"WE WANT MEN.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3212, 6 October 1915, Page 53

"WE WANT MEN.”

LORD KITCHENER’S SPEECH. THE TIME HAS COME. (Fhoix Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 16. In his speech at the Guildhall, Lord Kitchener, for the first time, dealt fully with the problem of finding men for the armies in the field. He said: There -till remains the vital need for men to fill the ranks of our armies, and it is to emphasise this point and bring it homo to the people of this country that I have come here this afternoon. When I took up the office that I hold, I did so as a soldier, not as a. politician, and I warned my fellow-country-men that the war would bo not only arduous, but long. In one of my earliest statements, made after the beginning of the war, I said that I should require ‘ more men, and still more, until the enemy is crushed.’ I repeat that statement to-day with even greater insistence. _ All rhe reasons which led mo to think in August, 1914, that this war would be a prolonged one hold good at the present kmc. It s true we are in an immeasurably ’ better situation now than 10 months ago, but oho position to-day is at least as serious as it was then The thorough preparedness of Germany, duo to her strenuous efforts, sustained at high pressure for some _ 40 _ years, has issued in a military organisation as complex in character as it is perfect _ in machinery. Never before has any nation boon so elaborately organised for imposing her will upon the other nations of rhe world: and • her vast resources of m Harv strength arc wielded by an autocracy which is peculiarly adapted for the conduct of war. It is true that Germany’s bang preparation has enabled her to utilise lier whole resources from the very commencement of the war, while our nokoy is one of gradually increas'ng our effert v 0 forces. It might he said with truth_ that she must decrease, while we must increase. Our voluntary svstem. wh’eh. as vou weff know, has been the del'herate choice of the English pe o nle, has rendered ; t necessary that our forces in pence time should he of relatively slender dimensions. w : th a capacity for potential expansion, and we have habitually relied on t : me being allowed us to increase our armed forces during the progress of hostil’ties. EARLY DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME. “The opening of the war found us, therefore, in our normal military situation, and it- became our homed ate task —concurrently with the despatch of the first Expeditionary Force—to raise new armies, some of which have already made their presence felt at the front, and- to provide for a strong and steady stream of reinforcements to maintain our army in the field at full fighting strength. From the first there has been a satisfactory and constant flow of recruits, and the falling off in numbers recently apj parent in recruiting returns has been, I believe, in great degree duo to circumstances of a temporary character. It would bo difficult to exaggerate the value of the response that has been made to rny previous appeals; but I am here to-day to make another demand on the manhood of the country to come forward l to its defence. I was from the first unwilling to ask_ for a supply of men in excess of the equipment available for them. I hold it to bo most undesirable that soldiers keen to take their place in the field should bo thus checked, and possibly discouraged, or that the completion of this training should be hampered owing to lack of arms. We have happily now reached a period when it can be said that this drawback has been surmounted, and that the troops in training can be supplied with sufficient arms and material to turn them out as efficient soldiers. Now we are able to clothe and equip all recruits as they come in, and thus the call for men is no longer restricted by any limitations, such as the lack of material for training. It is an axiom that the larger an army is the greater is its need of an ever-swelling number of men of recruitable age to maintain it at its full strength; yet, at the very same time, the supply of those very men is automatically decreasing. The time has now come when something more is required to ensure the demands of our forces overseas being fully mot, and to enable the large reserve of men imperatively required for the proper conduct of the war to be formed and trained. The public has watched with eager interest the growth and the rapidly-acquired efficiency of the now armies, whose dimensions have already reached afigure which only a short while ago would have been considered utterly unthinkable. But there is a tendency perhaps to overlook the fact that these larger armies require still larger reserves, to make good the wastage at the front. And one cannot ignore the certainty that our requirements in this respect will be la’-ge, continuous, and persistent; for one feels that our gallant soldiers in the fighting line are beckoning, with an urgency at once imperious and pathetic, to those who remain at home to come out and play their part too. Recruit ing meetings, recruiting marches, and the unwearied labours of the recruiting officers, committees, and individuals have borne good fruit, and I look forward with confidence to such labours being continued as energetically as hitherto. ANOTHER STEP NEEDED. “ But we must go a step further, so as to attract and attach individuals who, from shyness or other causes, nave not yet yielded to their own patriotic impulses. The Government has asked Parliament to pass a Registration Bill, with the object of ascertaining how many men and women there are in the country between the ages of 15 and 65 eligible for the national service, whether in the navy or army, or for the manufacture of munitions, or to fulfil other necessary services. When this registration is completed we shall anyhow be .able to note the men between the ages of 19 and 40 not required for munition or other necessary industrial work, and therefore available, if physically lit, for the fighting lino. Steps will bo taken to approach, with a view to enlistment, all possible candidates for the army—unmarried men to be preferred before married men, as far as may be. O r course, the work of completing the registration will extend over some weeks, and meanwhile it is of vital and paramount importance that as largo a number of men as possible should press forward to enlist, so that the men’s training may bo complete when they are required for the field. What the numbers required aro likely to be it is clearly inexpedient to shout abroad. Our constant refusal

