RECRUITING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8304, 24 November 1915, Page 7

RECRUITING.

Ml MCNAB'S CAMPAIGN

GREAT MEETIKC AT THEATRE ROYAL.

POWERFUL SPEECHES AND ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCE.

One of the largest audience that has, ever been contained in the Ashburton Theatre Royal assembled there last 5" evening, when recruiting -addresses wore delivered by tho Minister of Justice (Hon. Dr. Robert McNab) and by Mr C. H. Pople, M.P. (Auckland West). The audience was composed mostly of men above the military age. and there were a largo number of ladies also present. Of young men of military age there were not a great number. The crowd was most enthusiastic, and both the speeches wore frequently punctuated -by applause.. The meeting was pi-csided over by the Mayor (Mr R. Galbraith), who hadwith him on the platform Mrs Galbraith, Mr W. Nosworthy. M.P., the County Chairman (Mr C. J. Harper). Surgeon-Captain Lyons,. R.A.M.C, and Captain-Chaplain J. R. Burgin. Uni'ore the meeting commenced the Citizens' Defence Corns Band played patriotic airs outside the building, and ■■ so helped to attract mpny of the people who attended. During 'the evening Mr W. Anderson spiritedly sfin<r " Soots Wha Hne" and (in re-' snonse to nn undeniable recall) "Men of Harbch." while Mr A. L. Moore (wlm was rilso he.-n-d to great aclvnn-+-ngo> rooited "Me Mates is Calling ■VTo " and *."ti encore item. Mr A. C Webb presided., at the piano. The Member for Auckland West. The first speech was made by Mr Poole, who was received with applause. Mr Poole said ho was the forerunner of the chief speaker of the evening (Dr. McNab). He recognised that the poop'lc had come along to hear the doctor speak on tho great question of tho present crisis. He wanted to personally, pay his tribute to the Minister "for., his .efforts 'in the great.work 1 of recrlilting. Dr. McNab had dedi- . cated his gifts to the service of the j country; lie had contributed to the | coming classics or the coxmtry; ; he had | been associated with politics of. the country;' and he had been the instigator of the compulsory military training system which had proved so useful in the present crisis.

Mr Poole then went on to say that we belonged to a great people with great traditions. We belonged to a people in whose blood was .mixed that of -the -bost peoples ol; the world. \ \\ c had nurtured a viper in our bosom. -The ...Germans had taken every advantage'of our hospitality, and then had turned and bitten the hand that had b«en extended, to them in friendship. The Hun had flown at the throat of the leading nations of the world. Any nation that had placed on record the crimes that the German people had on theirs was not fit to survive. Our wealth, influence, and our very lives, belonged to ■the Empire in its efforts to crush the nation which had upset the peace of the world. The solidarity of the British Empire had to be maintained. From all the colonies, the men bad gone forward to fight alongside regiments whose names were written on the scroll of fame for their deeds of valour. (Applause). In order to win the fight, we must expend our utmost'resources in wealth, energy and true devotion. With the resources at its command this country would not only have to send men but would have to help to supply the sinews of war with its: wealth. The silver bullet was the symbol of the support that the i country could give the nation in- the last. Tho finances of the Empire, would have to be strained to the > utmost. ( Mr Poole proceeded to speak of the manner in which funds were being ' raised in New Zealand. The system of I competition, which was calculated to J give the best return, had been adopted to raiso money for the .upkeep of , the war. He mentioned that in Auckland' it was. hoped that in a few days' time £250,000 would have been collected. AH around the country the response had been '-magnificent.- We wanted a 'fine patriotic spirit spread across New Zealand. When the best blood of the country was being spilt—when mothers, .fathers, wives and sisters were losing those near and dear to'them—it was up to us to see that the money required was raised. (Applause). After the- money had been obtained, the next thing wanted was men. Ho hesitated to ask the mothers and fathers for the sons they had borne and raised, but he ', pointed out that if they did not send them the result would .be worse than death. TJie response of the mothers had been magnificent. They were saying to their sons: "Go, and God bless you!" (Applause). Those who f had not yet given their boys he wanted to go home and think the matter over. Mr Poole asked the' audience if they could imagine the narrow escape the Empire had had. Could they imagine the flag of Germany floating over New ( Zealand? He pointed out that in the event of Germany winning the war' Now Zealand, the gem of the Pacific, i would have fallen in the hands of the \ victors. The speaker said that al-, though lie was over the military age, he would use his abilities in any direction desired, however menial the task. If any of the farmers were stuck for a harvester let them call on him, and he would come to give a hand and take the place of the boys who had gone away. (Applause). In conclusion he j drew attention to the compensation for J fighting the Empire's battle. The only profit of the thing was the honour attached to it. Some of the men would come back maimed, wounded and disfigured, but they would have honourable scars which they would be proud to wear in this home of theirs —this j maenificont gem of the Southern seas. There was very enthusiastic applause when tho member of Auckland West resumed his scat, and hearty. cheers •. woro given for him on the Mayor's call. A Reasoned, Compelling Appeal. . Dr. McNab, who met with an en- j thnsiastk' reception, commenced by j saying that all through the war until ; recently bo had been a pessimist, and \ that it w:is not until lately—when he j had found that the people of tho country realised the task that had been ! sot before them—that lie had become confident. Before we could win the war. we. l:ad to know the task set us. In doing this, we had to take = into.; account the capacity of the 'people %c'••

