THE CALL TO ARMS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15462, 15 December 1915, Page 8

THE CALL TO ARMS.

— 9 —• ELEVENTH r" REINFORCEMENTS. <

I THE CANTERBURY SHORTAGE. The, Christchurch (junta of tho 11th Reinforcements loaves for Trentham tonight, parading at the King Edward Barracks at 0 o'clock, and catching -a ■ppccial train at tiie Christchurch Railway Station at 7.45. The Christchurch quota is at present tivo over strength in Mounted Rifles, and s-evon short in lnlantry. whilst tho .other brandies of the s-or vice are full. The mounted surplus will lie sent to Trentham to-mjrlu t :) make up shortages in other drafts. Notification lias keen received from Christchurch dentists that foi:r men receiving dental attention will •>.- able t;> report themselves lit .to-day. and it is anticipated that sufficient other men v.iM ho reporting themselves to fill up the other three vacancies. Last night the Kaiapoi quota left for Trentham 55 short, then- being a de-bt-it of 4G Infantry, 7 Mounted Rifles, I Artillery, and 1 A in bu lance. Telegraphic ail vices received by the Defence Headquarters' Office yesterday afternoon untitled the following shortages in the other Canterlmiy group Mounted Rifles, infantry. Timaru ... U 33 Griymouth ... — 31 Nelson ... - 3') Tiinani also reported a shortage of t-.vo Engineers and one Army .Service man, but the.se men can easily be supplied by other- group areas in*the Canterbury district. Excluding those, therefore, the total Canterbury shortage for the 11th Reinforcements is 10 Mounted Rifle* and I' 2 Infantry. The quota asked for is s"i. YESTERDAY'S ENLISTMENTS. ANOIHEJI SLUMP. There was another slump in recruiting in ChristrhurcK yesterday, only fifteen registering for active service. They were: — Hilary D. Henderson, 253 Cashel etreet, Cliriatcmtich, dmuglusnian—Engineers. William IJmcrj-, College road, Lyttelton, Brcman—lnfantry. Oi:bsrt Kcroyd, 177 Shirley road, Shirley, clcrk-'-.llouiited. Edwin AlacGrcgor, W«llington . Hotel, Christcliurch,. shcurcr—Mounted. Hugh Crawford, C 8 .Byron etrcct, Linwood, dealer—Mounted. William Pcrcy Riches, 39 TVinton street, St. Albans, sheot-nietal worker —Infantry. Harold Gordon Lane, c.o. Dexter and . Crosier, Christchurcb, motor salesman— Mounted. Jesse ilunro Green, 9 Cornhfll street, St. Albans, draughtsman—Signaller. , John O'Conncll, 40 Brougham etreet, Sydcnhßm, carrier—Ambulance. Edward Morgan, G.P.0., Christcliurch, sboarer—Mounted. John Healey, G.P.0., Christchurch, carter —Mounted. Kenelm Arthur "Wallis, 29 AnHq-un. street, Christchurch, gardener—Samoap Relief Forro, H&tuta Dorsa, Methven, labourer—lnfantry. William F. . A. McDonald, 14 Edmonds street, Woolston, saddler—Mounted. Martin Murphy, Oxford! Hotel, Christchurch, ehoarcr —Infantry. MEDICALLY EXAMINED. Tho following hare attended their medical examination.:—Godfrey Chattawny, Hugh Crawford, - and Edwin McGregor.KAIAPOI QUOTA LEAVES. MORE THAN HALF BELOW STRENGTH. The failure of the Kaiapoi Group Area to provide its quota for the 11th Rciuforceinchts was manifested at the j J King Edward Barracks last night, when but 42, men answered to their names, or were accounted. for when the roll was called prior to; their marching to the Christcliurch Railway Station en route for Jfrcntham. The quo£a asked for was 97. One Mminted man and two. members of tho Infantry who had been notified to attend failed to Tesnond to their names. The Defence Headquarters Office in Christchurch was notified by Kaiapoi yesterday afternoon that»tho district's shortage was 4 Mounted and 44 Infantry, so it will bo sfjen that, besides the ihree men failing to answer the roll-call last evening. two Mounted men and a member of tho Ambulance withdrew their names . yesterday. The following table shows the drafts asked for, and the number of inen scoured: —- Branch. Asked for. Secured. Mounted Rifles 15 8 Infantry 75 29 Artillery 4 3 Ambulance 2 1 - Army Ser. Corps 1 1 > Totals . ... 97 42 Colonel Chaffey briefly addressed the men before they left the Barracks. He assured theni ho felt sorry he was not going with them. He urged them to follow , tfco example of the men who had ! gone"beforo them, and to do this they jzHU&t strictly attend to their training ; whilsjt in camp. He wished them every j luck, and hoped they would carry the j honour of Canterbury on their backs. jHe wished the number responding from .North Canterbury had been larger, but 'that was not the fault of those leaving ; that evening. He felt very sorry that so many men had pulled out; he knew they had a very good reason in the harvesting and shearing operations. ;lt was, however, all the more creditablo sto those who were leaving that night. !He hoped that the next lot coming for jward from the district would make up •the shortage in the Elevenths. I The men gave three lusty cheers for jfhe Colonsl, and then, headed by the Christchurch Cadet Bugle Band, march;ed +o tlio railway station, proceeding to Trentham under charge of Quarter-master-Sergeant Barry. There wore very few spectators - in the streets. Aloxyr the entire route there was not lionrd a single cheer. Following are. the names of the men composing the quota:— Mounted I?ifle3. Henrv H. H. Brooks. Krod-nrV CamnV»il. Jo'-n Forbe*. HcrWt Ha)--!!. Staler .T Lvpsr. "William Salter. Ernes: Ealnh Terra IK .Bertram Hugh Terrs'l. Ininntrv. H»ginaM Avery, Thomas B-ck." Frederick .Tohr. TJoal, Tasman -T-ra-s Bnnton. G«Mve Burnside. Thomas Cfcir'i*. Coop*j r .Tnhn jr-nry Cnrnip. Darvl J. W. Doak. Arthur i\vill;*ni- Evans. Erwwf Kveritt. -Tnmes Otinn. P. .Tomes. Walter .Tury. David Lillev. Frank T. Lowe, Robert ?" 3lcCarvl'<>as, Harry McMut-rav, Albert ri'Mearn. Joni Orr«y. John Shnw, William Stor>~. Piti Timi, 7?o" VelKrcfst Vett-. .Tnmcs "VVolker. "Walter "Welshman, Wright. I William Ar'hi'r "Watt is •-> report in Wo]. );n?ton> and John Joseph Williams in a dav or tw». /ri'lle"-. Vr~;° r Hunter Main. "Wilfred Thomts. "W. D. Toombs. Airbi ,! .t)'.ce. Sydney D««rlingto'> Mills Arm' l ' Service Chirps. John Trebilcock. SERIOUS SHORTAGE. FIGURES FROM WELLINGTON. (ritBSS ASSOCIATION' TTLEOU VII.) "WELLINGTON. December 14. Her© is a serious (shortage in tho

