NOTES AND COMMENTS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 287, 2 September 1942, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

With Hie decline of farming in Great Britain in pre-war times the provision of labour for seasonal requirements presented no great difficulty. The East End of London is said to have provided the bulk of the labour for the hop and fruit picking in Kent and the southern counties. But in the years which have followed the opening of a world war the British people have made a sustained effort to produce required foodstuffs and so release shipping for other purposes. It has been estimated that grain, garden produce and fruit will be gathered, this season, from 18,000,000 acres, the greatest cultivated area for over 70 years. And, with so many men in the forces, and others engaged in war work, the provision of the labour to gather this harvest has become a problem. The latest reports from London state that it has been solved in characteristic fashion. Early last month what has been'termed "the pitchfork army’’ went into action. It was over 500,000 strong, men, women and children. The older schoolboys to the number of about 20,000 went into 500 camps, and from those bases were to go out daily to work on the farms. Three counties organized harvest holiday camps, each capable of providing for 500 volunteer workers, and in two of them the camps were quickly filled. It has been' reported that some of these workers, having had experience of farming, were able to earn up to 48/- per week after paying for their keep. Then cycling clubs were organized as volunteer land clubs and the members at night, and at weekends, cycled to farms arranged on a roster and worked there. Berkshire formed the first Home Guard land corps. The supply of the necessary machinery has been carefully organized, and on the home front the pitchfork army is said to be dealing with the greatest harvest ever recorded in the Mother Country. .

In recent weeks the problem of manpower in’E.P.S. organizations has become increasingly acute, because of calls made by the armed forces, including transfers to the Home Guard. The personnel of some district E.P.S. sections has been so reduced In this manner that organization is temporarily disrupted and training virtually at a standstill. In many eases the only apparent way of meeting the position is by the enrolment of women and boys, a move already resorted to by a number of unit controllers and district wardens. Up to a point this may be perfectly satisfactory. There are many emergency tasks which women and boys are likely to perform very capably in the absence of men physically fit to undertake active duties. There should, however, lie strict supervision of enrolments of this kind, in order to prevent sections from building up a mere theoretical efficiency. Early this week it was reported from Christchurch that a woman’s section leader had informed her district warden that she and her colleagues “would manage all right—so long as it’s.not the real thing.” This ingenuous reply is not funny if it reflects an attitude of mind unconsciously adopted by replacement volunteers for civil defence. Those who volunteer for service in the E.P.S. should understand clearly what would be expected of them in an emergency, and be capable l»oth physically and mentally of carrying out their tasks.

It would appear that those who prepared the military trap for the Japanese at Milne Bay conceived it advantageous to deceive the United Nations publie, as well as the enemy, as to the position. At the end of last week correspondents reported that the situation had “obviously deteriorated’’ and “must be described as grave” ; also that “it looks as if the Japanese are preparing to move into the whole of New Guinea.” These accounts (which were followed within 24 hours by the announcement from General MacArthur’s headquarters of the Japanese disaster) are described in Sydney as having been “unofficial but. authoritative,” which rather suggests that the deception practised was deliberate. Tlie success will be immensely heartening, and the people of Australia and New Zealand should derive inspiration and renewed vigour from it. At the same time the wisdom of circulating reports such as were published in this case, calculated to mislead the public as to the course of events, may be questioned. It is likely to give rise to doubts and distrust on future occasions. Tlie essential need for secrecy as to plans in preparation can readily be understood and could have been served by saying or suggesting nothing.

bast year the fact was brought* to the notice of the Government, by the member for Clutha, Mr. Roy, that the estates of New Zealand mercantile seamen, who had lost their lives through enemy action, were not exempt from death duties. The executive of the New Zealand Returned Services’ Association has renewed the request that these estates should enjoy the same exemption as those of men serving in the naval, military or air forces. It was stated during the debate in Parliament that tlie estates of naval men killed while on active service were exempt up to £5OOO. At that time the Minister of Finance gave an assurance that, the matter was even then being investigated. Parliament has assembled on several occasions since September, 1941, but no action has been taken, and the official assurance now is that the representations made “would receive the consideration of the Government whenever the question of extending the present exemption was under review.” Tlie request is reasonable. Tlie answer is evasive. The rehabilitation scheme provides for the inclusion of seamen serving on overseas vessels, other than the intercolonial trade, and the latter will be included if their injuries are the result of enemy action. It seems logical to contend that the exemption from death duties should be on tlie same basis, at. least, as the qualification for benefits under the Rehabilitation Act, and the matter should not be deferred indefinitely., The risks are being run now by the members of the merchant service, and the exemption in respect to the liability of their estates should apply at the same time.