From Army to Industry
The employment return issued by the Ministry of Labour t) Tuesday is in many ways encouraging. What is requisite in th change-over from war-industry to peace-industry is to effect it rapidly as possible and with as little temporary unemployment possible. As regards the former, the Government has been strongl criticised by the Opposition for the inadequacy of the rate demobilisation. No complaint can be made of that ; it is the busine' of an Opposition to keep the Government up to its task. But in fa the figures now published are by no means discouraging. In th four months ending October 31st the number employed in civilia industry increased by 1,080,000, a figure which would have bee much higher but for the fact that several hundred thousand men an women on retiring from war-industries retired from industrial wo altogether. At the same time army releases are going forward steadil and it is safe to predict that the Government's target of 1,5oo releases by the end of the year will have been reached and probabl exceeded. To put the statistics in another form, there will in a sik months ending on December 31st have been a decrease of perso employed in the Forces, the N.F.S. and police and war industries 3,723,000, which will result in a net increase of 2,270,000 in civil• industries. Something better than this is needed and somethi better is possible. By the end of the year there will still be 3,843,• men in the Forces. There is nothing sacrosanct about Mr. Churchill estimate of 1,550,000 as adequate strength, but his experience sufficient to make it at any rate a useful yardstick, and the differen between 3,843,000 and 1,550,000 is such as to suggest that while I Government need not be censured for its demobilisation efforts it still far from deserving eulogy.
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