THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1915. THE RECRUITING SYSTEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15821, 19 January 1915, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1915. THE RECRUITING SYSTEM.

The Defence Department announces that hitherto the recruiting rate has not fallen short of requirements. This is satisfactory so far as it goes, but it is not out of place at this juncture to discuss possible improvements in the recruiting system. It goes almost without saying that the number of New Zealanders anxious to go to the front will not, for a very long period, be less than the number called for, but in calling a young army into being from the ranks of a civilian population the recruiting system requires to be elastic enough to adapt itself to many varied and local conditions. Methods that would be eminently success-ful where the ratio of men required to the eligible male population is about 1 in 100 may prove a rank failure if applied where the proportion called for is nearer 1 in 10. The United Kingdom has already sent to the field at least 1 in every 250 of her population, but that proportion will be vastly exceeded in the spring. New Zealand has so far contributed more in proportion to her population than have her sister DominionsOver all forces and their reinforcements New Zealand will need to muster a very high proportion of her "serviceable" manhood. To draw this proportion it is imperative that the recruiting method should meet the men in every possible way; irritating delays, disappointments and discouraging factors of all sorts ought to be eliminated. One officer at Auckland recently expressed surprise that more men were not coming forward. In reply to that the. question may legitimately be asked: Is the recruiting system so complete that no would-be volunteer is missed ? Most people will remember that at the outbreak of war volunteers were being turned away in thousands because the quota required from each recruiting station was already filled. Was it too much to expect of the State, knowing it required very large reinforcements at frequent intervals, that it should have established concentration camps where the surplus recruits could have been accommodated until drafted into the various contingents 1

Admittedly the Defence Department's territorial staff was overworked, but there were enough trained and experienced men

amongst the volunteers and civilian population to have organised and controlled extra camps and to have carried on the foundation drill work and directed equipment at comparatively small cost to the State. It is doubtful whether such camps would have cost much more than have the spasmodic rushes which have occurred since the main force departed. Men were coming in from all parts of the country, many from- the far back blocks, anxious to enlist, and their enthusiasm was dampened by the cold, official reply that they were not wanted. Notwithstanding the object lesson during the assembly of the main —when more and more men had to be** called for after the official declaration that Auckland's quota was full to overflowing, because of shortage elsewhere or because of rejections — the same process was repeated when the second reinforcements were mobilised. It is stated that at Christmas recruits seeking enlistment at the Auckland Defence Office were told to return on January 4, after tho holidays. The. majority of these men were from the country, and how were they to be expected to wait a fortnight till January 4, paying for board and lodging, while still uncertain of acceptance ? It was repeatedly stated that the second reinforcements were complete and willing volunteers in the North were turned disappointed away, but it subsequently transpired that there were shortages in the South, notably in the Otago regiment, and fresh volunteers were called for in the North, tho Poverty Bay Squadron of the Legion of Frontiersmen coming to the rescue of the Otago regiment with 40 men. Whatever advantages the quota system may have in closely-settled countries when but one man in 200 or 300 is required, it is not applicable to New Zealand and the sooner it is dispensed with the better. The authorities would, no doubt, reply that it was the Imperial system and that it was based on our territorial system, but surely the authorities possessed men of sufficient initiative to recognise that regulations made in England do not necessarily fit colonial conditions- Our territorial system was too young, 'and the proportion of territorials in the expeditionary forces too small, to warrant the application of the principle in this Dominion.

That the quota system has recently been modified does not alter the fact that there is an evident lack of originality about the recruiting system; it does not take sufficiently into account the varied conditions of our colonial life. Many young men in the country complain that they have again and again undertaken long journeys to enlist only

to find they were too late; others write again and again without receiving any reply. A very large proportion of the soldiers is drawn from our hardy countrymen whose work is at long distances from the centres. Bushfelling, fencing, draining and much other country work is carried out on the small contract system and parties of men seeking enlistment cannot afford to wait in idleness; they have to take up contracts which occupy them and engage them for indefinite periods. These men claim, and with good reason, that tho proper method would be to have volunteers medically tested on tho day of application, and that those accepted should be at once passed into a preliminary or concentration camp. They ask why should they be expected to wait about for days until it pleases the medical officers to inspect them, when the delay means unnecessary cost to men from the country. To damp the ardour of enthusiastic and hot-tempered young men, and to discourage them by irritating and avoidable red tape rules is a great mistake- If there was less "system" and more readiness to meet the men on their own ground, and more understanding of their difficulties, we should hear a great deal less of shortages On the one hand there is the State and its recruiting system, on the other there is the great number of men able and willing to take up arms in its defence; there is evidently need of a little more, co-operation between the two. The men, for their part, have shown their willingness to do their share; it is the State, with its cut-and-dried system, its absurd officialisms, and its lack of comprehension, which is chiefly at fault.