CALL FOR MEN

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 89, 13 October 1915, Page 3

CALL FOR MEN

NEW ZEALAND'S OBLIGATIONS INCREASED RESPONSIBILITIES SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT REINFORCEMENTS EVERY MONTH

A fitting finale to the sitting of Par liament last night wae afforded by the Minister of Defence (Hon. J. Allen), just when, under ordinary circumstances and conditions, members and friends would have been, indulging in the usual end-of-the-session pleasure. It was a recruiting speech from a, member of a National Government, which had been set up to assist the Empire in the carrying out of the Empire's war, and members and f ull ' galleries listened with attention to t»he Minister as, in quiet, businesslike manner, he told the House what "was in Uie I mind of the Government on the subject. The number of men who had gene away, he said, was 28,000. In about ten days' time the number would be in- j creased to 38,000, and he was including in that number the men who are undergoing training. Also they had sent away 187 nurses, fully trained, and some nurses had gone on their own account and are now serving. In the Medical and Field Ambulance sections 1039 men had been | sent, and 140 more would be sent away in February. Although the Main Body only amounted to some 7800 men, they had added other units, brinjjiiig up the total to about 14,324, which included two extra battalions. He, regretted to announce that the casualties up to date (27th September) were 1017 killed, 451 died of wounds, and 162 died of disease, making a total of 1530. There were also missing 638 and 20 prisoners, and wounded 4357. The total casualties; therefore, were 7145. , At the end of this month there would have returned to New Zea land about 2000 wounded, leaving som.fi 2357 in Egypt, Malta, and England in hospitaL , A FAIRLY LARGE TASK. Members would realise that it was a fairly large task for New Zealand to keep up the reinforcements of the Main Body, but he did not think the country would shirk the responsibility, and he was pleased to be able to say that, although a newspaper had reported a shortage in Wellington on account of the quota that had to go into camp, that shortage was more apparent than real. There were quite sufficient men to make up the numbers. Members would remember that the Army Council had called upon New Zealand to increase its proportion of reinforcements, and the Minister read recent communications from the Army Council bearing ' on "the subject. An additional increase would be required in 1916. As to the result of the training to which our men have been subjected, he read an extract from a letter written by General Godley relating jto the sth Reinforcements, received two days ago:— "The last lot of Reinforcements, the sth, arrived well and fit. ... , Johnston tells me as they arrived to join the Brigade they were at once despatched to capture the Turkish trench, which they did in a, most gallant manner, and held it to the end of the battle." (Cheers.) The Minister went on to read a telegram from the Army Council testifying to the value of the training which our soldiers receive' at this end, and. he ex pressed the hope that the curtailment of the period of training would not in an^ way tend to limit their efficiency. Sub sequent Reinforcements would, he said, go through the full term of training, but their departure would be accelerated b> six weeks "MOST WELCOME." A telegram received by the New Zealand Government from the Army Coun cil stated that the news that the New Zealand Government was arranging to accelerate the despatch of the troops was "most welcome." Subsequent telegrams from the Army Council called upon New Zealand for a larger effort, "and I know," said the Minister, "that the country will not hesitate to meet its additional responsibility, and that the members will assist the National Govern, ment and the National Parliament in carrying out the will of the people." (Applause.) The Minister also react a telegram from Sir lan Hamilton and General Birdwood, urging the necessity of sending additional reinforcements, ranging from 5 per cent, to 7 per cent., which were calculated to meet every requirement. "We shall be extremely grateful for whatever New Zealand can do to meet our suggestion," was a phrase quoted by the Minister from a cablegram received from the Army Council ; and the Minister said that the New Zealand Government had agreed to offer the proposed increases of reinforcements from %5 to 20 per cent. He had no doubt that they would be able to provide for those reserves. The census of 1911 showed that there were 112,000 unmarried men between the ages of 20 and 40 in the Dominion, married men of military age 79,000; widowers 1546. A very fair percentage of those men ought to be in a. position to volunteer, and it was expected that employers would keep their billets open for them. It was leasonable to expect, therefore, that New Zealand would be able to supply the additional numbers required during the next twelve months, and thereby comply with the requests of the Army Council. EVERY POLITICIAN A - RECRUITER. The Minister said that it only remained for him after putting the facts before hon. gentlemen to ask their assistance when they went to their homes in the matter of recruiting. He hoped that every member of Parliament would get into touch with every recruiting agency in his own district and assist recruiting to the best of his ability. He would also ask hon. members to accept his assurance with regard to the system of recruiting, because there had been several questions raised as to the method of enlisting the men and bringing them into camp. There were men who gave up their work and asked to be sent into camp at once, although they had been told that they should remain in their employment until they were called up. He had carefully considered the whole question, and he could not help coming to the conclusion that the present policy was the best one, and should be the policy of the future. He asked that all differences of opinion existing should be set aside to achieve the one common object that they had in view. The scheme of bringing the men into camp every two months to start a thorough •ohoma of training hid been, * great suc-

