The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1940. LAGGARD RECRUITING IN DUNEDIN.

Evening Star, Issue 23495, 8 February 1940, Page 8

The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1940. LAGGARD RECRUITING IN DUNEDIN.

Progress with recruiting during the next few days will tell the story of the success or otherwise of the big public rally held in the Town Hall last night. The citizens responsible for the organisation of the evening's programme deserve to have their efforts crowned by the “ taking of their objectives,” though a question which sceptics may be tempted to put is: “ Would it not have been better to seek the co-operation of picture theatre managers in making arrangements tor Mr Leo and Lieutenant-colonel Falconer to give a brief address at each of the popular houses of amusement favoured by most young men of military age?” Certainly it would appear likely that for every potential recruit present in the Town Hall there were ten at places whero the entertainment was lighter. No reflection on the character of the modern young mail need be read into this. He could do much worse than attend picture theatres, and cannot be blamed for taking advantage of the greater opportunities to amuse himself than were vouchsafed to his prototype of 1914. Nobody doubts his courage or the honesty and sincerity of his outlook on life. The main charge against him is that he takes too much for granted. He does not seem to realise the significance of world happenings to-day. He does not understand that the British Empire must speedily mobilise all the forces required and fight hard each day of the war if it is to survive as a free Commonwealth of Nations. Because the grim job on hand entails sacrifice and hardship is no reason why it should be shirked. Mr Lee and Lieutonantcoloncl Falconer, who spoke with such admirable truth and conviction last night, both know what war is. One is again in khaki, and the. other would no doubt serve likewise but for the disability he suffered in the last great conflict. These are men, opponents in political outlook perhaps, who are of one mind in regard to the present vita) issues, compared with which New Zealand’s domestic problems are as nothing. Supporters of the voluntary system of recruiting find much that is encouraging in the latest enlistment figures for Now Zealand. Up to January 27 the total number of names sent in was just over 25,000, of whom about 12,683 have gone into training. Of the total 2,488 are classed as temporarily unfit and 2,818 as permanently unfit, while 1,576 are in reserved occupations. The balauco available for posting to camp is reported to he 2.399. The Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) revealed the other day that there were about 3,500 men available for the third echelon. Although the defence authorities during the first year or so of the last war were able to do a fair amount

of picking and choosing from the material offering, the figures now quoted cannot compare very unfavourably with those of the first five months of the Great War. lb is an unhappy truth, however, that major credit for current efforts must go to the northern centres and the country districts, and not to Dunedin itself. It is largely through the laggard nature of the recruiting in this chy that Canterbury had to make good the deficit in Otago’s quota of the first echelon, and unless last night’s rally has. the success it deserves the same step, humiliating to us southerners, may have to be taken again. Needless to say, the bulk of Dunedin citizens feel the position keenly, none more so than soldiers of local regiments and Otago members of other units which won distinction between 191-1 and 1918. Perhaps the most charitable explanation of the dilatory nature of the recruiting hero has some bearing on the “slow to move” characteristics attributed to the south by people who dwell in the north. The imputation can be borne cheerfully in normal times, but in the existing circumstances the fact of its being warranted constitutes a definite blot on the provincial escutcheon which calls for speedy removal. There is only one way of doing this.