RECRUITS NEEDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 152, 30 June 1939, Page 9

RECRUITS NEEDED.

TERRITORIAL FORCE.

MR. J. A. LEE'S APPEAL.

READY FOR EMERGENCY,

An appeal for more recruits for the Territorial forces has been made by Mr. J. A. Lee, D.C.M., M.M., Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Housing Department, in a letter to the "Star." "As we walk about the streets we are pleased with the physique and bearing of recruits in their new uniforms,'* he writes. "On the King's Birthday, as parade* disbanded and as the men mingled again with the civil community, one noticed that tne men in uniform were above our average standard, and yet, while gratified at the quality of the men in uniform, one could scarcely feel that there were yet enough in uni-

form. "Men are wanted so that New Zealand may be ready for emergency. Does the Government believe that war is a matter of hours, that it is so insistent on recruiting for military training? Not at all. There may be no danger whatever of war, but we live in a troubled world, and training for an emergency cannot be completed in a few hours. The voluntary system of training can only function successfully if a large proportion of those trained are qualified to act as non-commissioned officers or officers in the event of an outbreak of war. No Militaristic Policy. "The fact that only a sufficient number is being trained to act as this highly skilled nucleus in the event of danger explodes any suggestion that the Government is pursuing a policy of militarism. No one in Xew Zealand is concerned about military drill for its own sake. "The men who came pouring in in 1914 poured into a machine capable of equipping and drilling recruits and turning them into soldiers. That machine was the then existing army, recruited on a basisof compulsion. War preparation has 'gone more technical' since 1914, and is too costly for Xew Zealand to be able to afford to equip and train everyone to-day, but it is urgently necessary that the numbers decided upon should be at full strength and always efficient. Response Has Been Fair. "Appeal* have been made by the Prime Minister, by the Minister of Defence, by various prominent citizens. The response has been fair in numbers, and the quality of the men who have offered has been of Xew Zealand's best. "Every centre in Xew Zealand should provide its quota for training. In everv centre men beyond the age of training and womenfolk could combine in local association* to give a social and a community background to the men who' volunteer. The recruit will be proud of his unit and of-his uniform when the ocahty is proud of its recruit. Com- • uunities should vie one with another in seeing that their quota of New Zealand's establishment is maintained at full strength."