Eleventh Heiiiforcenienis to-day, and many groujjs are unable to make up their quotas. The S<juth Inland is reported to have paraded 100 short in infantry aione. "Wellington city's response is also poor—only 1-14 men mustering out oi :>33 required, or 04 short. "Wellington City has now been asked to make up it.s own shortage, and the South Island infantry shortage as well, by January 3rd. AUCKLAND'S QUOTA FULL. (er.ESS ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, December 11. Three hundred men—Auckland City's draft of the lltli Reinforcements—left for Trentham this afternoon with the country quotas, bringing the number up to GO2. The Auckland quota is full, and a call is now made for one hundred men to fill the gaps in tho Southern quotas. IMMEDIATE ENLISTMENT NECESSARY. APPEAL EY THE MINISTER. (rRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, December 11. "I don't think there is any doubt tho men will come forward to fill the paps," said the Minister of Defence when tho shortage for tho Eleventh Reinforcements was mentioned to him by a reporter, "but it is highly important that men should present themselves quickly. Every day's delay is liable to mean reduced efficiency in the field since it/shortens the training period or prevents men getting into the firing line as quickly as they would otherwise liavo done. I regret very much that tho men have not all como forward to-day. I would ask those who are holding hack until after the holidays to consider their position seriously, and decide what is their dutv. Every moment of training period is of value. The despatch of reinforcements has been arranged according to. a fixed time-table, and we have an obligation to discharge to the Imperial authorities and to the men at the front." DISTRICT CONTRIBUTIONS. SOUTH ISLAND SHORTAGES TO , DATE. (SPICIAX. TO "THE PRE 33.") WELLINGTON, December 14. While tho district system of supplying men for tho Expeditionary Force remains in use one of the most interesting things always will bo to know how many men eacfi district has contributed. Tlio Defence Minister has stated the percentages, but the actual numbers are of even greater interest. Tho military prep.ared a roturn a while ago to .show the numbers of-men supplied by each military district, but did not make it public because of a certain discrepancy. The Minister's .percentages are apparently based on a force of something over 35,(HX) men, whereas it has been officially announced that up to October 31st (the date the Minister mentions) wo had raised 33,000 men. ThosS facts probably reveal tho discrepancy alluded to. The number* pf men tho districts have supplied for the- main body and reinforcements up to October 31st are (tho "Dominion" understands) as follows: — Wellington Military District ... 12.317 Auckland Military "District ... 0724 Canterbury Military District ... 7430 Otago Military District ... 086G Dominion total ... ... 30,337 The men each district should have supplied (out of 35,337). according to the population percentages now used by the military in allotting their quotas, are:— Wellington ... 11.449 Auckland ... ... 5333 Canterbury ... ... 8763 Otago ... ... (5290 Dominion total ... 35,337 On those figures the districts have done more or less than their population shares according to the following table:— • Wellington ... BGS more Auckland ... SB9 more Canterbury ... 11333 less Otago ... ... 424 les3 On the same sets of figures the positions of tho two islands stand thus Share. (Supplied North Islan d ... i' 0,234 22,041 South Island ... 15,053 13/296 The 1757 which the South Island has failed to supply is a number larger than two of the reinforcement drafts, so that if the North Island had not made-good ' for the South, New Zealand would have been a draft behind in the fulfilment of its obligations. The failure in Canterbury alone is numerically greater than the First Reinforcements.

