The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1940. MAN-POWER SURVEY.

Evening Star, Issue 23500, 14 February 1940, Page 8

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1940. MAN-POWER SURVEY.

Although the Government seems determined to rely on the voluntary system of recruiting tor the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force it may be conjectured in some quarters that the decision to compile a national register from facts given in the Social Security returns is but the first step towards conscription, or, at the very least, that it carries a threat of conscription if certain good results are not obtained in the forthcoming Dominion-wide drive for enlistments. Before any definite conclusion is formed, however, it has to bo remembered that a national register is not always a prelude to conscription. The system has been adopted in Australia, against the wishes of certain sections of the Labour movement, but so far there is not the slighest indication that the more drastic and practical measure will follow. It would be more reasonable in the meantime to regard the step as a mild version of the story of the sword of Damocles. At any rate, the Government has undertaken to maintain a full division in the, field, which means that if serious fighting comes the way of our troops strong reinforcements will have to bo desnatched regularly overseas. Now that the first echelon is on active service the present rate of recruiting may soar to an extent sufficient to relieve anxiety for some time to come, and, if this in itself is not enough, there is still the big drive which the conference in Wellington is considering. What form will that campaign take? During the last war a group of citizens in Invercargill instituted recruiting methods entailing much effort on the part of those who undertook them, but bringing a fitting reward in the form of very satisfactory results. A brief outline of what was done may give some guidance to the organisers of the suggested drive throughout the Dominion. A small committee of five, all men with experience of active service iu South Africa, held meetings not only in Invercargill, but also in all the

smaller centres of the province where there was a public hall. Arrangements were made for good speakers to address gatherings, and, through the co-opera-tion of musical circles these were given the status of attractive entertainments. This means of explaining the position to men eligible to volunteer worked so effectively that the defence authorities always had recruits iu hand for each reinforcement, and in some instances were able to HU up Otago’s quota from Southland. By judicious use of the money that was collected during the campaign the members of the committee were even enabled to help some men to remove financial difficulties that were standing between them and service with the forces. The chief point to note, however, is that the appeal was carried into all parts of the province and the suburbs of the city. The energetic recruiting agents went out scouting and did not expect potential soldiers to come to them.

But apart altogether • from its intended recruiting drive the Government is doing the right thing in compiling a national register. This is decidedly the most workmanlike method of going about the task of preparing the Dominion for its maximum effort. The proper organisation of man-power and the regimentation of industry for which it provides suggest the eventual abandonment of haphazard principles and the inauguration of a more efficient phase in New Zealand’s war effort. At the .opening of the conference yesterday the Hon. P. C. Webb stated that it had been decided to issue a suitable certificate of postponement to all men who had volunteered for. service overseas but whoso acceptance had been postponed by reason of their being engaged in essential work. It was felt that such certificates would assist in preventing embarrassment to many young men who had offered their services but had not been accepted. A still better plan would be the distribution of distinctive badges or the like, which could be worn on men’s coats, not only by the class mentioned by Mr Webb, but also by volunteers who have been rejected on any grounds whatever. Under the voluntary system the time may come when public feeling, on the war will be intensified to the point of making life uncomfortable for the suspected shirker. The only practical way of protecting the man who has been willing to serve is to give him an outward symbol of his self-sacrificing offer.