MORE MEN NEEDED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16645, 17 March 1916, Page 5

MORE MEN NEEDED.

GRAVE STATEMENTS IN THE LORDS. . APPEALS BY LORDS DERBY AND KITCHENER. LONDON, March 15. (Received , March 16, at 9.10 p.m.) Lord Derby, in the House of Lords, said he intended to remain at the War Office as long as he could assist Lord Kitchener. The pledge which was the foundation of the latest recruiting scheme contemplated ,some exceptions to the rule that unmarried men must serve first, hut he (Lord Derby) viewed with great anxiety the large numbers of exempted occupations. The authori* ties were now reviewing the lists of munition workers and others who had recently entered exemption occupations. The Cabinet was taking the matter so seriously that hs thought they would get the number of unmar* ried men required. The Germans wonld certainly not wait while we were putting our house in order. He had hoped in November to get sufficient young men without putting the married men into the field, but that was not accomplished. There was no pledge that married men would never be called on to fight. He considered that every man ought to do something for his country. Lord Kitchener said he > regretted that during the month his fears had been realised. The original estimate of the number of men required had been exceeded, and the deficiency of March showed that it would be neces. sary to call up more groups earlier than had been hoped. He endorsed all that Lord Derby had said. He had not any doubt that the single men who were avoiding military service would be brought in, but that would take time. In the meantime the War Office needed trained men. He hoped that any appeal that might be made to married men would not fall upon deaf ears. The attested married men should place patriotism and the national cause before everything.