RECRUITING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 71, 23 March 1916, Page 4

RECRUITING.

The recruiting meeting at 'Xewmarket-; last night, was ait admirable' one.. There was-a large attendance, the speeches were-vigorous and'to the point, and a' number of recruits were obtained- at once. If Ministers could make ■ similar appeals': in- every town, throughout tim country, recruiting would be- greatly stimulated, but of course they cannot hope to cover more than a fraction of I the ground. They are-doing, a great deal in busy and anxious times-to make personal appeals to the manhood .of-the nation to save the voluntary system.! It should now be clear to everybody that, if the voluntary system'- fails,.- compulsion will be employed; thetoPrime lfihU>ter last night' repeated'the .declaration . oil that point.' But, -with all its.-faults,- . the voluntary system-is worth'saving. It is not desirable, if it can be avoided, to change the system of recruiting iv the middle of a war, and the pride of being able to say that we did our full.' share without resorting to compulsion is -well worth striving "for. Some eligible and ftee men say they arc waiting for compulsion. This is not an adequate-excuse, for the obligation to go laid upon -each such man is independent of that laid upon hts-.fdlbws.. It' will' be* better. .l at their future peat*-of mind if they enlist now than if they hang back until the State has .to-apply the whip.? For any. there may.be who could, but'do not go, and' yet oppose compulsion, Lincoln's attitude on the question may be cited. Lincoln told objectors- to compulsion that men could avoid it by 'enlisting voluntarily. The - Minister of stall optimistic about the South, and"we-sin-cerely hope-he-will be justified in-. h» faith. He considers that' Otagov and Canterbury have settled down very satisfactorily to the new ■ scheme, and that very soon there will ie an improvement. Better result* arc already reported frpm.OtagO; bub the situation in Christchurch seems still to be unsatisfactory. The' local- Trade*' and Labour Council still declines-to assist in the recruiting" scheme, sheltering itself behind the contention that pay and pen.. sions are insufficient. Finally, we may note that it seems;-possible that the Minister will- give way on.the local or receiving camp: question, which would improve' recruiting all round. The outspoken comments of the "Dominion" on this point arc • interesting." It-says that' the failure to hold men'during the interval between enlistment, and gojng into camp is a "glaring-defect," which has become more marked as-the difficulty oi filling drafts- has- increased. "The matter has gone-so far "that, except in' a few favoured "areas, it is now taken for granted that the number of men. responding to each call will be sho:t, sometimes materially short, of the number available on paper. This is positively farcical. A recruiting system is intended to'pass men' into' tho"' Army, and when instead it passes -back into civil life a certain number who have declared their willingness _tp serve and to this-'extent, bo called nothing else than farcical.-That as a general rule men who register and' subsequently default have- little to be proud of is not to the point. The' essential thing: is that there is no earthly reason why they should be allowed", to play fast and loose in this-fashion-." It hag been suggested that these, comments, have- been Ministerially inspired, and point to a change of policy. That may be, blit even without this weight they are significant as showing- that' opinion about 'local camps-" not'tmlywill not be converted'by the Minister's argubut is becoming' more convinced that it is right.