MEN NEEDED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 22 December 1938, Page 4

MEN NEEDED

DEFENCE SERVICE APPEAL TO EMPLOYERS ENCOURAGING RECRUITS I United Press Association I WELLINGTON, 20th December. An appeal to employers to encourage employees to attend camps is made by the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., president of the New Zealand Defence League. “Another Christmas is almost upon us and the world is racked with anxiety for the future,” says Mr Perry. “Prominent statesmen in Britain have j strongly emphasised the necessity of strengthening the defence force of all arms, and the question of universal national service is rapidly becoming a very live issue. “Since 1936 the New Zealand Defence League has been endeavouring to create a public opinion in New Zealand tn favour of adequate defence forces. It has emphasised in plain terms the dangers which confront us in the near, not distant, future. People have been and still are apathetic. After the crisis in September one would have expected an influx of members to the league and a rush of recruits to the territorial forces. Neither of these things has happened. COMPULSORY TRAINING “In spite of the crisis and in spite of the commendable efforts of the Army Department, the territorial forces are still below establishment,” the appeal continues. “The league, therefore, is forced to the conclusion that the best means of achieving its objects is to advocate the adoption of a form of compulsory military training, beginning with three months' continuous recruit training by all youths over the age of 18, followed by four years’ training in the territorials, and also the establishment of a national register of the whole population in readiness for an emergency.

“The need for trained men is urgent and grave. The British Commonwealth of Nations may be fighting for existence within the next six months. We shall then find that what is needed in war is soldiers, not recruits, and what is also needed is a civilian population prepared and trained to defend itself at home. Let it not be thought, however, that because it advocates compulsion the league is opposed to the voluntary system. Its only concern is to get trained men in time, so that if war should come it will be war and not massacre. It matters not whether men are obtained by the voluntary S3 r stem or by compulsion, so long as they are obtained. DUTY TO THE COUNTRY “Until such time as compulsion is introduced the league exhorts all employers to encourage their employees who are eligible for service to join the territorial forces,” says Mr Perry. “The vital part of the territorial annual training comes in the next three months, when annual camps will be held. If the 8500 young men who are carrying out a public duty by serving in the territorial units are to be reasonably efficient they must be given every opportunity to attend the annual camp of their unit. Let the suggestion that employees should attend camps come from employers themselves. Let the young men respond to the suggestion. Let them realise that by so doing they are performing their duty to their country and improving themselves mentally and physically. “The peoples of totalitarian States are making sacrifices in time of peace which we should almost hesitate to make in time of war. If our people, who enjoy such a high standard of living, are hot prepared to make sacrifices in time of peace so as to be prepared for war when it comes, they may one day be bitterly disillusioned.”