CALL FOR RECRUITS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16169, 4 March 1916, Page 9

CALL FOR RECRUITS.

. CAMPAIGN BEGINS TO-DA NO PERSONAL CANVASS. APPEAL BY LETTER. The recruiting campaign in tho city w be inaugurated this evening, when t central station, in Victoria Street, will opened under the control of tho civic ai the military authorities. The rccruitii I officers will be in attendance from 7. * p.m. until 9 p.m., and during next iwe throughout tho day and evening till i. latter hour. The erection of tho building to which I recruiting activities of the city are to, transferred has been expedited by the ci engineer, and will be completed this afte noon. The staff from tho Defence Offic under Captain Rust, and that from tl Town Hallj under Mr. G. R. Hogan, w commence their duties there this evenin Final arrangements for the opening of tl campaign will be made this morning 1 the Mayor, after a further conference wii Colonel Hume. Mr. Gunson stated yeste day thai probably arrangements will 1 made for speakers to deliver address, from the front of the recruiting static As this will be the first opportunity I take advantage of the new facilit : es" f< recruiting, Mr. Gunson said ho hoped thei would be from tho outset a good responf by .men eligible for service who have m yet enlisted. Returned soldiers who. are willing 1 act as recruiting sergeants at this evening meeting have been invited to meet Colon Hume at the Drill Hall this morning I receive instructions and badges. Circular to Eligible Men. The City Committee has decided not t make a personal canvass of the men whoa names appear on the roll. It will, ii stead, send to each ono of them a lette containing a few pertinent questions with a form and a stamped envelope fo the reply. Tho preparation of thi individual appeal to about 10,000 men wii be the first work of the committee, an it is expected that the letters will al ba posted by the middle of next week Mr. Gunson explained that tho committe had decided not to uso tho canvassin cards supplied by the Recruiting Boar, as it considered the large number, o questions made the card much too cumber some for the purpose. The committe unanimously adopted the system of appea by letter in preference to the persona canvass, and it hoped that all concern*! would co-operate with the committee s that the replies would give an accurat indication of the city's attitude to th i needs of the times. '"It is clearly the desire of the Gov evnment to maintain the voluntary syster, if possible," said Mr. Gunson, ,! and, a there is so much to commend it, it i worth an effort to save it. The Govern ment, having asked for tho support of th local bodies, their assistance must bo givoi wholeheartedly or else not at all. am that is why the City Committee is takinj up tho matter to the best of its abilitv Obviously, if failure is the only resiil of its efforts, conscript methods "must b adopted forthwith." Recruiting posters will be displayed a the central station and hung above Queei Street at several points. Advantage i also to be taken of the services of militar; bands, and parades of boy scouts wii also be arranged as a means towards th. concentration of public attention on th recruiting question. Rolls from National Register. A statement was made by the Prim Minister when the new scheme was beinj devised that the lists for the re cruiting committees would bo compile, from the national register, and that all th of the men who returned card would be included without any indicatio of the manner is. which the essential que; tion of the register had been answered, t suggestion has been made that the roll issued to the district committees do nc include names which should appear i them. An inquiry on this point was mad by the Mayor, and yesterday he received a assurance from the Minister for Defenc that the names of all those of militar age who had responded to the nation; register have been distributed among th district rolls. Mr. Gunson added that tli roll furnished to the citv committee j strictly confidential, and will be s treated. a FOURTEENTH REINFORCEMENTS, DEPARTURE FOR CAMP. Tho decision of the authorities at We lington to allow men deferred on accour of defective teeth to proceed to cam with the Auckland draft of the fourteent reinforcements has practically permitte the quota to leave for the various trainin camps on Tuesday at full strength. Thei are over 100 men on the deferred lit otherwise physically fit who may now g South on Tuesday if they so desire. The arrangements for the despatch ( the Auckland district quota of men f( the fourteenth reinforcements and pr< bationaiy non-commissioned officers o Tuesday have now been made. A mounted rifles and Army Service corps wi proceed to Featherston, via Woodville, the mid-day Main Trunk train, and tl artillery, engineers, signal service, and ii fantry will proceed to Trentham by special train, timed to leave Auckland r 2.60 p.m. A draft of infantry from Win ngarei will proceed to Trentham by tl: evening .express train. The railway st; tion platform will be closed to the publ; from 1.30 p.m. until after the troops fr the special train have marched into th carriages and deposited their baggage. Tho officers for the sixteenth rcinforci ments are not required to report at cam until March 7. , • QUESTION OF CONSCRIPTION. . ROAD BOARD'S ATTITUDE. LETTER FROM PRIME MINISTER Following upon tho resolution recontl passed by the One-tree Hill Road Boar favouring the adoption of conscription a the one adequate method of solving th present difficulty in obtaining the neces sary number of recruits, a letter in repl from the Prime Minister, the Hon. W F. Massey, in his capacity as chairma of the Recruiting Board,, was read b last, night's meeting of the local bod concerned. Tho full text of the letter is as fo lows ; _"T have received your letter c the 22nd inst., and note the opinion c the members of your board with respec to compulsion. The Recruiting Board car not help thinking that in many cases con pulsion is being urged without due though and consideration being given to all th issues involved in this most momentoi: question. I can assure you this matte has been carefully considered by th National Government, and that thei were weighty reasons which influence Cabinet in ' deciding to continue tli voluntary system of enlistment. It board therefore, feels that it is entitle to ask the citizens of the Dominion 1 subordinate for tho time being the: own opinions, and to loyally accer its judgment in regard to th matter. The scheme > outlined i the board's communication is the onitcon of much thought and care, and it has bet adopted as the best means of thorough] i testing the voluntary system, and.of ei I ablins the country to discharge its fu l obligations in this great struggle. * Tl board is very gratified at the ready r sponse which has been made to its appe for help, and is confident that given tl active and sympathetic help and co-oper tion of puhlio uodies and citizens gene