to publish either these or any other figures likely to prove useful to the enemy needs neither explanation nor apology. It is often urged that if more information were given as to the work and whereabouts of various units recruiting would bo strongly stimulated. But this is the precise information which would be of the greatest value to tire enemy, and it is agreeable to note that a German Prince m high command ruefully recorded the other day his complete ignorance as to our new armies. THE CLASSES APPEALED TO. “ There are two classes of men to whom my appeal must bo addressed: 1. Those for whom it is claimed that they are indispensable, whether for work directly associated with our military forces or for other purposes public or private; and (2) those to whom has been applied the ugly name of ‘ shirkers-’ “As regards the former, the question must bo searchingly driven home whether thenduties, however responsible and however technical, cannot in this time of stress bo adequately carried out by men unfit for active military service or by women —and here I cannot refrain from a tribute of grateful recognition to the Jarge number of women, drawn from every class and phase of life, who have come forward and placed their services unreservedly at their country’s disposal. —(Cheers.) The harvest, of course, is looming largo in many minds. It is possible that many men engaged in agriculture have so far not come forward owing to their harvest duties. This may be a good reason at the moment, but can only be accepted if they notify their names at once as certain recruits on the very day after the harvest has been gathered. Also the question of the private employment of recruitablo men for any sort of domestic service is an ac-uto one, which must bo gravely and unselfishly considered by master and man alike. There has been said much about ‘slackers’ —people, that is to say, who arc doing literally nothing to help the country. Let us by all moans avoid over-statement in this matter. Let us make every allowance for the very considerable number of men, ov and above those who arc direptly renci. ;,g their country genuine service, who an engaged indirectly in patriotic work or are occupied in really good and necessary work at home. Probably the res duum of absolute “ do-nothings ” is relatively small, or at least smaller than is commonly supposed. I want, each man to put this question to himself seriously and candidly: ‘Have f a real reason for not joining the army, or is that which I put before myself as a reason, after all only an excuse. —(Cheers.) Arc there not many special constables who, being of recruiting age, arc really qualified to undertake the Uglier service which is open to them? Granted that legally you need only go if you choose, is it not morally ‘up to you ’ to choose to go? If you are only ready to go when you are fetched, whore is the merit of that? ‘ Where is the patriotism of it? Are you only going to do your duty when the law says you must? Docs the call to duty find ‘no response in you until reinforced, let us say superseded, by the call of oom.puls : onV It -s not for me to tell you your duty; that is a matter for your conscience. But make up your minds, and do so quickly Don’t delay to take your decision, and, having taken it, to act upon it at once. Be honest with yourself. Bo certain that your so-called reason is not a selfish excuse.’ Bo sure that hereafter, when you look back upon to-day and its call to duty, you do not have cause, perhaps bitter oanse, to. confess to your conscience that you shirked vour duty to vour country, and sheltered yourself under a mere excuse. It has been well said that in every man’s life there is one supreme hour towards winch all earlier experience moves, and from which all future results may be reckoned. For every individual Br'ton, as well as for our national existence, that solemn hour is now striking. Let us take heed to the great opnortunity it offers, and which most assuredly we” must grasp now and at once—or never. Let each man of us see that wo spare nothing, shirk nothing, shrink from nothing, if only wo may lend our full weight in the impetus which will carry to victory the cause of our honour and of our freedom.” — (Loud cheers.)