were fighting. Until we took into account the way in which our enemy had been organised we could not realise the seriousness of the position. ' The nation that was going to keep out of this contest was going to be in the next—and bottom dog in it. (Applause). Fortunately for us, when tho fate of the Empire was-.trembling in the balance, the Germans had not accepted the terms offered by Britain. Dr. McNab dealt extensively,, with what would have happened had Germany accepted those terms. if Britain had not entered the contest Germany would have humbled Franco and Russia, and so would have built up the structure which, eventually, would have crushed Britain. "When'he had been in'Ashburton before propagating the compulsory military training system, he had pointed out the task that would fall to Britain in the next European struggle. The speaker outlined tljo way in which Germany had been preparing for 40 years for the war. He wanted to show his audience that it could never be laid to the charge of the British nation that Britain had started the war. Only some 60,000 men had • crossed the English Channel in the • first few weeks after war had been declared. When war broke out the. nation could not have mustered 750,000 men (more or less well trained) from all over the Empire. That was a pledge to, history that we Were ■■'•riot ■.■■preparing" for v;thV war. ". . .;. •'.'■. „'■ -." ... ■" "'.' ..' '• ':■'■, ''.■■' '

AshburtoD; bad, sent great numbers to the war in thepast. His presence was not a reproach to Ashburton Until the National Registration figures were out it would not be possible to tell which districts had contributed the most men. It had been said that the Soufhflsland had not, responded as well as the North, but several causes might contribute to that. He believed that in the*' North Island there were a larger number of men of military age than in the South Island. He was not going into, the controversy about local camps. He wanted. to point out, hctyever, that the people of the South Islaaid laboured under the disadvantage that training' was done in the North Island. He was surprised to find the number of young men who come to meetings down here. In the north they were afraid to come, for fear of being converted. (Laughter). The point was that the young men who came home from the camps acted as recruiting agents, and inoculated other men with the microbe of enlisting, so that with the camps in the North Island the. fever had a better chance, of (Spreading. We had'sent away, or had in' training some 42XXX) men or five times as many as were sent tp the Boer war—the casualty list almost totalled the number of men who had been sent to the Boer war—yet they were asking' for rao^e. The reason was that the nations we w-oro fighting had' been preparing for, the conflict that wo were at present engaged in. We had spent our time, as far as war or the imminence of war was concerned, in idleness. Although, we. were, enormous.ly superior in numbers to our foes, we had not the advantage-of position:that they held. The Australasians :held..tho historical record for long-distance travelling in going. to fight ■ the. battles. of the Empire on the other side of the world. Weeks and months were spent in training and transhipping, while the German soldiers could be ready iri two I days. Our opponents could also take back, their wounded men-'in a-couple of •days, whjle wo had to send our men j 10,000 miles over sea and land. The Minister quoted Mr Bonar Law's speech on the German preparedness. To win the war wo must be driving from top. to bottom" with only one purpose in /view —to end the war. (Applause). Ev,ery bit of information that we had been able to get from Germany showed that all the people there were working to win the war. After our Navy had shut out Germany from all communication, the Germans had "worked to find some substitute for everything that they recently obtained from outside. The only difference between the British and. Germans was that the Germans wore inspired with the determination to win the fight.

