WAR AND SINGLE MEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1915, Page 6

WAR AND SINGLE MEN.

SHOULD THEY BE DISPENSED WITH? ACTION OF COUNTY COUNCILS. A brief discussion on the employment of single men who are eligible for war service tool; place at the meeting of the JUtham County Council on .Saturday, ihc 'Kaglan County Council forwarded a circular letter comtaining a copy of its resolution that the services of all single men in the Council's employ eligible for service should be dispensed with, and that 110 single eligible men should be employed during the war. It was pointed out that the matter had already been dealt with by the Council. '

Cr. Mo William asked if the Council could consider the question of paying six months' salary to employees going to the front?

The clerk pointed out that legislation had been passed empowering the Council to pay employees who had gone to the war up to twelve months. The chairman said - the Council had told its employees that their positions would be kept open for them if they went to the front. If they went as far as' to dispense with the services of eligible men it would be tantamount to conscription. Cr. McWilliam: And we would be going further than the Government have gone. When this is dijne in the Civil Service it will be time enough for us to consider it. Cr. Granville said labor was getting so scarce that the time would come when the Council would be glad to employ any men, "single or double."

Cr. McWilliam said the settlers in tlie Omoana hiding . were already experiencing difficulty in securing sufficient labor to get the wool out.

The letter was received. "When a man volunteers the Government should take charge of him at once and not allow him to wait about two or three months," remarked Cr. Macßeynolds at the meeting • of the Egmont County Council on Friday. Continuing, he said that-he thought the want of system was accountable to some extent for tlie slackness in recruiting. These remarks were made during a discussion on a resolution from the Raglan County Council to discharge all single men eligible for military service. The resolution was not supported, some of the councillors considering that it was the duty of the Government to call the men up if required.