REINFORCEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR.

Grey River Argus, 30 December 1915, Page 3

REINFORCEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR.

THIRTY^ THOUpiNJ) MEN REQUIRED; : THE GOVERNMENT'S REC&UIT : ING SCHEME. ■■■.• * * - * EXPLAINED ISYPpiME MINISTER BY TELEGBAPH~PEB . PBESS ASSOCIATIONAUCELANp, D^epiber 27. Thirty thousand recruits wili.be re r quired during tho coining year to fill reinforcements for the Expeditionary Force, paid th© Prime Minister when interviewed^ tb-riigHi. Every month a contingent of 2500 men must be. der spatqhed to. the front. : An undertaking has been given by the Government that the Reinforcements will be regularly maintained. In order that there may be np default, it has been decided to bring into op^a-tic^. quickly a scheme by which recruiting will be systematically, organised- throughout the Dominion. The main principles of the scheme; were announced last 'week. The conduct of the cainp,aign will bo controlled by • a Recruiting Board, • comprising, the -.Prime .Minister, the Minister of- Defence, iiiid the Minister of Finance. : An explanation of , the organisation it is intended to employ was given by Mr. Massey. It is now intended tp bring, every x part. of the_. country under the influence of a systematic caanpaign conducted by voluntary organisers, so that a personal appeal will be made to ovcry possible recruit. 1 The organisation will be based on 'the existing system of, local government. At first every Pprough Council • and

every County Council will be asked to; organise a campaign in the ar.«a uih der its jurisdiction. As the scheme* comes fully into operation, i£ will probably be' found advisable .to distribute the work even furs^ f^c£ that road districts, arid evea p^s^ibljj school districts, will be constituted separate recruiting . areas. ThV^Go* yernment anticipates that ' ey^ry inienh her of every^ local body, will .givo active assistance in the and that each local body will' be able fo secure the services of other reprafcien- \ tative persons in its districts. ■.*.■ ■ in important feature of the scheme! is that each recruitmg centxe- will , be furnished with a list of the. men ofi military, age in its district; ' The names of all men between < the, ages of 19 and 44 years will bft shown in these lists, and opposite' each name will be an indication: . .whether the man is married' or sitigle. r Tliesfie lists will be compiled frojn.- tlie tional Register. ; Emphasis was given' by the Prime Minister to the fact that! the use of the National Register 1 in - this way does not constitute a breacli! of the 'confidence that was promised N when the census was taken. Thera. will be no means of learning from;.--the recruiting rolls? in which, wajr ai t man answered the essential questions.. . General instructions will be given ■ to the District Committees regarding the methods to be followed in securing recruits, but details of this scheme in each district will be arranged by ai : responsible committee. Every com- - mittee will be informed of the ntimber bf recruits required from its district each month, and it will be* asked to undertake the enlistment of the full quota. ■ •• v > • Although the Government has noti made any definite pronburicemeht on! the subject, Mr. Massey stated that recruits would naturally ,be. sbtight' first among independent single wen, but ij. necessary an. appeal would iSai made to married' inen. f As it js^est*-, mated that" 'there are already prpbabjijr' sufficient enlistments to fUI the l2tk Reinforcements, whicli will *"begiii training . about the , middle #f nex* month, the first object of' the scheme will be to secure . recrutts fot ;ii the ; J3th i^einforcements,^ w^ph^witt'be assembled a month later. The cant vassing of eligible men will, b^'^ontinued steadily till eyeryone^liag.peen given an opportunitj;- to staiejus v&r tentions. Aiiy man who is : unal)|e *io join the forces immediately will lie asked to say when he can dp SO}. an 3 a memorandum brh^ answ^er w|tt : fi^ - made. If the work is done t^proughly, each committee should. eyentu)giliy complete a list of ail eligiwe men. in ,-• its district who are willing to volunteer. Its duty will then be to ensure that its quota of recruits is complete eacii month by calling upon those who have promised to. enlist;, for i particular draft, and if necessary urging others to come forward earlier than they originally .proposed.' . The recruiting rolls are to ..be. the confidential property of the bommittees. They will become -a redord of the response made, £o tie appall, : the ' date on which every volunteer ehlis& ed, and the date of his dep^rttire;for the training camp. The committees will also be asked to add to .the tolls the names of any men wiiq kppeajr tb \\d\e been overlooked by . the' national registration:: . ■! V- r :' s ,'■:<■ The Recruiting-Board has: General Robin and polonel Gibbon; (Uiaei of the General. Staj^ f<jr suggestions regarding &c" scheme front -it military point of view. The ferune Minister expects that their repprt will be received within a ; week. .. T^hei pre- - paration of the. district rolls Ve9Tinvolve a considerable^"amount pf w® r^» arid the Board has >Isq . . tii , aj^qidi certain executive officfers to assjsb J&io the organisation of the scn^a&v^,; |Mr. Massey remarked that the '808- , days had undoubtedly affected the '„.■■ recruiting for the December draft, but actually not to a lenous ex^tL . There were still some^ vacancies, in % &H -speAi. siu^ Smirip pafig^ ppib-tt. as^u;-; 's^uetnaajpjuia^VTi^xT fq* •©ptAO^d o^ u^^rß^i^pnh '.-jcwg f^ipxtp\ did not anticipate, any djfficiilty in {■.. regard to the .tanuarjf .con^iggen^, and ; he had no doubt in hisn^^t^t th<? . frOverhment - would be ahlev-tS. fiend - during i 916 the full number -of. men { which it had undertaken to provide.