No l citizen concerned for the welfare of his country can fail to I recognise tho wisdom as well as the courage and resolution shown by the j National Government in the precautionary measures it has taken from ■ . time to time to safeguard- thd nation in tiiis time of unexampled crisis from the dangers ol internal disaffection and strife, i'rom the outset the National Government has taken a firm and determined stand against any acts bordering on disloyalty, whether the prompting ol ignorance ' ■;■ or treachery; The War Regulations it has passed, though in eases they ■ ' may have occasioned inconvenience—an inconvenience inevitable in the times in which we live—afford no ground for complaint on the part of fair-minded, loyal, and honest citizens. ' On the other hand, they have prevented the abuse of tho liberty we enjoy, they have checked the cliver- : sion of our national energies from the great purpose which so deeply ■ •■- conceiais the welfare of all; they ha v© afforded protection and security to the loyal and patriotic, and they have minimised the mischievous ' efforts of thoughtless and irresponsible agitators whose, narrowness of : ' vision and bitter prejudices blind .them to the menace of their indiscretions. Loyal citizens who may be inclined to listen to.the cavilling of -'• those who assail the National Government for minor faults and short- .'■ :comings should remember what they have been saved from by the ■ : :courage and wisdom the National Government has displayed in this : !•-■ and other directions. [ ■~.';';' Department of Imperial. Supplies, !■'■-■'■ The'heavy burden borne by the.National Government has been added ■ to by the request of the Imperial authorities-that it should requisition the Dominion's output of irozen meat, cheese, butter, scheelito, wool, '.sheepskins, and hides. The magnitude of this task may be gathered from, ■the figures given below; but it was also an undertaking calling for the exercise of great tact and judgment, and the fact that it has been I carried through with so little friction is to the credit of the National .Government and all concerned. The National Government, while it. had ■ to consider the interests of the producers and the country generally, ' owed a duty to tho Mother Country as well, and that it has ably carried Kt/J W through its difficult task is testified .by. the.;results achieved. Many % JwL . obstacles had to be overcome and differences o~f opinion smoothed away, I \ but the country and the Empire arc reaping the benefits to-day.' Since I j ■ • the creation of the Department of Imperial Supplies under Mr. Massey I '. , in March, 1915, the Na-tional Government has handled payments'to the producers of New Zealand on behalf of the Imperial authorities totalling over £50,000,000. The details of the payments made arc a striking . testimony to the value of our primary industries, and disclose the , A source from , which the whole country- has drawn the prosperity which ■"'■ the National Government has assisted to promote. The total payments ■ to-jdato under the requisition scheme are as follow: — ' ••■ ■ : ---. ■ Frozen meat :.. 21,732,480 . . Cheese, 1915-16 season '. 1)17,748 ' . Cheese, 1916-17 season 3,295,557 ■'■ --■:.-' Cheese',-1917-18 season 1,526,905 • -•■ Butter, 1917-18 season 1,507,733 Scbeelitfl 91,737 - - --.--" Wool ...' 18,804,680: • Sheepskins 659,065 Hides • 525,24S ;. I; Freezing companies' slipe wool 1,344,320 Other business 820,727 Grand total £51,529,205 Pay and Allowances of Soldiers. .. No other British ■ soldier, taking all the circumstances into consideration, is better paid than the New Zealand soldier. The Australian ' : soldier gets an extra shilling a day, but that is less than equivalent 'to the separation allowances and pension benefits which bfelong tb tho Now Zealand soldier. A soldier receives as. a clay. If he is married ■ .his wife receives as separation allowance 3s. per day additional, and for every child under tho ago of sixteen years she is entitled to draw . ..Is. a day. A soldier with a wife and two children will therefore have £3 10s. per week, and the soldier will have nothing to pay for his own board and clothing. Tho National-Government has no desire that a man should be in any worse position to carry on his business on his return from the war than he was before he enlisted. It is not desired, . for instance, that a man should be compelled to sacrifice his home or any other of his assets owing to his inability to maintain them on his diminished active service income. A scheme has therefore been established under the Financial Assistance Board by which a man may receive aid up to £3 per week for the payment of rent, interest, insurance, or such liabilities. This money is not given by way of loan, but as a free gift, and is in addition to his pay. No other country in the world makes such liberal provision for its-soldiers'. War Pensions. Nowhere iu the world is there a War Pensions soale so liberal as •■ that in force in New Zealand, and nowhere in the world is there an Act on any Statute Book by which such generous treatment is given to the dependants of soldiers. Every soldier who returns to this country ! totally disabled receives a pension of £2 per week. 1 If he is married ■ his wife may receive £1 per week in addition, and every one of his children, if. he has any, is entitled to pension at the rate of 10s. per week, a married man with two children will receive in all £4 per week, which is rather more than