cess, and the scheme of having small camps in different districts was not feasible, because there was not a sufficient staff. The desire of the Defence Department was to leave the men in their em- i ployment until the very last moment — and lie wanted to stress this point with all his power — because it would be of great value to the industries of the j country to leave the men at work. "We do not want to disturb industry any more than is necessary," added the Minister, " and it is a very strong argument in favour of registration that we leave the men in employment until they are called to camp. I ask you to assist to the best of your ability to help to carry out this policy — the policy that has prevailed in the past and the policy of the future." NUMBER OF MEN IN CAMP. The Minister then announced tan important alteration it was intended to adopt in regard to bringing the men into camp (after approval by Cabinet). Under the old scheme 10,000 was the maximum number of men in camp, whereas under the new scheme' 12,000 would be the maximum. The alterations in camp would be alluded to later on. What the staff now proposed to do was, instead of sending away reinforcements every two months to bring them into camp every month and send them away every month. The number going into camp this month would be 6000; in November 3500 men would be brought in; in December 2500, and the same number, every month for twelve months. A member : Can you get the ships regularly? The Minister : "Yes. That question lias been gone into and the transports will be so arranged that we will be able to carry out the scheme except in May or June." He added that it was possible to get ships from outside He asked honourable members to realise their great responsibility, and he felt sure they did so. He also knew that they felt with him that this additional burden was an additional privilege, and when the history of this war came to be written they would be proud of what New Zealand had done. KEEP THE INDUSTRIES ] GOING. At, the same time he asked the honourable members to assist the Defence Department in seeing -that' the industries of the country were interfered with *as little as possible The Department's policy was not to take men away from those industries which produced things for the soldiers "at the front. v The woollen mills and other essential industries would be kept going, and the men employed in these industries would pot be called upon to register and enlist. He believed that the question would be met by the will of the people and not by any power or force of legislation. If the people throughout the country realised how much was asked of them then they would be willing 'to respond to the call. "As I have stated and the Prime Minister has- stated," said Mr. Allen, "I know the National Cabinet will not hesitate if necessary to take that further step we should all hesitate to take, the step towards compulsion." It was against his own ideas of the matter, and the real way to get men was to tell all the employers and the public that every man between 20 and 45 'years of age, especially the unmarried men (for the first call was for them), should come forward in the service of their country and 'the service of the Empire and fight for the great cause of freedom we were fighting for at the present time "Whatever I can personally give to the cause/ cancluded the Minister, "shall be given, and I can assure you that the Defence Department will not spare itself to carry out this work to the best of its ability, and I know that when every member goes away to his distric f he will do what he can." TWO SOLDIER POLITICIANS. The next speaker was the Prime Minister, who moved the following motion :—: — " That Mr. Speaker do convey to Messrs. T. E. Y. Seddon and W. Downie Stewart the recognition of this House of their patriotic action in joining the Expeditionary Forces to assist the Empire in the present great war." Mr Massey also mentioned the fact that two other Parliamentarians — Mr. Bell jun. and Dr. Rangihiroa — were on active service, while the Hon Dr. Collins was in command of the hospital ship Maheno. He went on to etate that there were many. members of the House who would like to go to the front, but were, unfortunately, above the military age. But they had sent their relatives and sons to the front, and there were quite a number of members who had lost relatives and sons. To them sincere sympathy went out. He was quit© certain that whatever might happen, Messrs. Seddon and Stewart would do credit, to themselves and their country, and he hoped and believed they would come back safe and sound to their relatives and friends^ (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward endorsed Mr. Massey's remarks in support of the motion. They were all filled with admiration when they realised that the two sons of former members of the House were shortly to leave New Zealand to do battle in the interests of the Empire. One could not think of the name of Thomas Seddon without remembering his father and the distinguished position he held in this country, and who, in his day and generation, helped to maintain the integrity of the British Empire. It was a source of great satisfaction to everyone in this country that the son of a worthy sire was leaving all the attractions of this country and run all risks with the men who were fighting in this great and unparalleled battle. Sir Joseph then recalled the fact that the father of Mr Downie Stewart was one of the most distinguished lawyers in this country, who had assisted to put some of the beet legislation on the Statute Book of this country And now Mr. Downie Stewart, on the threshold of his career, had put everything aside in the interests of the Empire. UNITY THE KEYNOTE. Sir Joseph continued that the statement made by the Minister for Defence w6uld strike a chord of sympathy from one end of the country to the other. Anyone who had listened to what the Minuter had said would realise the great tack that h*d bean undertaken, and ths ,

