The Dominion MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1943. BACK TO CIVIL LIFE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 13, 11 October 1943, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1943. BACK TO CIVIL LIFE

The report on the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen in the Wellington district, presented to the Wellington Rehabilitation Committee during the week, is of distinct interest, particularly in view of the appointment, announced at the week-end, of Lieut. Colonel F. Bakei as Director of Rehabilitation for the Dominion. It showed that nearly 2000 men had returned to civil life, and that of this number 735 had gone back to their pre-service employment. A further 92 had acquired or returned to their own businesses or farms. This trend back to the work with which they are familiar is a factor upon which the Dominion must rely to reduce materially the whole rehabilitation problem. Every man who returns to the work at which he was engaged before he entered the forces improves the general position. _ No doubt the authorities have already taken steps to ascertain just how many servicemen will be in a position to take that course. For the most part they will be the men who, prior to going into camp, had made a start in life, qualified for some trade or profession, risen to some position with a firm or organization or had established their own businesses. The great desire in a substantial percentage of cases will be to get back to the accustomed ways as quickly as possible. And they will constitute no small proportion of the numbers who have served overseas. It will not be necessary for the national plans to make provision for them, except possibly in matters of small loans for furniture, stock or tools. And obviously the larger the proportion of such men the smaller the problem of rehabilitation. These and allied matters are being discussed freely in many countries, for they extend beyond the ranks of the services.. There has been an extensive but unavoidable dislocation of the lives of very many civilians, and they, too, generally speaking will .want to return to their former way of life. Recently a leading British, journal, reviewing the prospects, said: “Will not the desire of ordinary people for the ordinary freedoms of their ordinary life be as much a limiting factor to any plan as their desire for security of employment and pay?” That brings in the vital factor of personal liberty, and the British journal expressed the opinion that if the. question were put to the men in the forces, or in the wartime factories, they would say that that is what they are fighting and working for now. Admittedly it is difficult to estimate to what extent these views and. desires will influence individual decisions, and it has been well said that it is easier to work out a plan or policy than it is to bear in mind all the human implications. The knotty problem here in New Zealand will be to provide tor those who, prior to enlistment, had not made a niche for themselves, probably had not decided on what they wanted to do or aimed to become. These young people will have passed through, the rigours of a long campaign and when it is over may feel adrift. That. is one reason why the report that 963 men in the Wellington district had taken up work different from their pre-service employment is of such importance. Some of them have, since they entered the f orces, determined what they wanted to do when they returned to civil life, and no doubt many others have felt that they, would like to tiy out some particular form of civil occupation. It. is in this respect, that the work of rehabilitation must prove its practical value by providing the opportunity.