the average earnings of a good artisan before the war. If a man marries after his disablement his wife is still entitled to a pension if it can be shown that before the man enlisted the parties had agreed to marry. Pensions are payable in respect of children born after the disabled soldier has received his pension. Under no other Act on any Statute Book are such remote degrees of relationship admitted as furnishing evidence of dependency. It should be understood that ''total disablement" for pension purposes does not mean that the man has to be confined to a bath-chair. The pension is payable even if the man finds it possible to follow some occupation and to earn his living, the policy being to encourage rather than to deter men if they should feel that they are capable of somo useful work. The pension scale is sufficient to keep any working man '.and his family in their accustomed standard of comfort, and at the same time it frees him from the necessity of providing for his old age. But there are all classes of men in the New Zealand army, and there are men in the ranks who in civil life held lucrative positions. To the families of these men it may be a hardship to live on tho pensions provided, and if it can bo shown in any case that the money provided by tho pension fis not sufficient to maintain the family in its usual standard of comfort, a special allowance of £l per week additional may be granted.. The scale is a- democratic one. In no oilier army a it, (he differences in the pensions paid to officers ol:' rank so little above tho.se paid to the /f*/f\\ soldiers of the line. The widow of a soldier, if ehikll.-.ss, receives 30s. (l fnSxi P 6"-' w ? c k> anc ' if s^e nas children she. receives £2 a week, with 10s. per I! \U/ 1/ wc °k i> l respect of every child. All Ihfit is required to prove the rigi* vWw of a widow to a pension is the death of her husband. Her own /fV\/sn circumstances are not to be taken into account. This same, rule applies if vC II fy ' ne - So^'Cl ' wno ' ,as b ecn disabled. No enquiry may bo made into V/s\JJ n ' s circumstances. Our National Government has dealt with the whole fsS&\ question in a liberal spirit. •"*'" S^^^v^^^^^^w^sr" —~""~"—-~—---~-^^ r^~= ~. P"

I V j Achievements of the National Government J\ 0 patriotic warm-blooded New-Zealander can read the facts set out on this page without a -J$ feeling oE pride in the war record of the land of his birth or adoption. And no fairfr minded man or woman can deny to our National Government the credit that is its dun for the important part that it has played in making possible the magnificent series of achievements here outlined. The National Government was created to enable New Zealand tb perform her national duty in the world Avar efficiently, and to the best advantage. It was inevitable tinder such unprecedented conditions as have arisen out of this war, with the wisest and most far-seeing statesmen in the world constantly confounded in their judgments and anticipations of the course of events, that errors should have been committed by our National Government. No one can deny, that mistakes have been made ; but those mistakes have been in the main of a minor character, and they sink into utter insignificance when compared with what has been accomplished under such extraordinarily difficult conditions, and under circumstances without parallel in the history of the world. The critics of the National Government are faced with indisputable facts which, on examination, will be found to outweigh their petty grievances, and which render innocuous their bitterly partisan diatribes. People at times grow critical about trifles, forgetting for the moment the gravity of the period, and the immensity of the issues at stake. But no honest and patriotic New-Zealander who views the position" as a whole, and Aveighs the facts impartially, can fail to recognise that the National Government has conducted the county through these perilous years in a manner which has won it honour and distinction in the eyes of the Empire and the World ; minimised the dislocation of trade within our borders ; and promoted as far as possible under such unexampled conditions the "welfare of its people. ! No country within the Empire has passed through the dreadful ordeal of this terrible war with less internal friction than New Zealand. The credit for this rests largely with the patriotism of the people, but the National Government has made itself the medium through which the spirit of the people has been stimulated and given practical effect. It has faced with courage' the responsibility of devising the means by which New Zealand has been" able to play an honourable part in the war of Liberty, on the outcome of which the future of every man and woman and child in the Dominion depends. With equal courage and resolution it has stamped out any muttering.? of the seditious—attempts by the ignorant or the traitorous' to divide the nation with internal disaffection. No country in the world has provided so liberal pensions and pay and allowances for the 1 gallant men who are fighting its battles, and our National Government has gone further with definite and practical plans for the benefit of Returned Discharged Soldiers than any other Government has done. Let those who criticise the Government on any of these grounds turn to the facts, note-what has already been done, what is being done, and the plans that have been made for the future. I People are apt to forget. Where things