NEW RECRUITING SCHEME.

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER. BASED ON WAR CENSUS. (rr.ESS ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON. December 14. "The Government has in preparation a scheme intended to bring into existence a well-organised national recruiting movement," said tho Prime Minister to-night. 'Members of local bodies will be asked to assist, and the services of their representative men will bo utilised. No part of the Dominion and no section of the community will be neglected. Without the information supplied by tho war census, a scheme such as is contem£>lated would hardly be possible, though 1 need hardly say that anything in the nature of a bVeach of confidence will be avoided. Details will be made public in due course, and the schemc will be put into operation early in the New Year. "'For the first time, partly, 1 think, owing to the approach of the holidays, we are having a certain amount of difficulty in filling up the reinforcement Graft at the proper date. Tho seriousness of the war lihs now been brought home to this and every part of tho Empire. Good men ar© needed, and in spite of pessimistic forebodings, which are sometimes hinted at rather than plainly expressed, I am confident

that the citizens of New Zealand will maintain the reputation for loyalty and capacity to make sacrifices for the Imperial cause which they have built up . since the beginning of the war. Men t are wanted, and wanted at once. I ask boys who intended to go in with the Eleventh Reinforcements this week, and who,. I now find, have been wavering oil account of tho attractions of the holidays, to do their duty under the circumstances that have arisen. I ask them to play the game, and to play it in serious and deadly earnest, so that r victory in the fight may come to our side. I ask their parents and relatives, and I know that in thU I am asking a lot, not to place any difficulties in their way. but to seize thn opportunity of assisting the Imperial cause in the greatest crisis tint British citizens have ever been called upon to face." - "MORAL CONSCRIPTION." ' CAPTAIN SIMSON'S BADGE SCHEME. ENDORSED BY C'.D.C. What he termed ''Moral Conscrip- : tion," was a scheme presented to tho executive of the Citizens' Defence Corps veste.'dav by Captain Sinison, and endorsed by that body. Briefly. Captain Sanson's scheme is that a voluntary registration scheme ; should be introduced, whereby every man of military age should register for service, and local tribunals should be the deciding bodies after hearing the c-nse as to whether a man should go to the front immediately or not. Every man haying a conscientious reason for not enlisting, such as married men, single men with dependents, and men declared physically unfit, would wear a badge, returned soldiers likewise weariit" it. Thus the public would at a glance be able to tell whether a man was a shirker or net. In this way, the lot of tho slacker would be very uncomfortable. As an example of his "Moral Conscription." Captain Simson instanced the case of ton men apP'.ving for a job. nino wearing badges and one not. The man not wearing tho badge would- probably not secure the position, j Captain Sitnson was of opinion that if his scheme of voluntary' reiwas introduced the only men iailing to! register would be the shirkt>rs and ; they would be quickly detected by the absence of the badfo. r ;Vr the executive of ° the C.l, : Captain Simson said his methods might be wrong, but his idea? Ne v Zealind trying to assist recruiting, and he, had conversed with men holding 'every kind Q f opinion s + r 111 'of local camps' th' S °T-^+ ,PIK)r n ilg oousenption and all triL ient. One man would sav: "1 AnnAi "° 1,11 V l , wc havc conscription." Another wouW say : "I am not going till So-and-bo goes. Another: "1 will not go till my dependents are provided for. ' He had thought of a achcme winch, he thought, would meet *« s ! ,cc /r S: \!' based on organisation. Mr A. C. Maxwell expressed the opinlon that every returned soldier in plain clothes should have a badge. He knew I Ol three who had been insulted . Captain Simson said the women givlng wlnte feathers should not bo bJamctl: ins.oiid, he gate them credit tor their motives. Any man with his conscience clear should not object to receiving a white leather. Personally, he would welcome them, and make a feather