Northern Advocate Daily With which is incorporated the Northern Mail Daily. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1916. THE WHANGAREI QUOTA.

Northern Advocate, 3 May 1916, Page 2

Northern Advocate Daily With which is incorporated the Northern Mail Daily.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1916. THE WHANGAREI QUOTA.

Registered for transmission through

the post as a newspaper,

It is advisable in the interests o recruiting in this district to make some reference to the statement issued by th c Recruiting Board on Monday evening. In this return the related positions are given in regard to the number of enlistments for the Sixteenth Reinforcements, in the different groups and districts of the. Dominion. In the Auckland district it states the position as follows: Auckland City, Group num. ber 1, a surplus of 153 enlistments; ■Paeroa, Group number 2, a shortage of 27; Whangarei, Group number 3, a shortage of 23; Hamilton, Group number 4, a shortage of 53. These figures sent out from the Recruiting Board in Wellington on Monday nirrht, and published on Tuesday in Auckland, on the very day when the reinforcements left Auckland for camp, were very flattering to Auckland City, and conversely, they refl ?c t'd upon the other three groups in the district. If the figures were correct there would be nothing else to be don e but. to accept the fact and endeavour to make up for shortage tin- time by a surplus on the enlistments for the 17th. Reinforcements But/ unfortunately there is good reason to challenge the figures. We do not know what Group 2 will say, and have no means of knowing how far the figures for that group may be astray. But the Mayor of Hamilton has recently pointed out that the enlistments to the credit of Group 4 are more than had been announced, aiu'. in Group '.',, our own Whangarei group, we have positive information from the group office that the 16th Reinforcements quota, which left Whangarei yesterday, was three men over the required number. This is of course on paper. Three enlistments over the number had been registered, notified and scheduled for departure to camp yesterday. Some of these travelled by other routes, am 1 £om e had gone down to Auck. land earlier than yesterday. If all '-.'ho went by other routes, and all who were waiting in Auckland reported themselves as they should, then the recruits who left Whangarei yesterday would complete the quota with three men over. It may be said that the Recruiting Board issued its statement upon reports from the various districts, taken at in earlier dale, some tim e in April, when the quotas were incomplete. If that is so it is difficult to undersland the large surplus attributed to Auckland. Further, it was easy for the Hoard to obtain by wire, information right up to the day when they issued their statement, and it would have saved their statement concerning the relative positions'

throughout the rest of the Dominion from being received with considerable misgivings. If our own figures, which we know, are so far astray, how can we depend upon others?