AFTER THE WAR

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 22 June 1917, Page 3

AFTER THE WAR

REABSORBING THE SOLDIER INTO CIVILIAN LIFE. The following extracts are taken from a booklet,issued by the Returned Soldiers' Information Department, and which was referred to at length in our editorial column recently: WHAT IS PROPOSED. To meet the new conditions which will arise when the war is over the following arrangements are suggested:— 1. That, to avoid congestion, the Defence Department be requested to endeavour to arrange that the New Zealand Army abroad shall return to New Zealand jjraduftlly *nd by drafts at regular intervals. This will avoid congestion and give officers of my own and other Departments concerned some chance of dealing wife the men effectively. 2. That the lists giving a description of each man returning, which are at present prepared by the Defence Department for the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department in respect of invalided men, should be also similarly prepared by Defence officers on the transports during the voyage in respect of healthy men returning to be disbanded at the end of the war. 3. T-hat the lists when completed be handed to an officer of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department on the arrival of the transport. 4. That in the case of soldiers who return as invalids the existing practice of meeting them on arrival and . of subsequently interviewing them personally be continued.

FINDING EMPLOYMENT.

Next comes the question, How is suitable employment to be found for all the men who return after the war? It is certain that the process of demobilization will be gradual, and the speed with which it will be accomplished will depend upon the transports available. But whether demobilization be fast or slow, the work of finding the men employment must proceed systematically. When peace is declared we shall find approximately fifteen thousand men in our loca-1 camps, or in transports in port, or in transports near New Zea,land. The men may get leave for a short period, but as soon as that leave expires the local employment market will be inundated with this large accession of material. I do not anticipate that there will be any great difficulty in arranging for the employment of these men. They will be in good health; they will have but recently left employment. Most of them will return naturally to their former occupations, and those who cannot be disposed of in that way will probably find their services readily requisitioned because of the scarcity of labour In the

Country. IN THE TRANSITION STAGE

But, whatever, happens, many discharged soldiers not within the cate gory just mentioned are certain to look to the State for assistance to obtain a suitable means of earning a living, and it will be the plain duty of the State to find it for them. The first drafts to return may become absorbed in the normal life of the Dominion -without the helping hand of the State, but. it is certain that when the last contingents set foot in New Zealand the problem of placing them satisfactorily will* become serious. By that time the normal demand for clerks, farm and station hands, tradesmen, labourers, and others who have service to offer may have been satisfied, and then will arise the need for artificial employment to tide the discharged soldier over the transition stage between leaving the Army and obtaining civil work through the natural gateways. Until the gateway opens for the soldier it wilL,be the duty of the Government to look after him, and this can only be done by improvising work. I shall indicate what I think should be done and what I propose recommending the Government to do. First, That a substancial sum of money be provided for the purpose of undertaking works of utility upon which returned soldiers can be usefully cmployed. Second, That the Public Works Department be directed to prepare a schedule of works of public utility which if put in hand will afford employment for discharged soldiers. Third, That a similar direction be given to the Lands Department. On this point I am not certain, but I imagine the Lands Department could perhaps employ men as foresters or gardeners at the State nurseries, and could initiate such work as bushfelling and •preparing land for settlement. Fourth, That the local bodies of the Dominion be requested to prepare schedules of works which they could undertake with the consent and under the supervision of the Government; but that no such work be commenced until the advisers of the Government have certified that the works are of public utility, that they are of a nature upon which discharged soldiers can be usefully employed, and that the general

scheme has been approved by them. Fifth, That the law be altered to enable local bodies to obtain advances with the consent of the Government or ifa advisers, and without the consent of the ratepayers, for the purpose of undertaking which the Government or its advisers consider to be in the public interest upon which discharged soldiers can be usefully employed.

Sixth, That in connection with the works mentioned in the preceding paragraphs all preliminary preparations such as the drawing of plans and the settling of specifications be completed , forthwith, so that the works can be put in hand immediately hostilities cease if the necessity for the work arises. It should be noted that' the works indicated above will create employmeat for roadmakers, engineers, railToad makers, carpenters, plasterers, bushfellerS, gardeners, foresters, bridge builders, bricklayers, paperhangers, fencers, and general labourers. LEGISLATION NECESSARY. i To carry out the scheme some legis- | lation will be required, and it would be necessary to appoint a committee of experts for we have no engineers or contractors in the office of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department. ALL MUST HELP. I hope it will be understood that any scheme to improvise employment which the Government may decide upon will be intended to supplement only the natural supply of work in the Dominion. We hope and expect that all discharged soldiers will be speedily and comfortably provided for in the normal industrial and commercial life of the country. I look to the merchants, the bankers, the farmers, the traders, the manufacturers, and to large employers like the Public Service Commissioner and the General Manager of Railways to come forward with offers of assistance later on. They have already assisted generously and willingly, but later on the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department will be compelled to make earnest appeals to them for further help.