work smoothly and well, the planning and the labour and the power of organisation required to secure such'results are often overlooked or ignored. Few indeed of the fault-finders with the Defence' Department give credit for the splendid work successfully accomplished which laid the foundations for the magnificent achievement of our civilian soldiers in the field ; the excellence of the training in the camps; the admirable equipment provided- i for the men; the regular and adequate fiW of trained reinforcements. The National Government has been criticised on certain smaller details of its Defence administration, and on occasions justly 'criticised, but, taken as a whole, no country within the British Empire can show a finer record than that associated with the training, equipment, despatch, and treatment, of the soldiers of this Dominion.- • The appointment of the .National Efficiency Board is one of the actions of the National I Government that is likely to prove of incalculable service to this country ; the Board of Trade has also done useful work, and the creation of a Munitions Department has saved the eountry many thousands of pounds. " As agent for the British Government, our National Government has arranged for the purchase of the produce of pur farmers at prices mutually satisfactory. This task has, so far, involved the -handling of the huge sum of over fifty million pounds sterling. It has been a tremendous undertaking, carried through with a minimum of friction,, and it has meant a great deal more to the people of New Zealand than is generally recognised. " - t.... -'. Those people who object to the prices paid for our produce because they represent an advance on pre-war prices ignore facts and common sense. All the world over prices have risen, and our primary producers are in fact making sacrifices of many millions for the benefit of our countrymen overseas, when the prices paid them are compared with the ruling market rates. But that is not the only point to be considered. Nor is it the most important. ... - New Zealand's Avar bill, as everyone knows, is an enormous and a growing one. The. National Government has had to devise ways and means of meeting that bill. Without the increased prices from the sale of our primary products our financial resources would have been strained to breaking point. The increased prices have enabled the country to bear the financial burden of the war with a minimum of inconvenience and hardship. The National Government has been enabled to secure by taxation a large proportion of the extra profits so earned for the benefit of the whole community. The policy of the National Government has been to place the extra taxation on the shoulders of those best able to bear it—the people with big incomes, the people who have made big profits. Practically the whole burden of war taxation has been placed, by the National Government on the shoulders of the wealthy. The increased prices for our products have also been a factor in enabling the National Government to raise the huge loans which have been so successfully floated in New Zealand. Over fifty millions have been borrowed since the war began, by far the greater part within the Dominion. It is a striking tribute to the state of the country under the administration of our National Government that these huge sums should have been raised without injury to the trade and business of the community, and that the financial position of the country should be so strong, and money so plentiful in spite of the heavy call on the capital of the people. ■ Citizens should remember these things when they hear the soap-box orators railing at the National Government. In spite of the magnificent services it has been able to render ; in spite of the tremendous drain on its resources; no part of the Empire has come through the Avar with so little dislocation of its business life and so comparatively little domestic hardship, and there is no country within the British Dominions in Avhich prosperity is so general and the prospects for the future brighter. Those who are inclined to carp at the National Government shut their eyes to these benefits. Faultfinding is easy enough, but no one who views the position fairly can fail to realise how much we have to thank the government for. ■ The National Government has not lived in the present only. While created to eliminate party strife and thus enable the whole energy of ministers to be devoted to the great tasks which confronted the country in the performance of its duty in the Avar, tasks which the Dominion's Avar record and its position to-day prove conclusively they have successfully carried out, the National Government has also found time to lay the foundations for future development and to meet the I necessities of after-war conditions. Plans have already been prepared for an active Public Works policy; loans have been authorised to provide employment' for discharged soldiers; large reserve funds have been created out of surplus revenue to meet any unexpected contingencies which may arise. People Avho take an unprejudiced view must admit that whatever its faults the National ■ Government has done well. Its record of achievement and the condition of the country to-day make a convincing answer to its critics. A brief reference to the splendid services of the National Efficiency Board, and the economies effected by the Munitions Department created by the National Government, will be found on the following page.

