IMPRESSMENT POLICY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 March 1941, Page 4

IMPRESSMENT POLICY

VEHICLES FOR ARMY CONFERENCE IN WELLINGTON. STATEMENT BY MINISTER WELLINGTON, This Day. The vehicles that will be commandeered in future will be those than can be spared, and the owner will be given sufficient time to make other arrangements,” said the Minister of National Service and Transport, Mr. Semple in a statement issued at the conclusion of a conference held at Wellington yesterday to discuss the impressment of motor-vehicles for Army use. The Minister added that he wanted the owners of the vehicles to appreciate the fact that it was a rush job unavoidably so, and that it was not the intention of the transport committee handling the matter or the Govern! ment to impose hardship on anybodv if it could be avoided. If that had been done, it would be righted. The conference was a representative those present besides the Minister-were the Minister of Defence Mr. Jones, the committee handling the situation, transport and military representatives, and Mr. A. P. O’Shea Dominion secretary of the New land Farmers’ Union. The Prime MintaUtae. a ' S ° TO »‘

. r ', Sem P le s aid the whole matter had been discussed from A to z there have been some difficulties” e said, “and they have been created by the limited time the Army gave us. the Army, however, assures us that it was unavoidable.

“The fact remains that the Armv must have these vehicles, but what I want tp do is to get the vehicles with the minimum amount of hardship to the individual and the least disturbance as far as transport is concerned ” Machinery would now be set up to avoid a repetition of the position that had arisen. The committee had gone mto session yesterday, and any case where undue hardship was proved would be considered. “As to the future we propose to take a proper inventory of every vehicle m New Zealand, who owns it, and the type of vehicle, and earmark these vehicles in order of preference and the owner will know,” said the MinisJ n other words > the vehicles that wi be commandeered in the future will be those that can be best spared and the owner will be given sufficient time to make other arrangements.”

REPLACED VEHICLES

QUESTION PUT TO MINISTER. WELLINGTON, This Day. Replying to a question as to whether firms which had had vehicles impressed and secured other vehicles to replace them would have these vehicles impressed also, Mr. Semple said such a happening was unlikely except m a case of extreme emergency.