Pol/S.008B/N.005
Courier-Mail 12.3.42
"It's a paradise compared with the lives we would lead under Japanese military rule," writes Colin Clark, MA, well-known economist, in the accompanying article, expounding a plan to place Australia on a full-time war basis, by
· Eliminating non-essential industries.
· Doubling labour engaged in war production to one million persons.
· Discontinuing for the duration of the emergency all use of money.
· Putting every man, woman and child on weekly rations-worth 15/- for each adult and 10/- for each child.
If we are lucky we may have two to three months to prepare ourselves against invasion.
We have quite a substantial army in Australia, and its numbers are being rapidly augmented, but we are facing attack by an enemy who might well be able to bring up an attacking force of half a million men, and whose command of the sea compels us to disperse our forces over thousands of miles of coastline.
Most of our defending force must inevitably be only partially trained and lightly equipped. Under these circumstances, and until substantial American forces can reach Australia, if we had an Army and Air Force numbering one and a half million (inclusive of Labour Corps and Women's Auxiliaries), no one would consider it excessive. Equipment is being brought from America, we hope, by every available ship.
But in the meantime we need to increase the labour engaged in war production and works in Australia from its present figure of some 500,000 to about double that level.
These changes are not outside the bounds of physical possibility. At present there are still some 900,000 workers engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services which cannot possibly be called necessaries [sic]. If women whose housework does not at present keep them fully occupied were to amalgamate their households, or do part-time industrial work, we would further obtain the equivalent of more than 500,000 full-time workers.
Australia's present population is 7,150,000 of whom 2,500,000 are children under 14, old people over 70, or invalids, leaving 4,650,000. The forces with their auxiliaries require 1,500,000, leaving a balance of 3,150,000 potential workers. If each woman kept house for five people (or rather less in the case of young children), or alternatively did some part-time outside work, the essential housework could be done by the equivalent of 700,000 women working full-time. This would leave a working force of 2,450,000. Our essential civil production requires 1,500,000 workers, leaving 950,000 for war production as against 500,000 so employed at present.
To be of any use to us in our present emergency these changes must be set on foot at once and carried through in the next few weeks. Men discharged from the non-necessary trades should all go straight to the army to learn the first elements of military training unless they were skilled men required for war production.
These changes are physically possible, fully within the Commonwealth Government's legal powers, and urgently necessary.
The only obstacle is economic. Men engaged in the non-essential trades earn good livings, and they very naturally ask: "Why should I have to join the army and my family go short while A-B and B-A are getting such good pay and profits and will continue to get them while I am in the army?" And men with a grievance like that will never make good soldiers.
But what a difference there would be if it was known that luxury spending and profiteering were stopped, immediately and completely, and that every Australian man, woman, or child, soldier, mother, worker, or invalid were guaranteed an equal ration of the necessaries of life.
These results can only be achieved by a change which is not quite so startling as appears at first sight.
For the duration of the emergency (say six months) all use of money would be discontinued.
Ration books would be issued fortnightly to every man, woman, and child, and coupons from these books would be used in place of money for current purchases of food and necessaries.
The coupons would purchase about 15/- worth of goods a week for each adult and child over 16, and 10/- for each younger child. Every able-bodied man and woman would have to fight, train, or work as directed by the Commonwealth.
All money transactions would be forbidden. Legal and contractual money payments would be under moratorium for the duration of the emergency-rents, interest, insurance premiums, and the like.
From the legal point of view it would just be as if six months had been taken out of the calendar.
The non-essential industries which occupy 900,000 workers at the present time are:-
For a period of six months or so it would not hurt us to do without these entirely. In the case of habitual indulgences such as tea, beer, and tobacco, complete deprivation is much easier than attempted restriction of consumption.
Furthermore, consumption of the following should be considerably reduced:
Export production, except of goods such as wool and lead, of which the Allies are in urgent need, should also be restricted.
Where large stocks of food have already been built up employment in that industry could be cut down to a minimum necessary to maintain the best properties in working order and provide future food requirements.
Present stocks of tobacco, &c, would go to front line troops.
Service industries providing civilian needs would be cut down to items such as gas, water, electricity, essential public transport (occasional short private journeys would be allowed), communication, distribution of food, clothing, and domestic supplies. Retail distribution of food, clothing (other than working clothes), and domestic supplies would be undertaken by one rationalised organisation in each district, using the most suitable premises and labour, exchanging essential goods in return for ration coupons. Commercial houses, banks, agencies, advertising firms, would be closed, and certain public administration departments heavily reduced. All education other than primary would be technical and trade only.
Medical services would be free, and all run through public health organisations.
Commercial entertainments would be eliminated for the six months period.
Domestic service would only be allowed (and there provided free) to housewives with three or more children under eight years of age or equivalent duties, and would be part-time except in the case of the women with the most onerous duties.
Invalid persons, expectant mothers, &c, would receive some part-time domestic assistance, or the working members of their families could be allowed to work shorter hours.
Items of food, toilet requirements, stationery, books, short journeys, telephone calls, and all others allowed in the maintenance ration would be exchanged at fixed values in coupons in each district. The price in coupons of perishables such as meat, fruit, vegetables would be fixed from day to day by the central distributing organisation for each commodity according to the supplies available. Workers would be issued with free travel passes to and from work.
This system of coupons freely disposable over all available goods is vastly preferable to attempts to ration each individual commodity.
Present industries would not be nationalised and questions of compensation would not arise, as the emergency organisations set up to carry on for six months would not interfere with ownership, but just use real assets as required. Use of stocks and depreciation could be compensated later.
Payments of rent would be discontinued for the period, but persons might be required to move to smaller premises to make room for large households, or to take lodgers. All present money (cash and notes) would be recalled and credited to individuals' accounts to prevent black market transactions, and a new type of currency issued after the six-months period or after the war.
All existing war industries and war industry expansion works would run continuously (except for repair periods), needing in some cases four shift workers on each job.
Many of these jobs, particularly the plant expansion work, could have one or more trainees standing alongside each worker to learn the job so that workers became proficient as the new plants were put up. The greatest pressure would be put on plant expansion that could be fulfilled within one to two months.
As munitions plants expanded further men and women who had been trained in fighting tactics would be called in for munitions work training. The vast lightly equipped emergency army built up in the early stages would be stiffened and progressively replaced by an expanding force of highly trained mechanised troops using the new equipment.
To the leisured and comfort-loving all this is a hard prospect. But it is a paradise compared with the lives we would lead under Japanese military rule.