H.—3o

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resuming their old employment, and the majority of these men sign in the space provided on the back of the form that they do not require the Department's assistance in obtaining employment. Other men indicate that they desire to settle on the land, and they are furnished with, a provisional application form, and the Lands Department is advised. The balance of the reports would probably indicate that employment was desired, and particulars of the man's history sheet as to his previous occupation, &c, and his present wishes for employment, would be sent to one of the Department's forty Committees nearest the man's home (Appendix Va). The man is at the same time referred to the Secretary of the Committee, who advises by means of a printed form (Appendix Vit) particulars of the billet in which the man has been placed. Preference for Soldiers in Government Departments. The various Departments of the Public Service have been instructed by the Government to give preference where possible to men of the Expeditionary Force, and some three thousand soldiers have thus been appointed to vacancies in the Departments under the, control of the Public Service Commissioner, the Railway Department, and the Defence Department, in addition to those who have resumed their old employment in the Government service. Local Committees. Local Committees have been set up in forty centres (Appendix VI) throughout the Dominion, and the work done by the gentlemen on these Committees has almost without exception been eminently satisfactory, and reflects the greatest credit upon those who devote so much time and trouble to a, very arduous duty. A number of the Committees referred to have set up sub-committees to represent, the Department in the smaller towns in their respective districts. The main Committees themselves are ordinarily in intimate relationship with the local Patriotic Societies. Whenever the report of the Interviewing Officer shows that returned soldiers outside the Wellington District are desirous of employment, full particulars are scheduled to the Local Committee of the district in which the man resides, and he himself is requested to place himself in communication with the Committee. The case is then shepherded from Head Office until the Committee reports having placed the man in employment, or advises that he. has secured work himself, or neglected to reply to repeated communications or offers of employment which have been made to him. The Department is daily advising all Committees of offers of employment which it receives, and a, revised list of the unfilled offers is forwarded to each Committee in the middle of each month. A double card index is kept at Head Office of all men desiring employment, one set being filed under the occupation and the other according to district. We are thus enabled to turn up at a moment's notice particulars of men throughout the Dominion desiring employment in any particular trade, and conversely particulars of all men desiring various classes of employment in any particular district. Similar indexes are kept in respect of offers of employment. Specimens of the cards or slips used for both purposes are shown in Appendix VII a, b, C, p. At the beginning of each month a statement showing the number of men desiring employment in each district, and also the number that have been placed during the month in each district, is forwarded to all Committees. This enables them to check the number of cases which they have on hand for attention, and engenders perhaps a little friendly rivalry amongst the respective districts in the matter of making a good show in respect of the men listed to them for attention. Progress Statement at Date of this Memorandum. The total number of men registered with the Department at the date of this memorandum is 21,550, and these have been dealt with as follows : Disposed of (i.e., employment found, returned to old employment, rejoined Forces, failed to replv to repeated communications, left New Zealand. &c.) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19,362 Under action (i.e., men in course of being personally interviewed, men who have stated that they are not. ready for work, &c.) . . . . I ,896 On Employment-wanted Register (chiefly men who have just been (lis charged from the Army) . . . . . . . . . . 282 Not ready for action (i.e., men who have not yet. been discharged) .. 3,016 24,55(1 Further details in tabulated form regarding the men on the register will be found in Appendices VIII, IX, and X. Training and Tuition. As the number of invalided soldiers increases, the training in new trades of those men who have suffered serious impairment of physical capacity as a consequence of wounds received or disease contracted in military service, and who are unable to resume their pre-war occupations, becomes an increasingly important feature of the Department's operations, and special efforts are made to impress upon such men the importance of availing themselves of the facilities offered them of acquiring a '.' skilled " trade in preference to accepting employment of a temporary nature.