H.—lla

(vii) Use of Maori Tribal Committees and Maori Women Personnel Officers. —The Department has had the co-operation of Maori tribal committees in all matters of man-power control as affecting the Maori people. In particular, the committees have assisted in promoting the excellent response which the Maori people have made to the industrial demands of the war situation, in securing that Maoris have complied with their obligations, in assisting the Administration to give due consideration to features of Maori life and organization, and in supervising the welfare of Maori girls working away from their homes. It is worthy of note that Maori girls living at home are not directed to work away from their homes, and that in all cases of Maori girls working away from their homes the tribal committees endeavour to maintain contact and supervision and to keep Man-power Officers advised. In districts where there are large numbers of Maori girls working, the Department has, moreover (on the recommendation of tribal committees), appointed Maori Women Personnel Officers to the staff of District man-power offices. (viii) Surveys of Staff Position in Main Industries. —During the year, Man-power Officers have proceeded with a detailed survey of the staff position in main industries in their districts. This survey, which is being carried out on a closely-detailed basis, has now been completed in respect of a number of industries, and is still proceeding in the case of others. It covers the complete listing of employees, showing in each case sex, marital status, age and medical grading, position in relation to military service, occupation, wages, hours actually worked, and other data. The completed surveys are proving of the utmost value to the Department in assessing man-power needs and resources and in enabling all cases to be dealt with against a proper background of the whole of the circumstances of the concern. (ix) Domestic Help. —With the mobilization of all available woman-power into industries of national importance there has been a steady decrease in the amount of labour available to fill private domestic positions. An increasing burden has accordingly been thrown on the housewife, and this is justifiable where she is capable of assuming that burden. Two types of case, however, claimed special attention— the need for domestic help on farms where catering for farm labour is beyond the reasonable abilities of the farmer's wife and family, and the need for domestic help in homes where an emergency arises through the illness of the mother. At the time of this report steps were well advanced towards establishing a reserve pool of women not available for ordinary industrial employment, but nevertheless available to meet such urgent calls for domestic help on a temporary or part-time basis. All local women's organizations are being asked to co-operate with the Department in establishing and operating' this scheme. (x) Returned Servicemen. —Returned servicemen from the present war (apart from those being returned on leave of absence without pay for special industrial purposes) are given special treatment in respect of man-power obligations. All persons in industry are subject to the various measures of control operating, but in the case of returned servicemen in the classes indicated — i.e., men returned from overseas by reason of unfitness for further combat duties —these measures are administered with the greatest leniency and are regarded as only secondary to the more important work of rehabilitation. In all such cases, therefore, the activities and recommendations of the Rehabilitation Department have first priority, and measures of man-power control operate accordingly. (xi) Direction of Medical and Dental Graduates. —During the year steps have been taken, in conjunction with the Department of Health, the National Medical Committee, and the National Dental Committee, to bring into operation a system of directing all medical and dental students upon graduation. Vacancies are arranged in priority according to the urgency of the position to be met in various districts, and graduates are then allocated to these positions in order of priority. Having regard to priority, as much consideration as possible is given to the individual circumstances of the graduate. (xii) Fixing of Priorities. —Under war conditions there must inevitably be shortages of labour and difficulties in replacing labour and obtaining additional labour. The Department's task in this respect is not to satisfy all demands regardless of their relative importance, but to ensure that each industry or undertaking does not have less than the minimum which national considerations require or permit. Consequently, vacancies have to be filled in order of priority, and frequently can only be filled by transfer of labour from other industries. The industries to yield up a further proportion of their labour force, as well as the industries to which labour is distributed, must be ranked in priorities in accordance with the national interest. These priorities, moreover, must be flexible, since circumstances change from time to time and necessitate continuous revisions of priorities. They must furthermore take into account all industries —farming, forestry, transport, mining, building and construction, manufacturing, &c. —and measure the needs of all against a common scale. From the foregoing remarks it will be appreciated that the fixing of priorities for man-power is neither a simple process nor one that can be determined by mere concurrence in the requirements of any particular industry or supply authority. The stated requirements of each have to be modified in order to meet the minimum requirements of all. This process has been achieved by, first, a necessarily flexible arrangement of consultations and conferences from time to time which enable major requirements to be planned and co-ordinated ; second, the establishment in the four main centres of special Manpower Advisory Committees which meet regularly and which are representative of supply authorities and presided over by the Man-power Officer ; third, a recourse to periodic regional conferences of Manpower Officers ; fourth, the preparation and revision, week by week, of an order of priorities in respect of current vacancies—this fourth measure being, of course, a product of the other three plus other information available to the Man-power Officer from his own industrial surveys, &c. (xiii) Students. —Interruption of studies by reason of service in the Armed Forces is not in itself deemed to occasion such undue hardship as to justify postponement of military service. Nevertheless, there has been an acute shortage, which still exists, of men with academic qualifications for special work not only in the Armed Forces, but in essential industries and services as well. Provision has accordingly been made under which, on the ground of public interest, postponement may be granted in respect of such minimum numbers of male students pursuing studies in medicine, dentistry, science, engineering, architecture, agriculture, or mining as in the opinion of the Director of National Service are necessary to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces and of essential industries and services. In determining upon recommendations for postponement, consideration has therefore to be given to the

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