Our Splendid Financial Position. No country in the Empire is in a sounder financial position to-day than this Dominion. This (act is a tribute to the National Government, which every citizen must recognise with satisfaction and approval. From the outset the National Government laid itself out to build up a - sound and a strong financial position. Each year since its formation the. Government has met the enormously increasing burden of war with measures which have strengthened the national finances without imperilling the sources of supply. Huge- sums have been raised by taxation and huge sums have been borrowed locally, and in spite of these heavy j drains the general prosperity ruling throughout the- country continues ■ unabated.. The large increases of revenue required by the National Government have been gathered almost entirely from thfe wealthy and well-to-do. The policy of the Government has'been to collect the.additional revenue by direct taxation. Those who liavc- made b'ig profits out of the Avar have had to pay a big share in taxation, while those with . small incomes have been left alone. It is a sound policy and a. just policy. . - Every call on the Government has been promptly met, every emergency that could poisiljly be foreseen has been provided for. The position to-day is one which justifies full and complete confidence in the National Government. It lias not only met all the demands made on it, but has created out of surplus revenue large reserves running into many millions of pounds as a. safeguard, against the future. In 1916 there was a surplus of revenue over expenditure of £2,014,423; in 1917 the surplus totalled £4,296,424 or more than one-third of the total annual pre-war revenue. The huge financial transactions it has successfully handled are known to most people—the great loins raised locally would have , been declared an impossibility, a, few years ago. Just before the close ; of the last.session the Finance Minister gave a summary of-the National • Government's loan raising. Tho total amount borrowed for war purposes since 1914 was stated to l<3 about£46,ooo,ooo, while over £6,000,000 had been borrowed for other purposes. The whole of this grca-t sum was raised in war time, a<nd rrobably the flotation costs of the locally-raised portion were lower than has ever been the case in any other public loan raised by New Zealand. J _ That so strong and sound a financial position should have been built up under such exceptional conditions speaks volumes for the National Government's policy and administration. Land for Soldiers. , Very complete plans have been made by tho National Government for settling returned soldiers on the land and for assisting, them to become successful farmers and producers. The policy hero laid down is one calculated not only to benefit the soldiers themselves, but must prove of immense value to the country as a whole. Although the scheme :s practically only in its initial stages, the Minister of Lands, the lligh't I lion. W. F. Massey, can already point to practical results of a striking nature. The latest figures available show' that tho area of land specially proclaimed for soldiers' settlements now totals over 388/000 acres. Tho details are as follow:— . .. 'Acres. Auckland 82,168 . ■ Hawke's Bay .75,282 Taranaki 9,463 Wellington '..'. 73,473 ' Nelson 16,135 Marlborough 8,682 Westland 8,640 Canterbury 63,874 Otago '..' '. 44,169 Southland .'...... 6,151 Total '. 388,027 - U\/( .Number . Area . i' I of settlers. in acres. Under Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act 507 213,961 Discharged soldiers at ordinary ballots 15 , 16,1)75 By transfer 25 10,522 Members of Expeditionary Force (including wives) 58 163.15S Totals ........■,...:... 605 403,716 . \ ■ ■'....,': ""-" '• ' ■\ Of the 605 soldier settlers, some 543 arc eligible for advances under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act. Up to the present the advances authorised by the National Government under its policy of rendering financial assistance to soldier settlers for tho making of ■ improvements and the> purchase of stock is something over £168,000. The National Government, it will be seen, has bestirred itself to provide the means for our soldiers to get on the land and to assist them after, they get there. This policy should have"the approval and support of every patriotic New Zealander. .