RECRUITING SCHEME.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17097, 21 February 1916, Page 8

RECRUITING SCHEME.

LISTS OF MEN BEING POSTED TO LOCAL BODIES. Referring yesterday to the new recruiting scheme the Hon James Allen, Minister of Defence, said that it soon would be in full working order, and recruits would have an opportunity to enlist for a definite date in the " A '' list, or for an indefinite, date, in the "D" list. Lists of men of military age were being posted to local bodies and to other organisations, and the whole scheme had been placed on its feet.

CENTR AL COMMITTEES. THE OFFICIAL VIEW. [From Ocr Correspondent. J WELLINGTON.. February 19. The question has been raised, particularly in Cbristchurch, where au active ceutral recruiting organisation has long been at work, that under the new scheme there should be a central committee to more or less supervise and control the activities of the recruiting committees organised by the. different local authorities in their respective d's-

tricts within a given area. It is urged that by this means continuity of policy and co-ordination of effort will be secured, and that a certain amount of overlapping, which is not looked upon as a disadvantage in recruiting work, will result. Tlie Recruiting Board has considered this matter, but has come to the conclusion that it would not be desirable to lay down a hard- and fast rule owing to varying local conditions throughout the. Dominion, aud has expressed the opinion that the decision to act through a central organisation is one that. should be left" to the discretion of districts which are more or less closely related geographically, and between which there is community of interest, find ample and rapid means of communication. The board has found it necessary, in the initial stages of tho movement, to communicate directly with each local body, for whose district a local alphabetical roll of the names of the men of military age is being prepared, and it is felt that greater efficiency and a minimum of friction will result if the recruiting committees, espeeiallv in isolated districts, continue to deal'directly with the Recruiting Board.

No doubt it will be found necessary, a; the scheme develops, for adjoining local bodies to consult from time to time with respect to the names of men which appear on the wrong roll, and to ensure "tho transfer of all such names to their proper roil, and a central committee, in many portions of the Dominion, might be a very convenient 'method of carrying out this work of checking and correcting the rolls. It should always bo remembored; however, that a cardinal feature of the new scheme is the formation of recruiting committees, or sub-committees, in each district, composed of members representing all the different trades, professions and interests, in order to ensure that the direct appeal to every possible recruit is made by the person likely to have the greatest influence over him.

DEPUTATION TO THE MINISTER. WELLINGTON" SUGGESTIONS. As the result of the Wellington City Recruiting Committers meeting on Friday evening, a deputation consisting of the Mayor (Mr J. P. Luke), Dr Newman. M.P., and Captain Barclay (recruiting officer) waited upon the Minister of Defence on Saturday, says the. "Post."

The Mayor said there was a feeling that they could not do very much in the way of recruiting until the badges which the Government intend' issuing were served out, because they might be asking men to enlist who had returned and were in civilian clothes, or men who had been exempted for various reasons, and it would' not be pleasant. The. Mayor also asked if there could not be some system devised by which a man. as soon as he signed a recruiting card as a recruit, could' bo held to his obligation. He cited the practice at Home under which a man took the King's shilling. The Minister: That is not the system of recruiting Kitchener's Army. The Mayor: I am speaking of the regular Army. The Minister: That is another thing. The Mayor quoted instances given at the meeting last evening of seventeen men who had signed recruiting cards at a meeting, and only two had turned up. Another matter mentioned by the Mayor was the difficulty of having men on their hands who had come to town' exoectins to be called up for drafts ami had"not been. Employment must be found for them. Would it not bo possible to put them into concentration camps? Captain Barclay said he would' give specific instances to the Minister of fourteen men who had come. down from the country fullv expecting to bo called up, and who "were "told that they would have to wait- until the next lot of recruits went into camp. Some of them were for the infantry. Speaking roughly, fifty men had been lost in Wellington because they had not been sworn in right away and sent into camp. Dr Newman emphasised these matters, and said the papers frequently mentioned that a lot of men did not come up when caled upon.. Another complaint was that men were asked to go to the South Island and enlist if they desired to enter one of the southern divisions with their friends, and he could not see why they could not be enrolled here and' their papers sent south. Dr Newman further urged that if the Government would make an announcement that next session they -would have the War Pensions Act altered so as to give pensions by right to dependents, it- would have an enormous effect, upon recruiting. n THE MINISTER'S REPLY.

The. Minister, in reply, expressed his earnest desire to do all he could to help in these matters. Li regard to badges, they were now in course of manufacture, and would he ready for issue next week. He could see, a certain amount of difficulty ahead in the distribution of the badges- There wffUld' be no difficulty in tracing the returned soldiers, nor those who had already enlisted and were ready for service, but the exempted men would not be so easy to find. They would want the help of the local recruiting committees in this matter. As to the securins of all men who signed the attestation cards, the scheme we had here was the one adonted in regard to Kitchener's Army, fie was perfectly certain he could produce evidence that the recruiting system we had here was the soundest in the British Empire, and that other portions of the Empire had adopted it. Captain Barclay's own statement that only forty or 'fiftv men. out of. the 2000 or 3COO enrolled in Wellington, could not be found, was evidence of the soundness of our scheme: and' those few men. aUo. might have meanwhile enlisted elsewhere". Tf a man was enlisted immediately he put his name down, the Government would be morally bound to eniplov him or pay him Is a day, the soldier'='allowance. Some men who signed and-then did not. bother to answer the call would never be reachec' except under a scheme of compulsion Mr Allen also impressed upon the deputation the responsibility there was to the industries of the country to keep men employed until called upon to go into camp. , • ' Captain Barclay said that there were oases in which a man's recruiting papers had been sent to the head office, and some time after that man had turned up and asked when he was gome; to be called upon to go to camp. Inquiry had' been made, and the Department had said they could not find the man's papers. If those papers were lost, it meant a. second medical examination and second doctor's fees. The Minister asked tor details ot such cases, and upon Captain Barclay agreeing to supply them he said he would have the matter looked into. Mr Mien continued that under the new recruiting scheme men would put their names down for specific reinforcements, or agree to be called up at fourteen davs'^notice. They would then know when thev would be called upon, and this would avoid the present trouble of having men waiting about. He said that if there were men for the infantry waitinc about he would' send them into camp right away. If they came from other districts they could enlist hero for tbos« districts. He would also stop the practice of sending men elsewhere to enlist with other battalions if it was croing on. A man's papers could be font on instead. He would relieve that trouble. The Minister also said that when in Canterbury he would inquire

and see if the statement was correct that out of ?50 men who had passed the doctor at Christ-church 170 were missing when called' up. He found the statement hard to believe.