ally, this Dominion will bo able to do all that it is pledged to do without any resort to compulsion." i The chairman, Mr. H. B. Morton, said that it was a regrettable fact that he had • been absent from the meeting of the board at ■which the resolution referred to had been carried. He thought that the board had made up its mind without due consideration of tlio matter. Though little was to be hoped for from the present voluntary system, lie-opposed the resolution favouring conscription, oil the ground that it would have a bad moral offoet on the community. The board, in his opinion, might have lent a more sympathetic ear 1 to the request of the Recruiting Board. 3 Mr. T. H. Row© said that members objected to asking other men to go and . fight for them. 1 Mr. 11. Dobbie admitted that more con- ', sideration might have been given to the ) matter, beforo sending such a direct do- ; nial to the board's request. Ultimately, on the motion of the chairman, uuessrs. Morton, Rove, and Dobbie were deputed to meet members of the ' Epsom Road Board in reference to this ) question on Tuesday evening nest. • TRAINING IN TRENCH WARFARE. > 1 HUMOUR OF " BOMB "-THROWING. The ninth reinforcements were the first ( New Zealand troop* to be trained in trench warfare, their instructor being 1 Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonald, who is the infantry instructor in the camps. With , the arrival of Major Sleeman, of the . Imperial Army, who has' fought in Flanders, the course was extended, and the tenth infantry reinforcements have ' been pretty well trained in trench warfare. This form of fighting is intensely interesting to tho men. The training includes the manning and relieving of trenches, trench drill by night, methods of improving a trench after occupation, the work of bombing parties, throwing bombs, and adjusting fuses, is also included, together with the attack and capture of enemy trenches, involving the passing of our own and the enemy's wire entanglements. After seeing the troops nimbly leaving their deep trenches, Major Sleeman expressed the opinion that they wore exceedingly smart soldiers. A full description of the work gone through cannot be given, as the details aro not for publication. There were, however, some humorous incidents when the tenths began their training. Stones were used as dummy bombs, and the delight shown in throwing these was almost boyish. One of the bombs fell short, having slipped from the thrower's j band. It rolled back towards the trench, i and a soldier said to a comrade: " Look out, Scotty! She'll blow your; head off." | "What'll I do?" asked Scotty. " Expectorate on the fuse," was the quick reply. Scotty was nonplussed, and presently remarked that ho hadn't an l expectorate". . COMPULSORY SERVICE URGED. MACKENZIE COUNTY RESOLUTION. [by. telegraph.—press ASSOCIATION.] Timaiht, Friday. The Mackenzie County Council, at a meeting to-day, passed the following re- ' solution by three to two: "That this coun-! cil does not see itß way to support tho I present scheme of recruiting, and urges the Government to adopt compulsory service at once." , I KING COUNTRY CONFERENCE. OTOROHANGA REPRESENTED. [M TELEGRAM.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Otorohaxga, Friday. At a meeting of the Patriotic Committee, held last night, it was decided to be represented at the King Country Conference, |to stimulate recruiting at To Kuiti on 'Wednesday next. The committee favours iconscription, but will assist in all ..voluntary methods. MEDICAL EXAMINATION. TWENTY RECRUITS ACCEPTED. A medical examination of recruits for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was held at the Drill Hall yesterday. ThirtyI seven men were examined, twenty were i accepted, nino were deferred, and eight [were rejected as unfit. The names of the ' men accepted are as follows :— Herbt. S. Akeratein, Federal Street. John W. Brain, Edendale. Wm. J. Doran, Waverley Street. Jas. Duff, Grey Street. Jos. B. Furness, Glenmore. Norman Grassick, Onehunga. Wm. S. Griffiths, Grange rioad. Henry Hawkins, Brooks Square. Thos. H. Hulme, Green Lane. Jas. Kennedy, care of C.P.O. Malcolm K. Law, Clonburn Road. J. L. Lloyd, Cardwell Street, Onehunga.' Jas. M. Lynch, Bellvue Road. Robt. Malum, Eden Terrace. Daniel McKenzie, Manukau Road. John Morton, Box 751, C.P.O. Albert R. Quintal, Constitution Hill. A. M. Smith, Arcadia Road, Epsom, I Gordon Sparks, Dominion Road. I Frank H. Stainton, Mount Roskill.