pillow of them. Mr . D. Millton said Lis experience of recruiting was that Captain oimson s scheme was the only satislacR' , so ' l, ti°n of present difficulties. Other members concurred. Mr J. M. Turnbull moved:—"That we, the executive of the Citizens' Defence Corps, after hearing Captain Simson outline, his scheme for voluntary visible registration, heartily recommend the same to the favourable consideration of the General Committee and members of the C.D.C., and that same should be considered by tho Government." Tho motion was carried unanimously. FARMERS AND RECRUITING. ____ ! Many rumours have been floating round tho city the adverse attitude of certain farmers towards rocruitincr. One case yesterday came under the direct notice of a "Press" reporter. A -man who was to leave for Trentham this week as a non-commissioned officer, called in at the C.D.C. office yesterday afternoon, and asked if arrangements could be made for him to leave a few days later. He was a married man. lie said, working as a farm labourer, for a farmer in a" Canterbury district. He lived in a cottage owned by his employer. Ho had been under the impression that as he was offering his life for his country his employer would allow his wife and family to *remam in the cottage whilst he* was on active service, and consequently- lie had not bothered to move. Now he was informed by his employer that he would have to movo his belongings from tho house. The result was that he would be_unable to go into canin on the required date. This information was supplemented by n member of the Defence staff in conversation with the pressman. He slated that the man had . seen service with the New Zealanders in ■ the South African War. and having a! wito and family, the few extra shillings a week he would receive as a non-com-missioned officer would make all the difference m tlio world to him. •Now owsng to the farmer's attitude, the man stood a chance of losing his stripes and the extra pay entailed. ELIGIBLE.? IN THE RAILWVY SERVICE. (press association telegram.) AUCKLAND. December 14. Regarding the Railway Department's advertisement inviting application from K bc ( twecn a ß° s eighteen and thirty for junior porters and traffic labourers, an Auckland official states that the Department, while affordinevery ability to its employees to rr o to the war, i s rather hard-pressed to fill the posts vacated. Preference is alto married men, and those able and eligible for enlistment are given very little hope of emplovment. .Men rejected for military service and suitable for railway emplovment should be taken on. The advertisement contemplates emplovment for youths nnd not for those eligible for war service. RECEIVING CAMPS. TO THE EDITOR OF "THE rRESS." Sir, —\ou are to be congraiulatod on your consistent advocacy of the local leceiving camps, not tho training camp which snould ultimately be Trentham. In spite of Colonel Gibbon's replv to the deputation, to which you aptly allude in to-days "Press," I hold a receiving camp at various centres solves the serious objection of men in employment giving up their jobs to risk being on the idle for-perhaps weeks before being called up. A man would recognise at once, if medically accepted as fit, that he had en tercd the service and would start on his new career at once. Men requiring only dentaj attention should receive it while in this cahip, and at the public expense. Does Colonel Gibbon suggest there is only one pattern of discipline in New Zealand to be found only at Trentham? I, too, have had twenty years' Service experience, three of tiiat" intimately as- • sociated with the Regular Army in all ; parts of the world: and, with all due dcferenco to him, I hold it better the accepted man should bo put at once under training (if disciplinary only) than wandering at larze, keeping him-

self as best he can till called up. This the receiving camp would allow. llis subsequent training at Trentham should not, in consequence, be curtailed one day. It's short enough as it is, but the recruit would join there less "raw" and start his real training from the jump—not so many men are offering as to cause a receiving camp, or barrack, a crowded one. With such a small unit perfect discipline could bo inculcated and maintained, and tho Defence authorities wouid know what men thev had at call. —Yours, etc.. EX-NAYAL OFFICER. December 14th.