IMPROVED RECRUITING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15931, 31 May 1915, Page 9

IMPROVED RECRUITING.

ENGAGEMENTS BEING MET.

SEVEN .THOUSAND MEN.

UNEMPLOYED VOLUNTEERS.

Mil. GUNSON'S SUGGESTION.

Telegrams which have passed between the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, and the Minister for Defence, the Hon. J. Allen, have had the effect, of removing a mis ; understanding in connection with recruiting. The telegram sent by the Mayor to the Minister was as follows:— " There seems to exist some dissatisfacton and misconception in regard to recruiting. Will you kindly advise mo: "1. Are you receiving in response to your appeal a sufficient number of recruits? " 2. Are you in a position to forthwith accoiit any further offers? "3. Is tho statement which lias been made wfme from several quarters, that tlie authorities—while accepting recruits offeringare intimating that their service will not bo required for some time, and that in the meantime they must provide (or themselves, correct! "I think it is desirable that some definite and clear statement should bo made to the publio as far as Auckland is concerned, as such a statement is necessary in the interests of the recruiting movement itself." The Minister replied as follows"Your telegram received. I regret there should bo &ny misconception about the method of reciuiting. as this has been public for some time. In answer to your questions I havo to state:—

" 1. The greatest effort tho country has been called upon to make, apart from the main body, was for two battalions to go into camp on May 30 and the seventh reincements on June 12. OnvMay 15, when I examined the returns, the recruiting for so large a body was not entirely satisfactory, and I said so. The result has been that since May 15 recruiting improved, trod I am now of opinion that the full number for the two battalions and the seventh reinforcements will bo available at duo dates. Early in June nearly 7000 men will be in training at Trentliam. After this we have to settle down to reinforcements on the main body and the two extra battalions every two months. "2. The registration card points out that volunteers must stay in their employment till notified to attend for training in camp. Neither our organisation, nor the strength of our training staff, will permit of men coming in as they Wish and it is essential for the efficient training that men conje in as tho Defence Department can deal with them. Every two months till the end of the war we requiie a steady flow of recruits. I should be grateful to you if you would assist'us to carry out the ocheme that experience has taught us is the best and urge .upon volunteers not to give up their employment until notified to do so, This, in addition to suiting tho Defence authority. will assist in keeping industries goby."

To this the Mayor forwarded the following message" Telegram received. You state the position quite dearly, and you will remove considerable misunderstanding, but strong feeling exists here that the Government is not doing suffi-. ciont in the matter of accepting men in this district who are offering in excess of tho number of those whose services are made use of. Many men at present out of work and others who have made their private arrangements to leave immediately have not been accepted. Can anything be done to swept forthwith, particularly the former class? A, large proportion of those who have expressed willingness to enli6fc can quite suitably remain at their occupations until the authorities intimate that they aro ready for them, but a large number, as 1 indicated, might receive immediate attention from the authorities.! I commend this to your earnest consideration." j

NEW ZEALAND'S RECORD. LEAD TO OTHER DOMINIONS. , A statement on recruiting was v made by the Prime Minister yesterday. "When recruiting lias been spoken of lately," said Mr. Massey, " people have sometimes forgotten that for the last few weeks very much larger numbers than 'usual have been required, because, in addition to tho usual reinforcements, we have asked for nearly .5000 men to make up the special force that was 1 offered and accepted about a month ago. This meant a very heavy strain upon the community, but ' I have not the i slightest doubt that we shall get the full j number. As a matter of, fact, within the 'last fortnight there has been a very decided improvement, and men are coming j forward in a very, satisfactoiy manner. J The manhood of this country will do its | duty, and is doing it no\y. We have entered into engagements to send from New Zealand a certain specified number of men at definite dates as long as the. war lasts. The men will be sent. More may be wanted to go into training, and, if so, we shall ask for them, and I am confident this Dominion will not disappoint us. In the meantime, I am proud to be able to say that in proportion to its population New Zealand leads the other Dominion# in the assistance it has been able to give the Empire, and we intend to keep thai position, however long the war may last. 1 am not speaking in any boastful spirit, but just to let our people know that we are doing our duty. The Government is in touch with the Imperial authorities from' day to day, and I can assure New Zealand that all that we can do will be done. "I tfrust, and, as a matter of fact, 1 am confident that the loyalty, energy, and' enthusiasm which lias been shown up to the present will he continued until peace j is declared. Sacrifices are required, and will continue to be'required, The courage and endurance of our people are being l tested in a way that has never happened i previously, but the spirit of the British) race lias been thoroughly roused by the fiendish outrages of the Germans, and 1 nothing but the downfall of Kaiserism will satisfy them. "In the meantime, it is the duty of every young man, who is physically fit an<f who can possibly get away, to respond to the Empire's call and register with the military authorities, so that as more New Zealanders are wanted to go into camp they will be forthcoming without any difficulty. Tho reputation of New Zealanders for courage and patriotism stands high, and will be maintained."

POSITION IN AUCKLAND. OyEll 300 MEN FOR TRAINING. Recruiting in Auckland is proceeding very briskly at. the present time, and tomorrow morning over 80 men will bo examined by the medical officers. Altogether there are 302 men in Auckland who have been passed W the doctors ft? fit 'for active service, but have not yet been called upon for training. ' r;. Whenever a draft leaves Auckland fop .Trentham some _ of .the •. later recruits, accepted after the quota is made up. are warned to attend the parade. This is (

in caso vacancies have to be filled.; On Friday last, when the ; men for the two battalions left for; Trentham, 11 failed to put In an appearance," and their places were filled from the 'recruits notified to attend the parade. , ~

CIVIL SIISVIOE RECRUITS.