effective manner in which the scheme had been carried out. He endorsed the Minister's statement as to the necessity for sending men properly trained to the fighting line, and paid a warm tribute to the magnificent showing of the 5000 men who paraded through the town last Saturday. Such a spectacle would evoke a sympathetic feeling from one end of the Dominion to the other, and prevent any dissension, so that there might be complete co-operation between the memof Parliament and the community to ensure the most effective training of the men who went away from New Zealand. He must admit that at first he was in considerable doubt as to whether it would not be better to have four district camps, with a central camp at Trentham for the completion of training, but he was now satisfied that the present system was the most effective one. The messages from General Sir A. Godley and General Sir lan Hamilton showed that it would be a great mistake to start a different policy of training the men than the present one. He appealed for the unity, co-operation, and assistance of all classes in carrying out the scheme. The Hon. Sir James Carroll said the significance of the subject, to his mind, was that it would establish to the outside public that those in the Legislatures who were not debarred by age were making sacrifices in this great and ' awful time through which we were passing. It would also mean that every section of-, the community, including the worker in the industrial field and every vocation in life, were drawing on their best specimens of manhood for the Expeditionary Forces. The motion was carried. DEEDS THAT NEVER DIE. The Prime Minister then moved the following motion :> — ' 'This _ House heartily congratulates the military forces of the Dominion upon the splendid conduct and bravery displayed by the New Zealand troops in the operations at the Dardanelles, and expresses a deep sense of appreciation of their gallant and soldiery qualities. ' ' Speaking to the motion Mr. Massey said that when we sent troops away we felt sure they would do. well, but what they had done had exceeded the most sanguine expectations Their soldierly conduct and bravery in the field had excited the admiration of every section of the British Empire. Soon after the war commenced Lord Plunket had communicated with him and asked him how many troops he thought New, Zealand could send, and he had replied that he thought we could send 35,000 Already we had sent 28,000, however, and there were 8000 or 9000 in camp at the present time. The system of training had been adversely criticised, but it must be judged by results, and Lord Kitchener himself had expressed the opinion that the system was admirable. He hoped members would aszist to the best of their capacity in recruiting, and pledge themselves not to allow the present, system to be interfered with. What New Zealand had done had made life worth living during the past twelve months, and when the history of the war was written it would be seen what, an important bearing New Zealand had had in the present crisis Sir Joseph Ward also paid an enthusiastic tribute to the work done by the New 'Zealanders, and expressed sympathy for the members of the House and the people who had lost sons and relatives. Mr T. M. Wilford suggested that the words "and in other parts" should be inserted after Gallipoli, and with this amendment' the motion was'" carried. Members and the public then rose and sang the National Anthem.