Enlistment Age To Be Raised To 40 Years

Northern Advocate, 12 April 1940, Page 2

Enlistment Age To Be Raised To 40 Years

t Per Press Association. Copyright.! WELLINGTON, This Day. THE GOVERNMENT WAS NOW PREPARED TO ADVANCE THE AGE FOR ENLISTMENT TO 40, ANNOUNCED THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE (MR. JONES) AT THE NATIONAL RECRUITING COUNCIL MEETING IN WELLINGTON YESTERDAY. Mr. Jones said that men up to this ago would be accepted. in accordance with their position and responsibilities, single men first, married men without children, and so on. The age limit in the Great War was 19-45. but in the present conflict a start was made at 21-35, which was the Territorial limit. Officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of technical or other ability who were key men had been taken above the age ol 35.

More Even Distribution. 1 It had been suggested that the age should be extended to 45, but sthe Government was not prepared to go this far. Mi' Jones said it had been decided that if ihe advancing of the age limit was left too long, there might be too many of the older age groups in later units, and it was felt that to advance the age now to 40 would allow of an even distribution of older men among the young. A smaller unit was being formed of older men now engaged on coastal defence, and these would be replaced with men under 21. Men With Families. No one could say an endeavour was being made to build up army strength by extending the age limit, because the figures he had given of the recruiting position disproved this, said Mr Jones. Mr T. Jordan asked what was the official attitude towards the enlistment of married men. Mr Jones replied that men with up to two of a family were being taken, but not beyond this unless the recruits were officers, non-commissioned officers or key men. Financial Aid. Mr Jordan: Irrespective of their financial position Mr Jones: Yes. I would say that. Mr Jones then outlined payments made to soldiers and dependants, and added that there was the Financial Assistance Board, which gave help in respect of insurance policy payments, rent and interest to a limit of £156 a veal’. Recruiting Response. “The response with regard to recruiting compares favourably with New Zealand’s effort in 1914. in that we will complete the formation of a division and auxiliary troops inside 12 months, whereas during the last war 18 months elapsed before the same relative position was reached." said the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser). Mr Fraser expressed the opinion that the recruiting organisation had been placed on foundations which ■would result in the complete effectiveness of the campaign. 600 a Week Average. Since the last meeting of the council. recruiting had proceeded satisfactorily, registrations for service averaging just over 600 weekly. The Second Echelon was in camp complete. The strength of the Third Echelon had been increased by 1600 about six weeks ago over the figure originally intended. The position now' was as follows: Required for Third Echelon, 6615. Already in camp, 890. Fit men available to proceed to camp, 4868. Men awaiting examination, 1122, estimated to produce 875 fit men. Total, 6633. Manpower Organisation. Gn behalf of the Minister for Manpower (Mr Webb), Mr Fraser presented a report on manpower organisation. Tite Government fully appreciated the vital necessity of this country maintaining a continuity of supply of men for defence requirements. It was of the utmost importance that cases be decided at the earliest possible moment after a recruit had offered his services, in order to meet the demands of the armed forces, and to dislocate as little as possible industries where men were engaged in essential work, also to avoid delays which might deter others from offering their services. Committees to be Established. For these reasons the Central Manpower Council recommended the setting up of committees, not only for each military district, but in the more important centres, the personnel of such committees consisting of men who could be brought together frequently at short notice to deal with applications without delay.

The Cabinet now had before it the names of men submitted for 16 committees throughout the Dominion. The Government was ready to proceed with the establishment of those committees. The manpower organisation report stated that it had submitted to the Government a comprehensive report covering all phases of the problem of replacement, and action was being taken that would enable those who volunteered to be promptly accepted for service, and, at the same time, ensure that personnel was available to replace them in primary and secondary industries. Badge For Rejected Men. Reference was also made in the report to the action taken in designing a suitable badge .and formulating conditions under which it should be issued to eligible men who had enlisted. but had been rejected on account of unfitness or whose acceptance might be postponed because of the nature of their occupation. A comprehensive survey of manrow er had been commenced by the use of a suitable questionnaire submitted with the animal declaration of income for social security purposes. Preparations were in hand for the compilation of the whole of the data. As soon as the work could be done, with the steps already taken and the comprehensive information that would be secured by the survey, the Government would be in a position to plan satisfactorily for the official utilisation of all its resources to ensure' that the Dominion could play its part in the Empire war effort. Achilles Recruiting Stimulant. The Minister for Defence (Mr Jones) said that they had done exceptionally well with the recruiting campaign in every district. The return of the Achilles to New Zealand had given a wonderful opportunity of stimulating interest in recruiting. Mr Jones said that they wanted, as far as possible, to have .all men in camp in huts during the winter months. He thought they would be able to put the Third Echelon in to the new battle dress, which was now in production, and which he believed everyone was satisfied would be an improvement on the present uniform. The report of the organisation and. Publicity Committee was presented by Mr D. Wilson. Details were given in the report of the magnitude of recruiting advertising in the newspapers, and in this connection Mr Wilson expressed gratification at the promises of co-opera-tion and the assistance that had been given by the annual conference of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association at Rotorua. '