ENLISTMENT QUESTION.

The statements of a correspondent, published in last Thursday's Hkral», suggesting that public servants 3re not _ encouraged to enlist, lias .been the topic of discussion amongst members of the Public Service in Auckland. Inquiries were therefore instituted with the object of ascertaining the actual position. Several of the younger mep in the various Departments, while not alleging discouragement, suggested that there had been lack of encouragement, but they all admitted that early in the war the Government issued a. circular to the various Departments stating that the positions of men going to the front would be kept open for them. _ A senior, officer in one of the Departments declared that it was incorrect to say that the Government was not accepting the services of men in the Public Service. A good number of themmore than the public thought— volunteered. Ho considered it was safe to say that, taking the. service as a whole, fully one-third of the eligible • members had • offered their services. Of the men who served in Samoa, 1 15 per cent- were Government officers, (The Railway Department was the only i one in which any restriction had been I placed on the men, but it must be rememI bered in that connection that the com. I merce of the country must be carried on. i This, he considered, was as important as men going to the front. The Government allowed a certain number of railway officers to go at the outset, but was n<W declining to let more leave until the first batch returned. There were no restrictions _in the general Departments, according to the same officer. The understanding was — indeed, the instructions werethat anybody who could possibly be spared under any circumstances should Ibe allowed to go. There were Departments from which so many men had gone to the ront that if many more went it | would be difficult, if not impossible, to I carry on The officer in question thought, therefore!, there must be a limit imposed beforo long. He said that in many cases public servants were experts whose places could not well be filled. What a howl there would be from the public, for instance, if the mails were not sorted and delivered, or if the trains failed to run! There was no regulation preventing enlistment by public servants said another senior officer, the only rule in connection with the matter was that men must obtain permission to go. He had never heard of a case of a volunteer being stopped. The Government might not have actually encouraged the men to enlist, but it had never stood in the way of them doing soAs a matter of facte, the heads of Departments . were always _ pleased when they heard of young men in their offices who were joining the colours. Several men had gone from' Auckland ' branches of the service, and some had been wounded, and at least on© killed. .

This officer expressed the opinion that it might be a good--thing if the Government were to institute a recruiting campaign amongst the eligible men of the. service who had not yet volunteered. If the matter were brought more under the notice of the young men it might h&ve a good effect. None of the ■ older officers would, he thought, complain of a little extra work caused by further enlistment, though there was plenty for them to do at present.' The Prime Minister was questioned yesterday in reference to Civil Service enlistments. , Mr. , Massey explained that there had been no obstruction' so : far as he knew, but gave an instance that bore on the question. So many Applications were received from engineers of the Public Works Department to go to the front, lie stated, that it became necessary for . the Minister for Public Works to decline them, because, if :it had ■ gone on, he would not havo. had . sufficient men left to carry on the publio works of the country and keep people employed. ' / ■■ -

COALMINERS ENLISTING. RECRUITS FROM WEST COAST. [BT TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] ■ X GaEiMODTii, Saturday. An extra regiment ot men left for Trentham t'his morning. It included a number of coalminers from Blackball, also from a email mine near Reefton,- where seven out of nine left to-day. "The latter mine has been temporarily closed. The contingent also includes four brothers, a fifth being already in the Dardanelles. A notable feature of last night's farewell function was. a speech by Harold Ernest Denton, who stepped from the ranks and said that lie fought hard against compulsory military training, bat was now up .against the intrigues of [Germany and her system of conscription. They had to get out honourably. He was now going to the front voluntarily. i .1 r." 1." •-, THE SPECIAL REGIMENT. DRAFTS REACHING,: CAMP. - [BT telegraph.—press association.] Wellington, Saturday. The new battalion, which is to be known henceforth .as the Trentham Regiment (the Earl of Liverpool's Own),, commenced going into ' camp -to-day, , large drafts " arriving from various parts of the country. Further batchfcs go in tomorrow and the remainder on Monday, bringing the new units up to their full strength as battalions comprising the infantry brigade. . ; : The main New Zealand Expeditionary Force was provided by the respective districts with bands, and the hope is expressed that the Trentham Regiment will not be overlooked by the public in this respect. Two battalions can be provided with band instruments and drums for £300, which necessitates the contri- j bution ,of only £75 from each of the four i military districts.. Southland having already offered to do its share, a satisfactory responso from other districts is looked forward to; # The new battalions also requiro 32 bandsmen and 32 buglers. ARRANGEMENTS MISCARRY. AN OVERPLUS OF MEN. [BY TELEGRAPH. — ASSOCIATION.] CHRiSTCHURoa, Saturday. Twenty-eight recruits who paraded at tho barracks last evening, having been ordered to go with special reinforcements to Trentham, were told by the officer in command that, as the quota had been filled, they could not go with the force. The men had given up their occupations and said farewell to relatives, and the matter ia causing a good deal of comment. It is alleged that the blunder in due to Defence headquarters in modifying the call for men. —4— FIFTH REINFORCEMENTS. ADVANCED IN TRAINING. , [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Saturday. The fifth reinforcements have now j reached advanced stages in their training and are being thoroughly tested. The ' four infantry companies were put through a severe ordeal on Tuesday and Friday, When they were engaged in continuous "operations for 314 hours,' sleeping out' at night, making an attack at dawn during heavy rain, and putting 'in lengthy marches. They came through the ordeal r with credit, and displayed a specially fine, soldierly spirit. This morning they . were J sent • out again 'on a 14-, niuo route march. Tests for all 'arms will be • continued next week.