THE CALL FOR MEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 213, 6 September 1916, Page 6

THE CALL FOR MEN.

r • ( VOLUNTARYISM STIIX GOOD. ' ( » < a INrPROATSM?ENT IX SUCCESSIVE DRAFTS. ( GOOD SPIRTT OF TIIE SfES. \ Tlie Minister of Defence, in urging uppn recruiting committees and individual citizens the necessity for collective and personal effort to keep up the strength of our successive reinforcement drafts, was not unprepared for a mild * slump in voluntary enlistment ne a rcj suit of the passage of the Military Ser- * vice Act, which provides for the conrpulJ sory registration of men of military age. 8 It is also Tecognised by the Minieter that ' married men who were impelled by n strong sense of duty to join the rein ' forcements while the monthly quota de- f , pended upon voluntaryism may, now j that the Government hue power to bring the single laggarde into line, delay their , j sacrifice till it is really required. In- \ deed, the Minister has distinctly in- ' formed the country that the Govern- i ment docs not encourage the voluntary inliftmtnt of married men with several J children dependent upon them. The ,1 Minister believes, however, that the re- I inforceincnts will still be filled mainly C by volunteers, and that the men wniting 1' for the ballot, perhaps for good reasons J of their own, will, when they realise l< > vrhat they have been missing nil this I ; time, make as good soldiers as any that t have been sent away. The physical J standard has been wonderfully well G maintained in the later reinforcements, and experience has enabled the training C staff to ■produce better and better results till the camp commandant's eulo- I gie3, which at one time seemed a little J effusive in pronouncing each succeeding draft the beet on record, appear to be well deserved. One indication of the good spirit prevailing among tbc men itthe fact that while there are still hardships to be endured at all tin- samps . grumbling is much less prevalent than it win in the early days of our eoldicrmaking. *