SOLDIER'S CHANCE.

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 62, 14 March 1916, Page 2

SOLDIER'S CHANCE.

OF RETURNING HOME.

AT LEAST NINE TO ONE.

WHAT THE FIGURES SHOW. A popular form of recruiting speech is to tell the eligibles what a glorious | tiling it is to die for one's country. So it is. But while this appeals ■to j one section of Now Zealand's manhood—the men, perhaps, who have already gone or are in training— there is another section, mostly those left behind, to whom that form of -argument does not make the same ap- , peal. They are largely men with greater personal responsibilities or ot a. more calculating turn of mind. What they want "to hear is not sojj much about what a splendid thing 11H js to die fighting on the field of honor., j but what are the chances, if they go, of coming back again. The question is? one that should be answered! by re* j cruiting speakers with no small effect, a?, the chances of men returning home are many times greater than of ending their days on the European battle- j fields. UNTACTFUL RECRUITING SPEAKERS." A writer in the Canadian Military Gazette (14th December, 1915,) puts the position very aptly when he states:— "The writer has heard a great many recruiting speeches and has reached the conclusion that too many of them are untactful and* inadequate for the purpose intended. - The object is to get men—no one will question that basic statement—and the arguments used should look to that end only. The dulce-et-d'ecorum-est-pro-patria-raori appeal has been worked to death, not wishing to pun. "No doubfy it is fsweet and proper toOj for one's native land to die' if one must die at all, but the healthy man does not wish to die, he wishes to live-, with a goqd robust healthy longing. Native land is a. big wide term, covering home and family and" nation, and if on© must cross the dark river, no better reason could -be found, but—we will n6t further, elp;horate the argument. Another thing, it is only to the better educated portion of our people that high, moral .appeals' can effectively be made, and from this source the stream .has been steady and great. "We must look for our main supply hereafter to those, who have not been brought up on high ideals, but who, like Topsy, have 'jusi/ growed.' _To suggest to such as these that,enlistment means almost certain death is a fatal mistake. Yet there are some so untactful as to do so. One speaker striving earnestly to secure recruits for the 77th Regiment spoke somewhat as follows:—'Come and join, boys, we need you all. We need thousands, for you must remember than on an average a man lasts only about three days after he reaches the tienches.' His remarks did not invoke enthusiasm, nor was the recruiting office overcrowded immediately thereafter*' His statement was-not fven true, though no doubt he made \t in good • faith. It was very far from the fact. CANADIAN'S CHANCES NINE TO ONE. "A good recruiting speaker must convince his audience that the man is not almost sure to lose his life, but that he is almost sure to come back. Nor is such a line of argument dishonest. To mislead on such a serious subject would be jrorse than criminal, but statistics to date bear out the happy prospect. "Up to the 15th October, the writer has no later statistics, Canada has sent overseas 96,000 men, and of these only 3453 had rendered up their lives. True, not all of the 96.000 had been in action, but all had been subject to the attacks of disease and tho dangers of transportation. It is safe to say that fully 60,000 had been actually under fire, and we know that in the earlier stages of the war casualties were more numerous than now. partly because the very useful art of taking care .of one's self was then but imperfectly understood. It will be seeii that the deaths from tho %,000 were a little less than three hi tho hundred. If we make very liberal allowance for the fact that we have* not been engaged, and for the continuance of the war for another year or eighteen months, it would seem fair to conclude that out of, every ten men who go to the war, nine \yill come back, not all unwound■erl, of course, but with their lives. There are few men whose courage is not equal to taking a chance like, that, and they should be instructed , along these lines. OTTAWA'S LOSS NOT TWO A MONTH. "The average is the thing to insist on. There are cases where a platoon or even a larger body has got into an exceptionally hot spot, and been nearly wiped out, but there are others, far more numerous, where whole platoons aro practically still intact, ,so far us actual deaths go—the one must be considered wjtli the other, and a "ism's chance estimated on the <vhole. Ottawa has sent hundreds__and_hiin ! -^

dreds of men to the front, beginning with the first contingent, and her soldier boys have been in all the heavy fighting, yet up to 15th October only 27 had actually perished, not two a month sine? the outbreak of war. Let' recruiting speakers emphasise such facts, and they will.get the men. More than that, they, will bring comfort .to many a, tortured mother, who has looked upon her boy's going away as almost synonyraocis with his death." NEW ZEALAND'S EXPERIENCE. The same 'arguments . may be applied with equal force to New Zealand1. Up to date we have sent 36,0UU troops to the front. Out of these we have suffered 2700 -deaths from all causes, including 130 missing who may still be alive. In other words, tho deaths have only totalled three out of every forty men sent, or 7.5 per cent. This, however, has inchided a considerable period of inactivity --trie rest at Mudros after the August offensive and in Egypt after the evacuation of Anzac. A truer percentage is therefore found in the actual number of New Zealand troops engaged up to and including the evacuation of Anzac. 'This, including the 6th Reinforcements, was about 20,000. But some of these 270U deaths occurred after the evacuation in December through disease and fighting in North-West Egypt, in which other troops later than the 6th Reinforcements were engaged. Including these in the 20,000, the proportion of deaths therefore among the New Zealand troops engaged on Gallipoli was 27 in every 200, or 13,5 per cent. Thus, every man who landed at Anzac, where some of the severest fighting in tho whole war was experienced, had six chances and ahalf to one of getting back alive. It is not likely, however, that the proportion of losses sustained by New Zealand should even be as heavy again, which means that every man enlisting now will have an even better chance of returning. What man is there who would not take, a six and a-half to one chance against being killed himself in order to defeat the Germans, with all that such a victory would mean? He is a poor sport who would not take such a. chance. He ? is certainly not playing the .game with his fellow-men, least of all with his own women folk,, whom it is his duty to protect.— Post. .. _>___________ ■■•/■■■■'