SOUTH ISLAND QUOTAS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 71, 23 March 1916, Page 7

SOUTH ISLAND QUOTAS.

HON. JAS. ALLEN'S REPLY. to some remarks made to an Auckland '' Star " reporter on tbe subject of recruiting, tbe Hon. G. Fowlds said ne considered the Defence Minister large y to blame for the position in the South. He had been responsible for frequent m assertions that the- South had np| men m available, and had also, from the begin- ar ning, tried to bide the fact that Otago o! was continually failing to find its quota, w. Herein lay the principal reason for fail- au ure. Mr. Fowlds asserted that it wae •>« all nonsense to say that men were not vw available. ' Tbe Hon. James Allen, replying to this Jr criticism in Wellington, said the South s ac quota had now been based upon the tt< national register, figures and facts, and in Canterbury an Otagp were supplying ar their full quotas. He had never »W « the South island bad not the men avail- M able, or that it could not supply its fair tn share. The national register returns tr were tbe most accurate figures yet avail- n able for basing the quotas upon. The n Defence Department accordingly bad st been asking al districts to complete j ro their rotk and readjust their quotas if there were any necessity to do so. His Hi opinion was that there would be very se little adjustment necessary. What he or had said was that it was necessary for et Otago and Canterbury to find their pro- *« per quotas, and if they .did not do so er they would force a position very unsatis- Oi factory to everyone. His ©pinion *!■•*"»

«-1 that Otago and Canterbury had settled on ! down to the new recruiting scheme very>ly satisfactorily. They had organised in nd the way the Recruiting Board and the or Government desired. He felt sure rere suits would be obtained in a very short .p- ; time. They had completed their rolls an , and were making them perfect, and had ng ; divided up the cities and counties, and to were getting into personal touch with a- men who were eligible ed 2