RECRUITING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 53, 2 March 1916, Page 4

RECRUITING.

Lp till now it hto hot hebrasary , to start any recruiting campaign in the 1 city other than appeal, tirTough the - Press. The province has kept its quotas l full, and supplied nearly. .600 additional men to fill gaps in quotas from other • districts. But if people are" Inclined "to take pride in this they should not indulge that inclination td"Kany«o'great o extent. The- harder test is to <come. There is a shortage in the draft for ( the Fourteenth-fßeinfbrcemente, which leaves here next Tuesday. The imme- , diate need is to send ne_at_:ee_9,7dr_ft : away full, and-maintain -Anckland'Sj good record, but recruiting.:never stops; as ■ • soon, as these men gr>" others., will:' he requirod for the Fifteen..-, Keinforce- ; ments, and-if. it is hard'"to get-men-'now - it.will be, at least equally hard in a ' week's time. We are giid to See;' there- ' fore, that' the City Recr_iting"' rt! Gbm- j nufcteo has decided to open a campaign. 1 in the city, with' central headquarters -' and recruiting sergeants working Horn '■] it. This is the first step 'taken locally , in- the c—npaigrf the i voluntary system, and it.should have 'c good results. At the same time we hope that the Government will ~yet realise • that there is room for improvement 'in } : tho system of recerviitg 'recruits: "'• Ili j Canterbury thoy aTe continuing to agi- ._ tate, in spite, of the Minister's refusals, -, ,for. local camps," .and are .able to show that -recruiting in the.-district has suffered by the system of making-inen wait to be called, anY If 'the Minister ] is still adamant on this point; he might ; consent to receive men into the ;pcrma- ' nent camp ( directly, they, .offer, them- j selves. [The ;City. Becruitjng'Committee , here feelS so strongly tin* the 'subject- ", of direct enlistment—either in local or central it:3i?s nrgjed ; on-the ! , Gcwirnment. "the, iroperatij'p , of providing; such' facilities. The posi- / tion seems to be that'while 'a man fro_ , the country, wlu> threw :*up' _s"jdb tcf i come into towu to enlist r would,-4f hearrived on Monday, be sent away immediately, if he did not come till Saturday week he mightl:have to .wSStf j April draft. In the meantime he would * have nothing to do, and might be tempted ■ to, go bock to the country. This kind, of ) . _s_ng.th(.3_p'__miite_fJwsnt_ and we hope' that its representations / will be successful.' - - -a » ■ s