-.....::..: Helping Discharged Soldiers. Everyone who recognises what we owe to our citizen soldiers must experience a sense of satisfaction at the very thorough and sympathetic manner in which the National Government has tackled the task of help- . ing returned soldiers back to civilian life under the most advantageous ■conditions possible.' The Discharged Soldiers' Information Department "" was created by the National Government to ; help returned soldiers in - every practicable form. It has already rendered most valuable service, and it is continually developing and enlarging.'its field of.activities. Officers of the Department visit every transport arriving in New Zealand and obtain from the men themselves the information necessary to enable assistance to be rendered. A register is kept,-and by means of a card system each man's case is kept under constant observation: . ; The following is a summary of the Department's register in January ■ Total number of men on the register 14|240 of this year:— .' • . ■ ' Disposed of (i.e., employment found, returned to old employment, rejoined forces, failed to reply to. repeated communi-. cations, left New Zealand, etc!) 10,195 Under action (i.e., men in course of'tleing personally interviewed, men who have stated that they, are not yet ready for work, etc.) :..... i,420 On "Employment Wanted Register" (chiefly men who have justbeen discharged from the Army) 219 Not. ready for action (i.e., men who have not yet been discharged, including upwards of 2200 men who have returned to New Zealand, during the last fortnight) .2,406 Tho National Government has made provision by means of which . disabled soldiers may work at various trades, the men being paid a \ subsidy by the Government to bring their wages up to the minimum wage in the trade. The trades union concerned is consulted in each case._ The National' Government, through the Department, also pays j special allowances to disabled men to cover beard and lodging whilst the men are- receiving free tuition in new trades at technical schools. Similar allowances are granted to men receiving instruction on State 1 fa-rms. Every effort is being made to encourage and assist the men to better their pre-war positions, and the pecuniary assistance offered to disabled soldiers is in addition to what the soldiers may be entitled by way of. pension. A soldier's pension is not, and cannot bo;'-interfered with by the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department, The Department's work is another evidence of the sound and capable manner in _ which tho National Government is grappling with the problems raised by the war and of its sympathetic interest in the welfare of our soldiers. . In addition to the measures briefly outlined above: (a) Tho Minister of Finance has been authorised to raise a sum not exceeding£l,ooo,ooo for public works undertaken by the Gov- . ernment with a. view to providing employment for discharged soldiers. .(b) Legislation bar, been passed b>; Parliament simplifying tho procedure in the case of local bodies desiring to undertake similar works with the same object, and, subject to necessary precautions, tho State Advances Department is empowered to advance / the necessary money. \yfi (c) The Government Departments chiefly concerned in the employ- . merit, of labour haw formulated schemes of public works which can be put in hand at the shortest notice. Including reabsorption of employees at present absent at the war, ///>& \\ the Railway Department estimates it will be able to employ 6280 men; *( '( jj ;} the Lands and Survey Dcnartment a little over MOO men: and the XssLlJ PuUic Works Department between 5000 and 6000 men—making a total /Jr*!f of between 14,000 and 15,000. m«ot\ Tho_ National Government has been looking to the future as well \wW/ as providing for tho present. ffiS&\ ' [ftf^H :z^^^^^^ ||JU

:1 I t j j - NATIONAL EFFICIENCY BOARD d I J Very early in the experience of the- National Gcv- ; ernnient in tho working of the Military Service Act I I i it was seen that a difficulty which would increase i . . ; most seriously as the supply of men was tapped more 3 ■ ! and more heavily would be the maintenance of our J • ■ own.industries at reasonable efficiency. The we'fare a and prosperity, the staying-power of the country, t j depended on this difficulty being met and mastered. [ I ; The law provided that the decision in every case as * I I to whether a particular man could be spared for 3 [ ! r.iilitary service abroad would rest with a Military 3 i ! Service Board. The members of these boards --:ould S not be expected to have knowledge of their own on the 3 I i merits of many of the claims for exemption made to r I j their tribunal. Very soon it became evident that 5 ! they could no)-, exempt every man who claimed that his 5 ■ ! presence in the country was essential to the country's fc : welfare. What were the boards to >h1 Were they i to exempt everybody the Act would bo sure to fail, J and, on the other hand, if no exemptions were to be J granted tho industries of tho country were bound to I ! si'ffcr. _ The National Government had to keep the 3 \ industries of f .he country running at maximum effici- ; I ency, esecially those which were indispensable <s part 3 I of the country's war