H.—lla

As a preliminary step a rapid survey of the Division was carried out by means of a special card which each man was required to complete. The details on the card included particulars of age, medical grade, Army duties, full civilian employment history, training, and qualifications, also marital status, home district, and whether prepared to undertake work on a civilian basis in any one or more of the following industries:— Farming. Building and construction. Butter and cheese factories. Sawmilling and logging. Freezing-works. Coal-mining. Bail way operational, workshops, or trackmaintenance. These cards were concentrated at New Caledonia, and a representative of the National. Service Department was stationed there for the purpose of assisting in the selection of individual men for return to New Zealand. A detailed scheme of priorities was prepared, preference being given in the first instance to experienced men, while the factors of age, marital status, and number of children were also recognized. As a general basis for timing the whole operation, a programme for the return of men was prepared in collaboration with Major-General Barrowclough, D.5.0., M.C., Croix de Guerre, G.O.C. 3rd New Zealand Division. This ensures that men will be available in time to meet the seasonal demand for labour, while, at the same time, it avoids undue difficulties for those in charge of the Division and strains on the transport system such as would result from the simultaneous release of very large bodies of men. These arrangements are, however, essentially flexible and capable of alteration as may be found necessary as the whole operation proceeds. _ A part of the general plan for disposal of men from the Pacific is to provide relief for the railways, which are in very urgent need of men, and to provide also a number for the sawmilling, building and constructional, and coal-mining industries. These numbers will, however, be small compared with the numbers for the farming and related industries. 10. THE BUILD-UP OF THE FAEMING INDUSTRIES While negotiations for the return of men from the Pacific were proceeding, the fullest attention was also being given by the Government to the internal problem of building up and reorganizing the farming industries, so that the recent decline in butterfat-production could be stopped and reversed, and the maximum benefit could be obtained from the increased fertilizer and man-power resources now to become available to the farming industry as a whole. A series of conferences has therefore been held which have brought together the Dominion Council of Primary Production, the Dairy Industry Council, the Agriculture Department, the Army Department, the Stabilization Commission, the National Service Department, and the Industrial Man-power Division. All these representatives twice met War Cabinet, and a comprehensive plan for increased production has been prepared. Actual steps to secure increased production by augmenting the labour force of the farming industry have been as follow : — (a) The withdrawal (as indicated earlier) of men on a large scale from the Pacific Division : (b) A complete and detailed survey of the man-power requirements of the farming industries. This has been carried out by the provision at all post-offices of a special application form to be completed by all farmers throughout the Dominion who will be in need of any farm labour at any time during 1944. These applications are being examined by Primary Production Councils and arranged by them in order of urgency, and then passed on to District Man-power Officers. It will thus be possible to ensure that men becoming available will be placed on the most suitable farms, having regard to all factors, including the urgency of the application and the likely increase in production which would result from the placement. On the return of men to the they are granted privilege leave on the basis of length of overseas service (but in no case less than twenty-eight days), and then become subject to direction to farm-work. Those who cannot be absorbed at once by direct placement on individual farms will be used in other essential work until such time as they are permanently absorbed into farm-work. PART lI.—REVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS AND MACHINERY OF THE DEPARTMENT IN 1943-44 11. NATIONAL SERVICE A. BALLOTS FOR NATIONAL SERVICE Generally speaking, the calling-up of the eligible population for military service was completed by the end of 1942, when all men, both single and married, from the ages of eighteen to forty-five inclusive had been called up. There remained, however, a small accretion of men entering these classes from various sources, and the regular inflow of young men attaining the ago of eighteen years at the rate of rather more than 1,000 per month. In order that these men should become available for whatever service may be required of them, such as Air Force service, temporary Territorial training, or seasonal employment with the Army or otherwise, it was decided that they should, as a matter of course, be called up regularly in batches. In conformity with this policy, two " ballots " were held in 1943-44, these being the twentieth and twenty-first ballots, the Gazettes being issued on the 27th July, 1943, and 10th November, 1943, respectively. The earlier of these included 7,536 names, and the later, 4,077 names — i.e., 11,613 men in all were called up within the year, the great majority of these being young men who had recently attained the age of eighteen years,

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