MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL COMMITTEE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8396, 11 March 1916, Page 5

MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL COMMITTEE.

PLAIN SPEAKING BY MR W. J. DICKIE, M.P. COMPULSION STRONGLY ADVOCATED.

A meeting of the Ashburton Countj Council's Recruiting Committee was held this moruing. Present: Messrs C. J. Harper (chairman)/ H. J. Harrison,' C. Reid, G. Murdoch, J. Cairns W. Morgan, and W. J. Dickie, M.P An apology for absence was rec-sivecl from'Mr W.; Nosworthy, M.P. The chairman stated that to canvass the" County, was'going'to be a difficult undertaking,: but they: would have to do their best to -carry out the request '.of the Government. 'He suggested i.tliat the representatives of the various ridings should select suitable assistants to act with them, to, canvass in those ridings. They would have to meet" a difficulty in not finding -people at home when, the visited the houses, and the' duplicating \of visits would' mean' a was to of. time" and .'expense. He, Had •approached some ;men jfche;7;X?6unty with a view to 'securjng a., secretaryv to .assist.-■;' the■&■ Council's 1 :stasvv;4iid/;he : thought lieMyquldbe •able*' to,.' ?1 i seduij<?.',a' suitable -''.man:, The .gentleman - 1% who would probably act as secretary had informed liim that he would- not take any remuneration for- his services, as they were for a jmtrio'tic purpose. Mr Dickie, M.P., suggested that the Road Boards might be' asked to assist in committee work. He considered the voluntary service had been splendid as far as it had gone, but he was in favour of compulsion. The Government had been doing its host to get all the ,men required under the voluntary scheme, but the time had arrived for compulsion. In his opinion Parliament should be called together and asked to pass ii measure'"in-.-favour of compulsion. He believed such a measure would go through.' Some people had said that exceptions should be made, and probably there should be. One man had said to him the other day that he was " a producer, and he had two sons, one married and the other single, and he did not think those sons should go." Mr Dickie contended that whether producers, or not tlioy belonged to the same Empire, and it was the duty of overy eligible person to servo the Empire. The producers in Fiance had gone forward, ami we in this country were not going to have a slur cast upon us that, the producers were not prepared to do their part. He contended that every producer in this country should rise to the occasion. • He knew of several people in the Ashburton County who were not doing their part as far as help and as far as money was concerned. If the opportunity came he would .vote'for compulsory service. It was no use saying that they could carry •on the, war on tho voluntary system. England, alone was'not going to win, the war. Several of' our, 'Allies had adopted compulsory service, and i ,were doing just as good fighting as we were. He would help the Government in every possible way to get the cards filled up as requested under the present scheme. He also contended that tho Government' would have assisted tho recruiting, committees if it had supplied the information whether the nvon were married or single. The . Chairman said that another thing they would have to contend with w*as the drifting population, and it was quite evident that some young men were moving about from one dis- j strict to another to dodge serving. It was such men as these that they would j specially have to hunt up and add to j the roll, and he hoped they would be discovered in the various districts. ' Mr A. McClure, Town Clerk/waited on the meeting and explained the recruiting ; methods adopted by the Ashburton Borough Council. •In answer to Mr Dickie as to whether there had been many refusals, the Town' Clprk replied that "the married . men in the , Borough had taken up the 'attitude that they were not willing to-serve until such time as the single mon had all enlisted, but they were ouito willing to serve after that." , Mi 1 Morgan said he considered men who had' married since the war should be made to serve. It was decided to appoint a recruiting officer to make a canvass of the County and got the cards filled up. The chairman was appointed to arraonge with him. for the canvass and to appoint an, assistant. Mr Dickie wanted to know whether tlie canvasser was .going to try and influence, say, a remaining s6n in a family that .already;: had representatives; at the front, while ' others over the fence held back ? The other day an instance was recorded in :.the' papers ;\vhere jm old lady had journeyed to Wellington to see her eighth son away. "Was this :i fair deal ?" he asked. •:He considered that those fellows who are hanging back, and in a position to go, should bo forced to go. Mr Cairns said there were several "families in the County ulho'had-not jTet sent a. representative and' cmild very easily do so. . Tt was agreed that members of the committee would assist the canvasser in their ronpfictive ridings. 'It was also decided to consider, at the next meeting, the appointment of sub-committees. -

It was resolved to ask the niembers of' Koad Boards and their clerks to assist in the campaign and to act as sub-committees; ■ » ■ .