LAND ARMY SCHEME

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20920, 27 September 1939, Page 9

LAND ARMY SCHEME

LABOUR BATTALION TWO DAY’S WORK A WEEK FORCE OF 25,000 POSSIBLE (Special to Times.) DUNEDIN, Tuesday Realising the importance of increasing primary production in the Dominion so as to supply Great BritI ain with increased foodstuffs and other necessary material, the Dunedin Junior Chamber of Commerce has evolved a scheme which embodies the formation of a volunteer labour battalion to assist farmers in their work. It is suggested that a force of 25,000 men could be formed to work two eight-hour days a week, and. while the junior chamber foresees difficulties in its proposals, it believes that out of its constructive idea some scheme might be evolved to solve the labour troubles of the farmer at the present time. With this end in view, members decided at a meeting to-night to forward proposals to the Council of Primary Production, which will meet at Wellington on Friday. Volunteer Battalions “The suggestion is put forward,” says the report, “in the form of a proposal that volunteer labour battalions could be formed by the Government throughout the Dominion. Men could be properly organised on parallel lines to their military counterparts and could be expertly directed into productive channels, consisting principally of agriculture on existing cultivated land leased by the Government for the purpose, and where eceonomic—since no wages are involved—of the bringing into production of waste land and new land.” Such an effort, it is contended, is a national and perhaps Imperial necessity, and it is considered that volunteers would readily offer their leisure time free, provided the fruits of their labour went to the proper source. As a basis, it is suggested that two days per week could be given by the force, say, Friday and Saturday, involving as they would a portion of the individual’s leisure time and a portion of his employer’s. This would thus call upon the patriotism of both worker and employer and would not necessarily hinder the progress of normal industry and commerce. Increase in Production It is understood that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 men in New Zealand of military age, and were it possible to obtain from these ranks a force of 25,000 men willing to work two eight-hour days per week a total of 400,000 working hours would result, which could be expected to show some increase in agricultural production. The chairman of the junior chamber, Mr I. M. Armour, said that the proposal was not a scheme designed to provide members of the chamber with an easy job during the war. The junior chamber would take no part in its organisation and he pointed out that already 80 per cent, of its members had enlisted in the Special Force, in the Territorial Army or one of the reserves. “It is merely the basis of a Dominion-wide scheme,” he added. “It appears that the Government is anxious for suggestions and it is our hope that it might be able to evolve an entirely suitable scheme from our proposal.”