Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 479
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[Page 479]
10.
them for their re-entry into civil life. It is contemplated that activities would develop along the following lines:-
(1) Assisting men to prepare for interrupted courses of vocational training of all descriptions.
(2) Gradually to make possible the direct continuance of these courses within the A.I.F.
(3) Encouraging the unskilled to take up the study of some branch of skilled labour suited to Australian conditions, so as to remove them from the hazards of unemployment which most readily beset the casual labourer in a period of unsettlement. Thus it is hoped to assist in avoiding the scandal and consequent political outcry of having men, who have served faithfully as soldiers, sinking into indigence. The establishment of this organization with the A.I.F. will enable it to be shown in the future that careful forethought was taken and every opportunity provided to prepare men for the life after the war.
(4) Guiding the selection and providing the training for the many, who, owing to the experience of the war, are averse to returning to their former occupations and desire a different mode of life, e.g., many who were formerly clerks express a strong desire for country pursuits.
(5) Rendering similar assistance to those who by early enlistment came away to the war before they had entered upon any civil occupation, or the training for one, and who know only one trade - that of war.
To meet the needs thus indicated three chief divisions of studies would arise. By far the greatest and most urgent of these would be included under the wide term of Technology, which again would have three chief divisions:
(a) All studies relating to the land - agricultural, pastoral, fruit growing, irrigation, care of stock, etc., etc.
(b) Wood and iron trades of all descriptions.
(c) Commercial pursuits.