The Dominion TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1918. MEETING THE STRAIN OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 177, 16 April 1918, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1918. MEETING THE STRAIN OF WAR

It is possible that the debates in Parliament upon the National Service clauso winch was finally passed by the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon may do mischief by 'giving an entirely erroneous impression of the clause and the purpose it is intended to servo. What it actually does is to confer powers upon the Government which must bo exercised if this country is to be put into tho best state to bear tho strain of war. It gave rise to extended debates, not because there Was any difference of opinion about tho necessity of taking action in this direction, but because a few members, principally those who occupy the "Labour "corner" in the House of Representatives, chose to regard a legislative enactment which is urgently demanded in the public interest as liable to bo misused. They urged that under its authority labour might be transferred from one occupation or industry to another for the purpose of privato gain. Tho Government readily undertook to provide against this contingency in the regulations which are to bo based on tho clauso, but declined to embody in the clause itself a bald proviso to that effect. The reason for this attitude—a perfectly sound one—was given by Sir Joseph Ward when he said that such a proviso would make it impossible for tho Government to tako any steps regarding an industry or business without acquiring and managing it. It is quite obvious that it maybecomo necessary in the national interests to organise some industries and subject them to a measure of control without going to the length of converting them into State enterprises; a very little thought would have shown the Labour objectors that thoy were really standing in tho light of the people they profess to represent. All who have read and considered the clause as it was passed by' Parliament mustihavc realised that it is a step towards an improvement in national organisation which is likely soon to become imperatively necessary, and at tho same time that instead of threatening the interests of wage-earners it safeguards them to the fullest possible extent. It authorises .the Government to enforce and regulate national service if necessary by prohibiting any business or industry. The Government is further empowered to regulate the remuneration of national service, but subject to the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act and any awards or agreements in force under fliat Act. Since no one called upon under any schemo of national organisation that may bo framed is to bo asked to work for , less than the award rate of wages in a> given industry,- tho danger of workers being exploited under such a scheme is obviously, to say the least, remote. On the other hand it is evident that the comprehensive powers taken may result in some cases in tho existing rights and interests of employers and owners of businesses being seriously invaded, but this, to judge from their reported utterances, is not tho fear that obsessed the Labour opponents of tho National Service clause. Owing to tho turn given to the debates in Parliament comparatively little emphasis was laid upon the vital purpose the clauso is intended to serve, but it should be plain even to the least reflective that we cannot drift much longer in tho haphazard way that has' contented us during more than three and a half years of war without inviting serious consequences. More- than a hundred thousand men have been withdrawn from industry and "business, and for some months, at least, to come the drain upon our manhood in meeting war demands will be increased. In many directions tho strain upon industry is already boing severely,

felt, and yet we have done extremely little towards disposing of our diminishing resources to the best advantage. To continue'on these lines would he to invite economic disaster, and the Government is doingno more than its plain duty in taking power to inaugurate industrial and commercial organisation. With th'o reports of the National Efficiency Board in hand it is presumably in a position to institute at short notice a scheme of national organisation under which our industrial and commercial resources would be turned to very much better account than is possible at present.

While such a scheme would operate with benefit to the whole community there is no reason why its inauguration should bring the 'Government into conflict with organised Labour or any other section of flre population. Transfers of labour from one industry to another or from one part of the Dominion to another would raise some complex questions only perhaps to be settled by establishing State control of the industries in question or by limiting and fixing profits. But while it may ultimately be necessary to carry national organisation to 'such lengths as these, there- is obviously a great deal to be accomplished meantime b,y organising labour in given industries and_ localities and perhaps by combining existing businesses and services. If the war lasts long enough' it may be necessary, for instance, to arrange for a transfer of labour from town to country—though even then it is unlikely that there need bo any resort to compulsion—but the first thing to do in this instance is to see what can he accomplished by employing the existing body of agricultural labour in accordance with an organised plan instead of in the haphazard fashion now in vogue. So with many other branches of industry. There is great and profitable scope for organisation without asking workers to leave the localities in which they are- now established or the occupations in which they are at present engaged. As has been said, it is likely to prove a much more difficult matter to fairly adjust and arrange the interests of owners of businesses and employers as organisation proceeds. It* is strange that the Labour members of Parliament seem to have been oblivious or indifferent not only to the enormous value and urgent necessity of national organisation as a means of enabling the country to maintain a full head of production while meeting war demands, but also as tending ■• to ease the conditions bearing on people of small or moderate means. Much is lleard about the increased cost of living, and though the prices of essential commodities have necessarily increased during the Avar period, there is no better way of keeping them # within bounds than by organising 'the machinery of supply and turning_ not only labour but business capital and plant to the best possible account: .