ELLERSLIE AROUSED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 65, 16 March 1916, Page 6

ELLERSLIE AROUSED.

BIG RECRUITING BALLY. ADDRESS BY HON. DR. McNAB, AND OTHER SPEAKERS. A recruiting rally was held at Elh'rslie last evening, when the Parish Hall waa crowded by an audience which tool< a lively interest in the proceedings. Mr. \V. Gavin, chairman of the Ellerslie Town Board, presided. The principal speaker was the Hon. Br. McXab, Minister of Justice and Marine; but addresses were also given by the Hon. F. W. Lang (Speaker of the House of Representatives), and Mr. W. A. Beddoe (Trade. Commissioner for Canada). Proceedings were enlivened by the presence of the Ellerslie Municipal Hand (under Ban;!----n.aeter Bernard), and also by some capital vocal items, mostly patriotic. The chairman, in introducing the speakers, said that he would help his hardeet in connection with recruitin<l, but he would not help a day if conscrip tion came. A week ago he had told the Defence Minister that if the voluntary system was properly tested conscription would not be necessary. He wa3 prou.l that night to bp able to show th • Hon. Dr. McNab how little Ellcralic could rise to the occasion. (Applause.) THE HON. SPEAKER'S APPEAL. The Hon. Mr. I-ang spoke of what New Zealand haj done in the course of the war, especially of what the women were doing. He said that the man wlic was doing his best to keep up production was doing his share just as well as the man at the front. The one drawback to the voluntary system was that a large proportion of the men had come from one section of the community. He believed that those who were unable to give good reasons for not froing forward should l>r made to go. Thanks to the British Nuvy, there never was a time when more money was flowing into New Zealand than at present. Everyone could neip in some small way. The greater the defeat we could inflict upon the Germans the better would be the terms which the Allies could dictate. (Aμ. plausrO He congratulated the people of Ellerslie upon the active part they wer<* phying in connection with recruitin". (Applause.) CANADA'S REPRESENTATIVE. Mr Beddoe said the object of these fjntnprin.j>s vrm to try and induce the' eh-nble men to go to the front. Ho I would rather be dead ami buried than bn a vassal of that miserable scoundrel the Gonran Kaiser. (Applause.) Did the young men want any better job than to overthrow such a man? The picture of outraged Belgium alone should appeal to the chivalry of every eligible young Wan. (Applauee.) It was a"marvellous thing that the soldiers of little Belgium, under their Belgian King, were fighting to-day in Belgian trenches, and still the German hordes were unable to displace them. The wonder wns tliat. instead of having to urge our young men to fro, we did not have to hold them back. MemoTies of those who irad fought and died for the Empire would live long after monuinontal structures had crumbled to dust. (Applause.) DR. McNAB'S ADDRESS. .The Hon. Dγ McNab. who received a rousing reception, explained that he had attended the meeting at the request of the Prime Minister. Party strife was entirely at an end, for it "was realised that the common duty of all was to join forces in evolving the great national problem of the day. (Applause.) They had given a .promise to the Imperial Government to eend 2,350 reinforcements each month. This had to go on to the end, and theje was only going to be one ending, namely, a complete ami lasting victory for the arms of the Allies. (Applause.) One of our greatest difficulties was our distance from the scene of operations. Great Britain had been described as "a country -with an army," while Germany had been described as "an army with a country." We required far greater exertion to take our army to the front than Germany had to take here. No man living could tell how long the war would last. He believed that the next European summer would run out and that another winter would eet in under war conditions. One of the great points in which Germany had the advantage iwae that every man in the country was striving to bring the war to a eucceseful issue, from their point of view. The truth atxmt ourselves was that we had not yet commenced to economise, and we were fighting against a nation that Irad eliminated all social [ waste. If iwe did not place Germany [in the position of being unable to wage war during the next quarter of a century, at least, we would nave to face the question of adopting Germany's system of national conscription. After the lapse, of 18 months New Zealand was experiencing a little difficulty in filling its reinforcements, hence -the necessity of organising such meetings. In conclusion, the speaker make a strong appeal to the young men to do their duty, and finished by quoting some appropriate lines by Harold Bcgbie. He resumed his seat amidst hearty applause. CLOSING STAGES. An address was also given by Lieutenant Forster, who has returned from the Western front. An appeal for enlistment in the room was not made it being explained that the idea was rather to secure, the interest of those who attended and trust to their influence doing the rest.