The end of the war was not in sight, contiiiue'd the,speaker. That was why tho Government ..had to ask for more still moro men to come forward. It -was asking first for the men who were single and who were medically fit: it was to these men that the appeal was being made. He wanted them to go homo to think over whether it wasn't time to--enlist. He asked them to remember that if we were in Germany—and if we were bottom dog we I would be in Germany I—what would bo our position ? If the Allies did not absolutely win tho war,' tho result would be bead for Australasia. A ■>ictorious Germany could: not turn its.'ct- 1 tention to a, European'country, noi' to Canada, because of the Monroe roc trine, nor.to South ■ Africa, for the Germans could never hold it. No, the country that would be demanded by the Germans would be New Zealand, the pearl of the Pacific. So it-was ; true that every young man that went, from New Zealand to fight was. more truly lighting for his own country than for the Old Country. (Applause).

The speaker dwelt on what would be i the condition in Now; Zealand if the] Germans had possession of it. ': Thoi same nameless atrocities would be com-1 mitted here as in Belgium if wo per-! mitted the Germans to crush us. Dr.; McNab ■ dramatically produced the; Bryce Commission's report on the Ger-. man atrocities in Belgium, and the New Zealand Recruits' Handbook just published. He asked tho young men' which they would have? Nothing that; he could say could be taken as an ex-j aggeration. They could take what was, written in the report of the commission' as an indication of what things were ( going to bo if the Germans 4had possession here. ;

The Minister proceeded to state that; the National Government, of which he wa,s a. member, did .not .want to. intro-1 duce conscription. It was,hoped to get" all the men required under the volun-! tary system. , But thoy had to be got> —they had to be got!—and if not under the voluntary system then under, conscription. (Continued applause). Every woman who had lost a relative afc the front- became a eonscriptiohist; yea,' every family that sent one of its num- ) ber into camp had become conscrip- ] tionists. If the voluntary system did not continue to -prove itself good He (tho speaker) was the man that ..-would ■ demand conscription and see that tho < country got it. (Prolonged applause), j

Dr. McNab said he believed that the result af the war would be as he had indicated. He believed that in 18 months—not less—all our men —60,000 •—would co&b back to this country. Some would' 'come back maimed and wounded. These mon would bo. the backbone of the land. The returned soldier was going -to be th-e man to govern this fair \ land of ours. (A.p.•plause). The .■returned soldier was 'going'to dictate'the legislation of.itho

country. (Applause). The new era was going to bring in that the men who had shed their blood for the country wore going to be the owners of the country. (Applause). What was going to bo the position of the men who did not go ?' This was the man whom they would pity—the man who could ..stand the medical tost and did not go. The position of that man would be that he would be among the people but not of the people. He asked the young men to keep out of that miserable class. In conclusion, lir. McNab (who had spoken for 60 minutes) read part of Harold Begbie's stirring poe:m, "Fail In !" as an indication of the fe'eliug that would exist" towards'these men.

Very warm- and contiinied applause followed the conclusion of the Minister's speech and (at His Worship's instance) he was very heartily cheered. Votes of Thanks. At the conclusion of Mr ,McNab's speech, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the two speakers on the motion of Messrs W. Nosworthy, M.P. ? and C. J. Harper, who both expressed their deep appreciation of tin? speeches. The vote of thanks was passed with acclamation and cheers for the speakers. Mr Poole, in responding, moved complimentary vote to the Mayor and Mayoress, and this was also warmly carried.

Cheers were also given' for the boys at' the- front and 'for' those who were going to the fronti;:anda -fine meeting terminated,with "the singing of a verse of 'the' National"Anthem.. 'v • ''

'•Afterwards four men presented themselves at the back of.the hall for enlistment and were immediately examined by Surgeon-Captain Eyon.