The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1918. NATIONAL SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1918. NATIONAL SERVICE.

No more complete and emphatic illustration of the taihoa policy of the Government has ever been presented than on the occasion when the Acting-Premier (Sir Jas. Allen) replied to a deputation of labor men relative to national service on Wednesday last. The Minister said: <! The national service scheme has not yet taken definite form, and the Government have no proposals to place before a conference. We have been thinking about the matter aDd talking about it, bur have not evolved a scheme." Did the Minister realise how effectively he gave the Government away? Probably not. The process of thinkiug, talking but postponing action has become such a fixed habit on the part of our Ministers that it has evidently lost its ludicrous aspect, and the naive admission of Sir James Allen gives the policy of the Government a marked Gilbertian touch of comedy, but though "he, himself has said it," it is not greatly to his credit. In less than a month four years of war will have passed, and yet the National Government is still "thinking and talking" about national service—and other equally important war time matters—and . 'She evolution of a scheme is, ap-

there was one matter that de- j manded settling early in the war ( it was the question of na- i tional service defined by the ' Minister as being "a recog- ' nition of the sound principle i that, in time of war, every l person in the community should be required to perform useful ' work." It may well be asked: "What sort of a principle is that which can be shelved for four years, and still remain a dead letter, possibly till the war is.over? , Yet, though the Governemnt can- , not get. away from its "go slow" . methods, it is evident that Min- ] isters can antagonise the workers, i for at the interview in question < they charged the Government i with attempting to coerce the labor men instead of inviting i their co-operation as was long ago : in the Motherland. In this time of stress when every member of ' the community should be keyed ■ up to doing all in his or her power towards helping to win the war, I the creation of friction is a deadly sin. As it happened in this case, no great harm was done by not seeking the co-operation of the workers in carrying out national service, simply because such service is still in the clouds, but the labor men were not to know that; they heard the talk and suspected industrial conscription and, as they had not been consulted, warned the Minister that they would be entitled to resist such an innovation. The Acting-Pre-mier, be it said, did his best to pour oil on the troubled waters, and incidentally mentioned that the national service scheme (when evolved) would provide the means for the scientific organisation of industry, and that organisation might become absolutely essential as a war measure. There was a thread of grim humor running all through the Minister's remarks. Scientific organisation! Where is it to eome from? It has been, and is _ the one great need in the Dominion since war was declared, and particularly pronounced since conscription came into force; it has been the one step conspicuous by its absence. There has not been even* the common or garden species of ordinary organisation in any department of the State except as to providing men to fight. The mention of scientific organisation for national service "that might become absolutely essential as a war measure" is distinctly amusing, though the Minister appeared to be serious. 11 is time the Government awoke from its day dreams, its resultless thinking, and its futile talking. The prime need was, and is, action —prompt and decisive. Much valuable time has been wasted, yet even now it would be quite worth while for the Government to make an attempt at organisation, if only to put an end to the policy of drift which is the cause of so much dissatisfaction.