LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 290, 27 August 1918, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A PROTEST

Sir, —As ono of tho.' Second Division men, Class O, recently passed fit ami ordered into camp in November I havo ' been peculiarly interested in, and moro than puzzled at, tho action of tho Dofenco authorities iu so feverishly hurrying us into camp when all tho published figures show so emphatically that this action is entiroly unnecessary and opposed to tlie interests of the country and tho men concerned. I seo by this (hiy's paper that Mr. Guthrie states there aro at present 8500 wen in tamp. It was stated a few days ago in your columns that the recruiting position was "very strong," ns no fewer than somo 7000 men woro under orders to proceed to camp between now and November. On the top of that it is stated that tho Government propose , ! to immediately i evert to tho rate's of Tpinforcemants which was in operation somo five months ago. Now everyone knows that that rato was certainly less than 1000 per ■ month! Consequently the number of men in camp and ordered into camp will bo s-ifticient for some fifteen reinforcements 1 Yet we are now told that there is little likelihood of any postponement so far as.any of those ordered into" camp aro concerned, but that it is probable that many of them, will in consequence liavo months' ■ xnorq training than is necessary. Could stupidity go further? It is recognised that the calling into ■camp of tho older men occupying the more responsible positions in the country is straining the business and production of tha country to breaking point. It has also been laid down by the recent Defence Expenditure Commission that each man in ,camp.costs the country £30 per month; consequently every 1000 men in camp unnecessarily means a loss of £30,000 per ■month. Such wasto is nob much encouragement to tho public to subsoribo •to war loans!. From the point of view of the man who lias to sell Ins business or farm and break up his home, or sacrifice a business position arrived at after half a lifetime of special trainin«;, it , is hardship enough to sacrifice., all, leaving wife and bairns to exist on ! a soldier's pay, and 1 as one of many ■ emphatically protest against being com- j pelled to make this sacrifice months j (before I am really required for military j service. No man -worth the name can object to taking his share of sacrifice in this great world calamity so long as ho is required and when no is called j upon, but there is no rhyme or reason j for the needles 3 hardship being inflicted by tlio present action of the Defcnco authorities in rushing thousands of! men into camp who will not be sent out j of New Zealand for months after completing tho usual four months of train- | ing. Tho ainreasou of tho action is accentuated by the fact that we havo accumulate;! in England a huge body of reinforcemonts who aro not yet, and probably will not be, required this year on the Western front.—l am, etc., COMMON SENSE. 'August 24. [The Government had already revert- | cd to the rate of reiuforcemen'ts ruling j before the request camo some mouths j ago for moro men. It is not correct | that this rato \vas less than a, thousand ■ a month. This number is correct for j infantry, but taking account of mount- j cd infantry and artillery the number is \ moro than a thousand. It is not cor- j Tect that the number of men in camp •; undsrgoing training is 8500; A return for the week ending August 24, after a fresh draft had gone in, shows that the total infantry strength in the camps •was less than 5600 men, including in tlio co;int specialists, iion-commissioned j officers, acting instructors, physical j training classes, nnd the administrative staff ! of the CI Camp.- The number of men under orders to proceed to camp does not at present exceed 5000, and some of these are not under orders to assemble until January. The men in camp and under orders to proceed to camp should suffice for eight or nine months, allowing for losses' of men called, but who for various reasons, such as appeals upheld, are not available, and for losses of men from tho camps through sickness. These figures wero given by Sir James Allen to a reporter yesterday, when the foregoing letter ■was shown to him. Replying to the question, "Could stupidity go further?" Sir James Allen said: "It would be real stupidity if we gave the men loss training than experience has shown to be.necessary. Wo have learned by experience that the more men are trained the hotter is tlieir disciplineand tho less lives are_ lost. It is nonBenso to talk of 'straining business to breaking point.' During a year up till the end of Juno last we sent away 18,000' men, but we have, got 11,000 men back.to New Zealand. The net loss in men is not now so heavy as to strain business and production' to breaking point for the present."!