THE CALL FOR HELP.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 68, 20 March 1916, Page 2

THE CALL FOR HELP.

PLIGHT OF SOUTHERN CENTE2ES.

STEADY DBAEs ON AUCKLAND.

100 "VTrTrl CALLED UP LAST WEiirL

ANOTHER 96 NOW WANTED. How much, longer can Auckland military district stand the strain? Every four weeks we are supposed to send away 633 men. That is onr official quota. ±&z*r the national censns, taken in November last, it was announced that on a population basis Auckland military district would be expected to find 26.71 per celit of men required for our monthly reinforcements. That worked out at 632 men ont of the 2.300 required for each draft. Auckland is content to supply its quota, and has always done so. But what of the 3teady drain which has gone on ever since the war began—the drain on"the North to make good the shortcomings of the South. Never, since the main body left, has- Otago sent a draft away without having the assistance of Auckland in filling the gaps. Yet Otago is only asked to supply 16.S per cent of the men called up, and that basis "was fixed after the national register was compiled last November. More than once apologists have pleaded that there are more eligible men in the North than in the South. -They quite lose sight oi the fact that after the war census was taken in November the bask for the district quotas was readjusted, and the present proportions represent the actual number of eligible men known to be available in each district. To-day comes news of a fresh demand on the Auckland district for men to make good Southern shortages^ ' MORE LIKE 35 PER CENT. The position would seem to be rapidly approaching a climax. A review of the last few months makes interesting- reading. In September 105 men over and above the district quota were called up from Auckland, in order that shortages in camp might be made good- In October onr extra oontribu- - tion was 249 men, and in November 220. " December, January, and February saw the Auckland, district struggling hard to make up its own quotas, and the extra calls were of necessity not so great—though they continued to be made and. met. But with the success attending the -reenritmg revival inaugurated by the City 'Recruiting Committee comes a recrudescence of the calls JEpr help from tie south. • A fortnight ago-w-e sent sway our share of the Fourteenth Retnf or cements. Within a few days we were asked for an additional 50 men. No sooner had tbev gone than we were asked for another 60. These went to Trentham last Friday. To-day comes the call for another 96-1----all infantrymen. Under this system Auckland's quota of the New Zealand " reinforcements certainly works out at something more like 35 per 'cent than 25 per cent 354 MORE INFANTRY WANTED. Auckland during the past six months has sent away nearly a thousand men more than its share — the said share .'amounting to roughly.s,soo .men. But this is not aiL As explained in Saturday's issue, we are required to go even further in this process of helping the South. In future Auckland will find the fighters, and lie South will try to fill its quota by concentrating on the noncombatant branches. In the past, our quota of 632 men has included 398 infantrymen only. The fifteenths, when they go into camp next month, will consist almost entirely of infantrymen, the' exact number asked for being 563. Despite the revival in recruiting, here, the books show that only 275 men have -so far signified their willingness to go to Trentham as infantrymen with the Fifteenths a fortnight hence. Obviously, therefore,- if we have to send 96 extra men to send avray this week, -we w-Tl have to hustle to enrol and dispatch a further 384 infantrymen within the next -14 days. In connection with this matter of sending infantrymen only,' it may :be pointed out that men are now not. . permitted to register in any other branch in Auckland. Men have recently presented themselves at the city recruiting station with a request that they be enrolled in the ambulance. Army Service Corps, or 6ome other non-combatant branch. They iave been told that only infantrymen are wanted, and under no ' otheT terms can their enlistment be accepted. These men have, in certain cases._ then gone to suburban recruiting "bureaus, and prevailed on the local recruiting officers to accept their registration in prohibited arms of the service. The Defence Department, therefore, wish it to be once again stated that infantry fe the only arm men can be accepted for, and local bodies interesting themselves in recruiting are particularly asked to note this fact.. ..'.;■ THE APATHETIC SOUTH. The position in Canterbury is referred - to by the "Times' 3 (Ghristchurch), which • «ays that the city has a unique reputation amongst the cities of the Dominion for apathy in regard to public affairs, and adds: "Some days ago the Auckland j committee threw ont tie hint that other centres ought to be doing their, share, and it is now. demonstrated that Dunedin intends to emulate the fine' achievements, of the Queen City, and will its - efliwt with a spectacular prc-eessioiC to- be • followed up, presumably, with propaganda on the Auckland lines. Chiistctarrch, however, apparently proposes .to do-nothing .beyond an attempt at formal compliance with the positive duties imposed under the scheme. The Mame cannot be laid upon the Mayor, or upon tie local bodies in the neighbourhood of the city. It is probably mere inertia, and not a deeprooted preference for conscription that is responsible for the city's attitude, but it should be-borne in mind that-inertia at the present juncture is equivalent to a demand for compulsory- enlistment The experience of Auckland gives reasonable hope that New Zealand will be able to retain the honour-of hfl -c rng sent nothing but volunteers to the firing line, - but only if fhe teat of the cormtry, and " particularly the cities, realise tbeir reTrponsibilities ns fully as have the citizens of the northern centre 1 ' A TEN WEEKS' EROGBAMME. As already pointed out, Aneldand ia going to £a*e quite enough to do to findits own share of men without making up Southern shortages every month. Our immediate couuiiiimerrtfi indicate that the next ten weeks represent a big effort on our party for wo stand to supply men as follows between »ow and the end of May:—• fiSQulred. In Hand. March 24 06 — .April 4 „ 633 . 344 iiaj 2 GS2 112 May SO ...„' ' G32! 20 Bo fill Soafhera gaps tposaJMy) .. 250 — h . 2012 ' 455

These figures require explanation. Since the new city recruiting station opened approximately a thousand men have registered, but of that number' 435 only have been accepted. . On ..the books at headquarters w&en last week's returns for the whole district were made up, 868 fit men were shown to be available for service. Of this number 594 axe ready to go next month, but 275 only are infantrymen, so the rest scarcely count. The surplus has been invited to transfer to the infantry, but the invitation has for the most part fallen on deaf ears. As a matter of fact, out of the S6S on the books 331 only are in the infantry arm, and some of these have signified that they cannot go into camp before June next. It would be a grave error, therefore to assume that the response made since the opening of the city campaign means a big carry over on which to trade for future reinforcements. On the contrary, a bugger effort than ever is required to meet our obligations during the ensuing ten weeks, and if, on top of those obligations, we have to find a few additional hundreds to fill gaps in Southern quotas, the task will possibly prove a bit beyond us.