H.—lla

(subsequently re-gazetted as the Industrial Man-power Emergency Regulations 1942), the Employment Division was strengthened and converted to the Industrial Man-power Division, and the voluntary State Placement Service was replaced by the authoritative man-power control organization of to-day. 13. With the addition of two district offices, the departmental organization has remained substantially the same since the introduction of industrial man-power control in January, 1942. The streamlining of civil defence and Home Guard activities early in 1944 and the transfer of administrative functions in these fields to the, Army in the first case and the Internal Affairs Department in the second, however, permitted a closer integration of departmental procedure until the two clear-cut Military and Industrial Mobilization Divisions remained. This development was aided by the establishment of the Rehabilitation Department in November, 1943, and the assumption by it of all of the functions hitherto performed by the Rehabilitation Subdivision of the Industrial Mobilization Division of the Department. 14. (b) Armed Forces Appeal Boards. —Before the establishment of the Department, volunteers were screened by the Placement Officers of the Employment Division, Labour Department, and on their recommendations Area Officers postponed the call-up of some 3,000 men, mainly farm, engineering, and factory workers. 15. Later —i.e., in September, 1940 —this rough-and-ready method was improved by the appointment of sixteen (later increased to seventeen) District Advisory Man-power Committees which took over the responsibility hitherto discharged by Placement Officers singly. These seventeen District Advisory Man-power Committees were limited in jurisdiction to appeals against the overseas service of volunteers and to all appeals against Territorial service. 16. Deriving authority from the National Service Emergency Regulations 1940, six itinerant statutory Armed Forces Appeal Boards were created towards the end of that year for the particular purpose of dealing with appeals against overseas service—i.e., of persons other than volunteers as well as volunteers, subsequently including those of conscientious objectors. These were augmented by an additional three auxiliary Boards which were found necessary to cope with the growing volume of work. Although working in close co-operation with the Department, the Armed Forces Appeal Boards at that stage maintained separate offices and files. 17. By Amendment No. 12 to the National Service Emergency Regulations (June, ! 942), the distinction between Territorial and overseas service was removed, and accordingly the existing Manpower Committees and Armed Forces Appeal Boards were merged, with power to deal with all appeals other than those of conscientious objectors, which from this stage were dealt with by the six Boards already mentioned and the three auxiliary Boards. In consequence of this merger the Appeal Boards then numbered twenty-six, and in August, 1942, they were reduced in number to twenty-two. In July, 1943, as a result of a decline in the number of appeals to be heard, it was found possible to reduce the number of Appeal Boards to nineteen. This process was carried further in February, 1944, when the number of Appeal Boards was reduced to sixteen, while at the same time the office staffs and files were incorporated with those of the District Man-power Officer, The responsibility for hearing appeals of conscientious objectors remained with the nine Appeal Boards which had throughout dealt, with these appeals. 18. (c) Industrial Man-power Appeal Committees. -With the introduction of the Industrial mobilization procedure in January, 1942, it became necessary to constitute authorities to deal with the appeals of workers and/or employers arising out of decisions of District Man-power Officers. Consideration was given to the suggestion that this work might well be performed by existing Armed Forces Appeal Boards or, as they were termed at that time " District Advisory Man-power Committees." The extreme pressure under which these bodies were working at the time, and the desirability of establishing authorities specially equipped to deal with the industrial as distinct from the military aspect, decided the Government against the proposal. It was decided, instead, to establish Industrial Manpower Appeal Committees, each of which would be composed of a representative of employer and employee interests as well as a Government Chairman. Four Industrial Man-power Appeal Committees were established, one in each of the four main centres, and empowered to deal with all appeals arising out of the decisions of Man-power Officers in their zone. For the purpose of zoning, each Island was halved. During 1942 the volume of work of Industrial Man-power Appeal Committees grew appreciably, and in 1943 the development was so considerable that it was found necessary to establish a second Committee for the Wellington zone. Accordingly, five Industrial Man-power Appeal Committees were then operating. 19. (d) Industrial Utilization Councils and Committees. —The necessity for the co-operation of workers' and employers' organizations, as well as that of workers and employers individually, in the administration of the Industrial Man-power Regulations rendered desirable the establishment of advisory bodies which could advise the Department in such a way as to secure the most effective utilization of labour. The experience of similar Joint Committees in Great Britain and elsewhere provided the model, and shortly after the introduction of the industrial mobilization procedure in January, 1942, a number of advisory bodies, known as Utilization Councils and Committees, were established. For each industry concerned there were both a National Council and a number of local Committees. The function of the National Council was to advise, the Government on all questions affecting the most economic utilization of labour in the industry as a whole. Local Committees tributary to the National Council and consisting of workers' and employers' representatives, members of other Government Departments, and the District Man-power Officer as Chairman undertook the function of advising the Man-power Officer and the Armed Forces Appeal Board on all questions affecting the most economic local utilization of labour. Utilization Councils and Committees were established as the need arose in some twenty-six industries. Table 20 of the Appendix lists the local Committees attached to the various Utilization Councils as at 31st March, 1945. 20. (e) Auxiliary Military Organizations.—Following the gazetting of the Emergency Reserve Corps Regulations in August, 1940, three auxiliary war organizations were created, and the responsibility for their recruitment and co-ordination was made the Department's. These organizations were the Home Guard, the Emergency Precautions Service, and the Women's War Service

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