REPATRIATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 164, 5 April 1919, Page 7

REPATRIATION

PROBLEMS TO BE FACED

DIFFICULT MONTHS AHEAD

'i'ho uroblein of repatriation'- is not acute at tho present time, though there aro' complaints of. unemployment among returned soliders at ono or two points, notably'Christchurch. Tho system es--tablishcd by the Repatriation Department appears to be working with a fair degree of smoothness and efficiency in thn various districts. But it is easy to gather that tho repatriation-officers, as well as the officers of tho Returned Soldiers' Association, are viewing the fu«' hire with some anxiety. They recognise that the repatriation system has still to\faco the test.of really difficult conditions.

The' fit soldiers are coming homo very fast now. Over 10,000. men are to arrive this month, and. the. number' is likely to bo even larger next month.' Tho withdrawal of tho remnant of tho New. Zealand Division from- Germany is preparatory, to tho final stage of demobilisation in tho United Kingdom. There will bo few men lofc abroad by the end of June. The months of June, July,, and August/will be difficult ones from tho point of view of the-,repatriation officers, who will have "to' handle manjf thousands of fit returned men at a time when, owing to seasonal conditions, em-i ploymeiit even in normal years is at its slackest. A big increase in the payments under tho heading of 6ubsisfenco grants is considered to bo inevitable during those months. The situation will be;, come easier with the arrival of spring,' and. if all goes well, tho great majority" of the men should bo. absorbed, when,' summer arrives.

Tho essential work of the Repatriation" Department is to 'get the returned mei* back into the ranks.'of tho civilians who are drawing wages'and salaries. But tiie activities of tho Department aro not ■ confined to this object. Tho Department is subsidising some men who ara learning new trades. This eflort is very, desirablo in itself, but it may delav tho final disposal of. tho individual soldier, , and provide competitors for 'the who return later. Tho repatriation an* thorities do not think that there will bar any substantial difficulty in these directions. Then tho scheme for lending returned men money, to build or buy homes might easily absorb all the money; »i ailablo for repatriation. The Gov eminent has not placed any limit on the? ■• operation of this scheme, but it is clear that if no more than one-fifth of tho? : returned men demanded homes the expenditure under this heading would assumo alarming dimensions. If the aver' aao loan wno.i!SOO, the cost of homes for 10,000 of the returned men would he .£•8.000,000.

■ The difficulty that many of tho mea find in settling down to_ civilian work is a factor that is increasing tho burden, of tho Repatriation Department. The men are unsettled. The routine of the old iob often looks very unattractive to lliom. and they want a change. They ask for work with which they are not! familiar, and then they find that they do not! ike tho new job. Then there are the men who seem fit for regular work of tba kind they were accustomed to before enlistment, but whovfhid after a few days or weeks that their shaken nerves will not permit them to give efficient continuous, service. Thero are really pathetic cases of this kind. Tho men who are partially incapacitated conslituto another phase of tho problem. Thev need light employment, and tho supply of suitable jobs is much smaller than tho demand.

A good deal has'been said lately about girls being unwilling to relinquish tho work that they took up after tfto enlistment of the men who formerly held tha tubs'. If there is any blanio to bo apportioned in this matter most of it obviously belongs to tho employer. There seems to ho no doubt that many of tho girls have "mndo good," and will bo retained in tho faco of male competition. But the employer who refuses to find a iob for the returned man who left his employ to go to tho front is the exception rather than,the rule, and tho experience of the offices concerned with' employment suggests that the point is one for adjustment, and not for dissension. Thero is room for tho girls in addition to tho men. In fact, tho total ntmber of permanent war appointments of girls and women probably does not nearly equal tho number of men New Kcnlaml lost in tho field. Tho places of these men would have to be filled from somo source.