TOO STRENUOUS TRAINING

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 52, 1 March 1916, Page 7

TOO STRENUOUS TRAINING

RESENTED BT AUSTRALIANS, t

MINISTER'S CANDID ADMISSION.

CONSCRIPTION INEVITABLE.

(By Telesraph.-Own Correspondent.) v

CHRISTCHUKCH, this day. S The recent Sydney riot was refen-ed £ to, in an interview here, by the Hon. J William Webster, Federal Postmaster- F General. n "The trouble is not commonly understood," said Mr. Webster, "because fewlr people know how strenuous is the: -' demand exacted from the modern 1I recruit. In the early stages of I i the war our men left Aus- * tralia practically untrained and un- r armed. To-day, owing to the severity a of the war, we cannot afford to let 1 them go either untrained or unarmed, a but are compelled to equip and train 1 them here, so that they may be fit to t go to the front or into action right E away. As a result the men in camp to-day s have been subjected to very heavy > training and strenuous work. In my <■ judgment the commandant or general c who drew up the new regime acted un- U wisely in adding to the duties of the! l soldier two extra hours drill a day. Had I < it been done gradually, the soldiers < would have responded freely. The sud- ( den changes, which imposed heavy ' obligations on already strenuous tasks, - would be resented by almost any force,' < but certainly by an Australian. It is the3s t injudicious positions, in my mind, that c were responsible for the outbreak in ' Sydney, and such is not to be taken ' as an indication that the men compris- ' ing our forces to-day are of lower morals i than those preceding them. Such are ' my opinions, as one who up till last | J November occupied a position on the i< Federal War Committee, and took a! great interest in the whole, of the i defence management." '■' Mr. Webster ;icecribed the present j position of recruiting in the Common- j wealth: "Recruiting ie easing off in' l Australia on the whole," he'said, "and | we have not been getting the number of I men required during the ' past two • weeks; in fact we are not getting morel than half of the number we ehould be. i Whether the position will improve ifi a : matter of doubt, because strenuous j> efforts made through the platform and i Press and war census have failed to 1 attain the object aimed at. In view of J that, in all probability, the Common- i wealth may be compelled, no matter, how reluctantly, to adopt more stren-' uous methods in order to comply with , the promise of the Prime Minister to j the Empire." - | Asked whether he considered .there j would be much opposition to the intro- j duction of conscription in Australia, j Mr. Webster stated that the matter oi J supplying men had become co urgent j that people there, ac elsewhere, were beginning to see that conscription was inevitable. What he believed was a system of evolution. The time had only to arrive when people saw that the voluntary system had been tapped to its limits and conscription was inevitable, that they would withdraw their opposition to the latter course.

PAPAXTJKA RECRUITING BOARD.

The first meeting of'the Papakura Recruiting Board was held in the Parish Hall on Monday evening, the chairman of the Town Board (Mr Stewart) presiding. The Town Board appointed the following gentlemen with themselves to I form a Recruiting Board:—Rev. W. C. Wood and Messrs. Holt, A. Willie, and E. C. Cole. The following resolution, on the motion of the Rev. Wood, was j carried unanimously:—"That this committee is prepared to aesist the Government in every possible way to secure the necessary number of men to maintain out reinforcements, but desires to record its judinnent as follows: (1) That the enlistment of 50,000 men under the voluntary system is a splendid testimony to the patriotism of New Zealanders; (2) that the voluntary system is the ideal system, and best represents the spirit of" the British Empire; (3) that in view of the shrinking of many who should offer their services to their country, the time has arrived when the Government should introduce some form of compulsion." A sub-committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Stewart and W. Jones and Key. Wood, to consider and report as to the best methods to adopt in order to give effect to the Recruiting Board's scheme in this district, and to report at an adjourned meeting to be held on Saturday next.