RECRUITING SYSTEM.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17097, 21 February 1916, Page 6

RECRUITING SYSTEM.

o>"C£ more the Minister"of Defence has had brought directly under his notice the proposal that volunteers for the war should be taken into camp and placed upon the paj'-sheet upon enlistment. Tho question has so frequently been discussed that we are surprised that tho suggestion was not long ago adopted. Those citizens who have taken an active part in recruiting in Christchurch know from painful experience that a. considerable number of men have been lost owing to the waiting policy, while the defence authorities have had to complain again and again about men withdrawing after enlistment and of men failing to parade at the time fixed for going into. camp. In Wellington there have been similar experiences, and wo have this morning the report of a deputation to the Hon J. Allen on the subject. The Minister expressed his earnest desire to give all the assistance in his power. We are sure that Mr Allen said that with all sincerity; indeed, no sensible person can doubt that in the exercise of his high duties throughout the war the Minister of Defence has been concerned solely to do the best for the Dominion and the Empire. But this appreciation does not make, us agree with all the methods in vogue, and in this particular matter we think the proved facts fully warrant the step that has been urged. Mr Allen told the Wellington deputation that he could produce evidence that the Xew Zealand recruiting scheme is the soundest in tho Empire. That may be, and still leave room for improvement, because every part of the Empire has had to improvise and evolve its recruiting policy since the war began. Wo arc prepared to believe that New Zealand has not been lagging behind in this respect. Large numbers of men have been secured and trained in the Dominion and despatched to scenes of action with a degree of ; promptitude and efficiency reflecting I credit upon all concerned, and on Mr Allen in particular. But still it is not easy to see how the Minister can reconcile his praise of the Xew Zealand scheme with the undoubted fact that men are constantly slipping through the fiugers of the authorities because of the delays that arc part of the system, because men are not accepted and sworn in straight away, because of the need for local camps and because the treatment, of temporarily unfit volunteers has all along been faulty and haphazard. The principal points made by the Wellington deputation are familiar to Christchurch people, for every recruiting enthusiast here has felt the discouragement that arises out of the defects of the policy. The fact that, the loss of men is small in comparison to the numbers secured, which was Mr Allen's principal reply, docs not adequately meet the complaint, nor does it take cognisance of the other fact, that volunteers who become discouraged are likely to influence others. The Stato should endeavour to web come the man who is ready to answer* the call, and it should offer every possible inducement. As Mr Allen will be in Christchurch to-day, and has promised to investigate statements as to the number of local volunteers whose

services have been lost through weaknesses in the system, we suggest that the Citizens' Defence Corps may give the "Minister a good deal of reliable and useful information.