effort, and the National Efficiency I IS Board, comprising a selection of New ■ Zealand's best 3 . men of business, was set up to, advise tho Government on the host of questions involved in the formulation ol ' ] a policy for the Military Service Boar'ds. This Board hoard evidence al' over the Dominion, and as the , j result of its inquiries it classified the industries and I j J occupations of the people under four headings—Most r ' j Essential, Essential, Partially Essenfcia , , and .N'onf j essential. Then every class of worker in all these . I ; industries was classified by number according to tho degree of his importance to the industry. The National Government adopted the report of 'its Effiei r j I ency Board, and this elaborate classification scheme i , ■ has been the chief guide for the Military Service ( i 9 Boards in determining all appeals made on the ground , . i i ' of ''public interest." I r ; The Effieiency Board was also entrusted with the 1 I ■■ task of assisting the Government in devising methods 3 ! i of paring fov tie businesses and for the farms ol ; | soldiers proceeding; on active service. Local comI j ! nuttees were appointed in every district in the 5 ! i Dominion where it appeared that there was need foi ' ' i them. It was to be the duty of these local committees [ I or boards of trustees to see that if a farmer hud tc t I leave his farm without anyone in charge of it pvodue ! tion on the farm would be maintained, and the ownci r ! : or occupier protected against loss. _ In the same waj committees were set up to take over businesses ownec , j I by reservists railed into camp. These committees art 1 v I J doing good work, and they perhaps do it the better i y by doing it quietly. The Board has had to tab ac-

count of the diminishing supplies of labour for the doing of essential work. It has surprised most people '• who thought thsy understood the needs of this country i t for workers of particular sorts to see how it is po.s----0 sible to keep all industries running when the country j has been partly depleted of men. The National j Government, through the Efficiency Board, can claim r much of the --redit for this,- and, what is equally ime portant, it is still looking ahead and preparing for ', future possibilities. s MUNITIONS DEPARTMENT r "We have ;,aved a quarter of a million if we have * saved a shilling," was a remark made by the Minister 3 in charge of tne Department of Munitions aud Sup--0 plies recently, and it was evident that Mr. Myers °_ considered that be was making a very modest estimate S J of the saving that had resulted from the establishment s of the Department. The National Government, when s it founded this Department, wisely secured the co- »' operation and active assistance of the best experts ■> cbtainablo. They have overlooked all the purchases, e examined the quality of tho goods supplied, and, with 0 the Minister, nave planned methods of purchase, in e bulk of all subsidiary supplies needed for the- manu- [' facture of the goods at the very lowest rates. In I'.ng'and the Government has taken* over all the wool y In New Zealand our National Government did not 'ji need all the wool, but long before the British Govern- . menc adeoted the practice the New Zealand Govern- '\ raent took over so much of the Now Zealand wool as a was needed for this Department. This wool was & . delivered at oost price to the factories, where it was c ! to be worked up into clothes and blankets for the soldiers. This quality of all materials to be usod in '" the manufacture of these articles was', specified exactly, so that it was impossible for any manufacturer to e make any profit as a middleman. His raw materials . e were supplied to him at known cost, and he was paid l ' fur the manufacture only. Prices have been reduced c on all lines purchased in spite of the steady or even j rap/d increase in the cost of raw materials, and in Eomn lines which have become scarce the saving effected j by the. National Government policy of buying well in j & advance of requirements has been enormous. In tho is purchase of supplies of boots the same policy has been if followed. It has not been possible to keep down the . i- cost of boots, but it has been possible, as the result of o experience, to improve the quality, and the New >r Zealander wears a perfectly sound Army boot. In is every war there is graft, and New Zealand's Munitions o Department had to deal with unscrupulous or careless § ;- manufacturers who supplied inferior material. Very ii" heavy fines were imposed on those, convicted of these y offences, with the result that the men who would be d dishonest either have been driven out of the munitions e business or have been taught the lesson that honesty i r is the best policy very thoroughly. The National \ :- Government has seen to that. [J l