Repatriation Department

Hokitika Guardian, 6 April 1922, Page 4

Repatriation Department

PROGRESS RETURN AS AT 20« h MARCH, 1922.

employment. Th e Department has placed 26,854 discharged soldiers in employment an theire are at the present time 259 names on the ‘“Employment Wanted” Register (Auckland 85; Wellington 84; Canterbury 58; Otago 32). During the past month unemployment sustenance was paid in 2 cases of hardship. TRAINING. In addition to 1,413 students who have been assisted financially with grants for the payment of Fees and the purchase of Textbooks, the Det pnrtment has, arranged vocational trairiing for 6,004 partially disabled soldiers, apprentices etc, and 5,584 of this number have completed their courses and have been absorbed in various industries. There are still 420 men being trained by the Department, but at the present rate of absorption the majority of these should be settled in their respective vocations before the end of the year. There will still remain th c dischargees from Hospitals to be provided for and possibly a few Medical and Divinity Students at Otago university and Knox College (most of whom are being assisted by way of loan), but beyond this the end of the Repatriation Vocational Training Scheme is in sight. It will thus be opportune to quote figures indicating . the results obtained in relation to the amount expended upon the provision of facilities for training, and for the sustenance of trainees.

The amount expended to date is £382.022 and ns 6,897 men have finished their courses the average cost of each trainee is £55. The success

achieved may be guaged by the fact that no less than 6,390 men or 91% of the toal completed tbeir courses satisfactorily and wer e absorbed. We believe that this percentage would be creditable if applied to ordinary indentured apprentices, but it certainly is a most eloquent tribute to the g |- it and determination of a ,loC b' of men the .mapofitv of whom were suffering war disabilities s» severe as to preclude the resumption of their prewar occupations. When we deduct from the 607 men who “discontinued training” before the completion of the course the number who were unfortunately compelled to give up on account of ill-health, it is quite evident that men who proved to be “drifters” were very few in number—certainly net more than 5% at the outside. To far as these men are concerned thc Department cannot guarantee that the traine c will not “change over” to other work within his capacity if there is sufficient financial inducement to do so, nor c an it give an assurance that on the completion of the course he will accept work with tRe firm or in thc District in which he has been trained. After all, the figures given prove that there are not very many cases of this description. In some trades the position may not- be quite so good as in others. The majority of the trainees have received their instruction in private workshops and factories, the wage paid by the employer being subsidised by the Department. Particular care is exercised* in the selection of suitable trades and by Order in Gounod it is provided that the suitability of the man for the trade must b e determined by the “Industrial Committee” of the Repatriation Board. Before a permit is issued the Industrial Union concerned is given an opportunity of expressing its view s on the case and the wage of the trainees is fixed by a “Wages Committee” consiting of representatives of the Repatriation Department, the Employer, and the Industrial Union. The collaboration of the Union officials ensures that a trade is not “loaded” beyond its capacity to absorb trainees and also guards against men being placed in trades with no outlook. It is also obvious that it would have been impossible to absorb some thousands of men in the various trades and industries without the sympathetic co-ope-ration of the Industrial Unions.

Just as it is impossible to guarantee that the trainee will complete his course so it is impossible to obtain as surance from the Employer that an ex-trainee will not be put off in a time of trade depression. This is a

(juestion which has caused the Department some anxiety during the recent “slump” but happily such cases are few in number and we are usually able to place the men with other Employers in the same lines of business. On several occasions we have stated that one great advantge of the Department’s subsidy scheme is the fact that a trainee once placed under it is virtually repatriated as the employer in nearly every case retains his services as a journeyman. Bearing on this we find tha of the 75 men who completed training during th c , past month, 14 have been trained as farmers and are taking up land under the Discharged Soldiers’ 1 Settlement (Act. The remaining 61 were subsidised workers and 45 of these are remaining as journeymen with the firms under whom they were trained. 4 have been placed with other firms in the same trade; 4 have entered into business on their own account; 3 have been obliged to discontinue training owing to ill-health and 4 discontinued for private rea-s-ons. One man fa motor mechanic) who completed training has lost his job through slackness of trade. The Department has placed him temporarily in other employment and he will re-enter the trade as opportunity offers .

We believe that the record of the New Zealand Repatriation Department in conect'ion with the training of discharged soldiers, both in regard to the percentage who have completed their courses and have been absorbed in the industrial ranks and in relation to the individual cost (£55 per trainee) is “second to none.” FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. Loans to assist discharged soldiers to establish themselves in business or professions have been granted in 6,087 eases at a cost of £1,125,713. A further 14,134 men have received advances totalling £677,431 for the purchase of household furniture or tools of trade and 4,130 have been granted financial assistance in other directions the amount paid to or on behalf of soldiers under all headings being £2, 197,956. REPAYMENTS. Of the total amount of £2,197,956

expended on behalf of soldiers £1,803»194 represents loan advances for the establishment of businesses or for the purchase of household furniture e tc., and up to the 28th. February last the Department had collected in respect thereof £'911,110. Expenditure on soldiers during the past 3 months amounted to £46,105 whilst the collections from soldiers totalled £93,739. j