THE PERSONAL CANVASS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17096, 19 February 1916, Page 9

THE PERSONAL CANVASS.

TOY IT IS NECESSARY. THE NEW RECRUITING SCHEME. The following article is supplied by and inserted at the request ot the Recruiting Board: — The present allotment of quotas for the reinforcement drafts up till December, 1916, under the Recruiting Board’s scheme has boon based on the preliminary results of the National Registration figures of all classes of men of military age in each military group. It is expected that this allotment will be subject to perhaps considerable alteration, particularly when the Present figures are checked and amended as a result of the personal canvass provided for by the neav recruiting sencme. So apart altogether irom the flow ot recruits that it should bring to the enlistment office, the great value of a thorough and systematic personal appeal lies in the fact that the precise numbers furnished by it will enable the Recruiting Board to review, and, if necessary, reassess the allotment ot quotas of the several group areas on a more assured and reliable basis than is at present available. The board will thus be able, m arranging for future requirements, to give due credit to the groups which have loyally responded to tire call and supplied their full or even more than their full quota. Similarly the, board will be in a position to discriminate against the areas which have failed at any given date to send forward their proportion of men and to ask th<*o groups to supply an increased quota, for the future. It has always to be remembered, of

course, that in allotting these quotas the board will be guided not only by the number of men volunteering to serve with the Expeditionary Force, but also by the number of eligible men available as shown by the personal canvass in conjunction with the figures of the National Register. Another great advantage to be derived from tho exhaustive personal canvass, as outlined and provided for under the new recruiting scheme, is that it will supply the board with the information necessary to enable it to deal with the question of migrating population since tho National Register was taken and to adjust these fluctuations on a basis that will be equitable to each group area. But the personal canvass under the hoard’s scheme has another and still more important function. The only information that the Recruiting Board has in its possession with respect to the men of military age who are eligible for service in the Dominion is that-provided by the National Register. The accuracy of the particulars in each registration form returned to the Government Statistician was governed only by the conscience and' loyalty of the individual. There was practically no check on the man who failed to give the information directed by the National Registration Act or who deliberately refrained from doing so. The board looks to the personal canvass under the recmiitng scheme and fo the scrutiny of the local alphabetical rolls by the local authorities and' committees of each district to enable it to verify and amplify the national register, so that in the event of compulsory measures being necessary at any time the Government will be in a position (o make that compulsion operate in the fairest possible way according to the family and financial obligations of \ach man of military age. It is obvifius, therefore, that without this systematic and thorough personal canvass the unwilling will still be able to evade their duty and responsibility and will still he able to shelter behind the men who have loyally responded to the call t»f duy. It is thus in the interests of every man who has conscientiously Complied with the provisions of the •National Registration Act, and' it is doubly in the interests of every man Who has intimated his willingness to ierve. when the call comes, to see that B. complete and thorough personal canVasa of the men of military age is made from end to end of the Dominion, because, if this is not done, the willing and loval men of New Zealand may still have to carry more than their fanshare of this terrible burden even should compulsion come. It. is very evident that this aspect of the personal canvass has not been appreciated by those local authorities who are declining to co-operate with the Recruiting Board and carry out the scheme, and who are urging that compulsion, is the only fair method by which onr expeditionary forces can be maintained at full strength. Compu - sion may bo the fairest and best way of securing recruits, but a compulsion that was based on tho National Registration figures alone without the necessary check that is only to he obtained by a personal canvass over every portion of the Dominion would fail to achieve the very object that those fav- ' curing compulsion have in view. The onlv effective method by jvhich tho available information with respect to the men of military age can be satisfactorily checked in order that compulsion—should it ever come—-may be enforced on a fair and equitable basis, is by the local bodies and citizens in each* district undertaking the work of personal canvass, as they have the necessary local knowledge to enable the data as compiled from the National Register to be made as perfect as possible. Every citizen, therefore, who wishes to fill the gaps left by the men who have already paid the supreme price of patriotism, every citizen who wishes to stand by our soldiers at the front, who are waiting expectantly for help, every citizen who wishes that tha sacrifice should he made by those best able to make it, and by the unwilling as well as by the volunteer, should be prepared to help in the fullest possible degree to make this canvass a thorough and searching one. Tt will thus be seen that the personal canvass as outlined by the Recruiting Board is of the most vital importance, digit is why the board Ims nppeabcf to every local body and every publicspirited citizen to work steadfastly and whole-heartedly to ensure the success nf this scheme. This is a work that for the tiniQ being should supersede all other duties. The National Government must have a trustworthy stocktaking of its manhood of military ago, to that it may be in a position to prepare for any eventuality in iltis crisis. And who knows what the. morrow may bring forth? The Recruiting Board, therefore, urgantly appeals to every local body, to every public man, to every citizen, to give the new recruiting scheme the fullest possible support, and particularly to see that the personal canvass is in no way relaxed until an absolutely definite knowledge has been obtained of the position of every man of military Bge in New Zealand.