NEW RECRUITING SCHEME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16577, 28 December 1915, Page 4

NEW RECRUITING SCHEME

STATEMENT BY MR MASSEY. A FULL EXPLANATION GIVEN. (Pim Umitsd Pkess Association.) AUCKLAND, December 27. "Thirty thousand recruits will be required during the coming year to fill the reinforcements for the Expeditionary Force," said the Prime Minister, when interviewed to-night. " Every month a contingent of 2500 men moist be despatched to the front. An -undertaking has been given by the Government that the reinforcements will ■ be regularly maintained. In order that thero may be no default, it has been decided to bring into operation quickly the, t scheme by which recruiting- will "be syste- •' t matically organised throughout the dominion. The main principles of tho ; scheme were announced last week. ' The conduct of the canjpaign will be controlled by a recruiting board, comprising the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence', and the Minister of Finance.!' ; An explanation of the organisation it is intended to employ was given by the Prime . Minister. It is now intended to bring every . part of the country under the influence of a systematic cathpaign'(conducted by voluntary organisers, so that a personal appeal will bo made to every possible recruit. The organi- . sation will 'be based oa the existing, system"; of local government.; At firstNevery, boroughv council and every county council; will bo asked to organise a campaign in the : area 1 under its jurisdiction, but ; a&; the scheme comes fully into operation -it; will probably be found advisable to. distribute the work ■ » even further, so that road districts and possibly, even school diltricts will be constituted separate recruiting areas. The Government anticipates, that every member of every local body will 'give' a'ctive assistance in'tffie scheme,-land that "feach local -body will be able to secure the services of other representative persons'in its'" district. An important featuro of the scheme is that each recruiting centre will be furnished with a list of men 1 of military age in its district. Tho names of all men between the ages pi 19 and 45 years" will be shown ,in the lists, : ' and opposite each name will be an indication whether the man is married or single. These lists will be compiled from the / national - register. Emphasis was tfiven by the Prime Minister to the fact that the use of the national register in this way does not constitute a breach of the confidence that was promised when, the census was taken. There will be no means of learning from tho recruiting rolls in which way a man answered the essential questions. General instructions will be given to district committees regarding the methods to be followed in securing recruits, but details - of the scheme in each district will be arranged by the responsible committee. Every committee will be 'informed of the number of recruits required from its district each month, and it will be asked to undertake the enlistment of the full quota. Though tho Government has not made any definite pronouncement on the subject, Mr Massey stated that recruits will naturally be sought first among independent single men, but. if necessary, an appeal will be made to married men. As it is estimated that there are already probably sufficient enlistments to fill the 12th Reinforce- -a ments, which will begin training about the . middle of next month, the first object of the '■ scheme will be to secure recruits-for: the' *• 13th Reinforcements, which will be assembled a month' later. The- canvassing of • eligible men will bo [ continued steadily till everyone has been given an opportunity to state his intentions. Any man' who is unable to join the forces immediately will be asked to say when he can do so, and a memorandum of his answer will be made. If tho work is done thoroughly, each committee should eventually complete a list of all .eligible men in its district who are willing to volunteer. Its duty will then be to ensure that its quota of recruits is complete each month, by calling upon those who have promised to enlist for a particular draft, and, if necessary, urging Others to come forward earlier 'than they originally promised. The recruiting rolls are to be_the confidential property of committees. They will become a record of the response mado to the appeal, tho date on which every volunteer "enlisted, and the date of his departure for the training camp. The committee? will also be asked to add to the rolls tho names of any men who appear to have been overlooked by the national registration. The recruiting board has asked General' Robin and Colonel Gibbon (Chief of the General Staff) for suggestions regarding the scheme from a military point of » view. The Prime Minister expects that their report will be received within a week. The rircnaration of district rolls will involve a considerable amount of work, and the board has also to appoint certain executive officers to assist in the organisation of the scheme. Mr Massey remarked that tho holidays '"d undoubtedly affected recruiting for the December draft, but actually not to a serious rxten'. were still some vacancies in t,ho 11th Reinforcements, but theso would b« filled durinq- this week. He did pot anticipate anv_ difficulty with regard to the January contingent, and ho had no doulit in. his mind that the Government woti'd be able to cend during 1916 tho full number of men tfhich it had undertaken to