MUNICIPAL RECRUITING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 868, 21 November 1916, Page 2

MUNICIPAL RECRUITING.

CR McCOMBS'S SCHEME. REJECTED BY CITY COUNCIL. A RECOMMENDATION TO THE GOVERNMENT. The Christ church City Council last evening rejected, after considerable discussion, a modification of the proposal put forward by Cr J. McCombs. M.P., lo the effect that the council undertake to engage 50 physically tit men, prepared to go lo the front, these men to receive the same wages allowance as the lowest paid council employees who have enlisted, viz., £2 18/- a week, The council, however, passed a resolution urging the Government lo make provision for men who have financial obligations.

SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT

The Special Committee thai had been appointed in connection with Cr McCombsV proposal reported that it would involve an expenditure of £3748 per annum, equal to about 2.8 per cent, on the present total rales. A rate of one-sixth of a penny on unimproved value or onefourteenth of a penny on capital value wtnild find the money. As a question of policy was involved, the committee had no recommendation to make. The committee was of opinion that it was the duly of the Stale to make more adequate provision for all soldiers serving al the front. To October 31 the city council had already paid £IO3B 15/8 to supplement military pay to its employees.

Cr J. Reynolds took exception to Ihe inclusion of the word "more" before "adequate provision" in the report. In view of the economic position he did not think that phrase was justified. The Government was doing all it could be expected lo do. lie moved that the word be deleted. The Mayor was surprised at tiie word being there. It was not in the committee's resolution, nor in the draft of Ihc report. With regard to the percentage of rales required to cover the cost of the proposal, he pointed out thai the council collected rates for the Drainage Board, Hospital Board, etc. Twenty-five per cent, of the total rates collected by the council belonged to other bodies.

Cr McCombs said the word "more" had been put in while the Mayor was supervising the drafting of the report, and the only member of the Special Committee who had demurred to it at all, when it was read out to the committee, was Cr Reynolds.

After further discussion as to how that word "more" crept into the report, in which Cr Burgoyne stated that he would have no compunction in treading upon the Governmentlie would tread upon it every time until it rose lo the occasion—the council deleted the controversial word. The report was then adopted.

WHAT HAD BEEN DONE. Later in Ihe meeting, when the council arrived at the item "new business" on the order paper, Cr McCombs put his proposition before the council for decision. He drew attention lo what the council and the ratepayers of Christehurch had already done lo encourage voluntary enlistments amongst the council employees. The council's policy had been lo make up the military pay to ihe amount each employee was receiving in his civil capacity (as an employee of the council), the Sunday pay and the separation allowance not being computed. How unexpectedly successful this policy had been from a recruiting point of view was evidenced by the fact that, before the half year was up, the expenditure under this head had exceeded the estimate for the whole financial year, and at the end of seven months the council had spent £IO3B to supplement military pay. The estimate for Ihe whole year was £756, but the present rale of expenditure exceeded £2OOO per annum, or three times the estimate.

lii asking for an extension of aj policy which the council had already' endorsed, and which had proved eminently successful from a recruiting point of view, continued Cr McCombs, lie was but asking that the privileges now enjoyed by some of ’ the soldiers and their dependents! should be extended to others in orderj to enable them to enlist. He had not | asked that those 50 men should bc| put on exactly the same footing as' the present council employees and he j paid the full amount which they were; receiving in their civil employment,j regardless of what that amount was. All that he proposed was that the whole of the citizens should help to share the financial burden of 50 soldiers by guaranteeing to them not less than that given to the lowestpaid council employee who had enlisted and gone to the front. It might be urged that there was an element of unfairness in giving one soldier 1 more than another, but he could say I that the council had already committed itself to the policy, the partial | extension of which he was pleading ; for, and the remedy, to his mind, was to level up and not to level down, i It would he quite possible for the ! Government to make the proposed

• ■\iin payments to ;ill the soldier:; by merely taking a larger share of the war profits to meet the war eost, and he thoroughly agreed that it was primarily the duty of the Government to make allowances to the soldiers and their dependents. But it was within the power of the municipalities lo help in the direction he had indicated. POSITION OF MARRIED MEN. The cost lo the ratepayers lor 50 men would be only one-fourteenth of a penny in the pound on capital value, and it was surely not too much to ask that the citizens whose property was being protected should spare one-fourteenth of a penny out of every pound for that protection. One penny in the pound would provide 700 men, or 50 recruits for 11 reinforcements. Allowing for rejections and exemptions, we were easily within live months of calling on the Second Division of the reserves (the married men), and we were already pressing very heavily on single men who, while not lacking in patriotism, had been held back by lies of responsibility that could not be ignored.

"it was surely up lo the people therefore," the speaker continued, "to do something to more fully share the responsibilities of the fit men who go to the front. We should see to it that the dependents of the single men, and the wives and children of the married men who were fit, and who enlisted, were no worse oil' financially than the wives and children of those of us who, for various reasons, remained behind. Al least, we should see to it that they were no worse off than the dependents of the lowest paid council employees who had gone to the front. He realised that the Christehurch City Council could not do all that should be done, but it could help to do its share and set an example to Ihe rest of New Zealand. A good deal was heard about equality of sacrifice and the distribution of the burden, and it was time that something was done to show sincerity. It was in no sp : ril of bargaining that he asked the coi.neil lo help to "make it possible for married and single men with responsibilities to offer I heir services as volunteers. It was easier, and in the long run cheaper, to make a good soldier out of a willing and enthusiastic volunteer than it was to make a good soldier out of an unwilling conscript. Like the Australian democracy we might have our differences of opinion regarding conscription, but we were at least all agreed on this: that we should be prepared to make all necessary sacrifices to bring this war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion, and we should endeavour to distribute those sacrifices equally over the community."

After quoting, at considerable ! length, from the writings of an J American professor on what had been done in America at the time of the Civil War. Cr McCombs said lie had talked over his proposition with a number of prominent men in the city, and he now offered this compromise: "That the Council engage as employees 25 physically fit men who are prepared to go to the front, and undertake to make up their military pay, including Sunday pay, to £3 a week." . Cr Reynolds: What pay did the United States Government give to its soldiers. Cr McCombs: I can't tell you. Cr Reynolds: Well, that may make all the difference. Cr W. H. Cooper raised a point of order, that the motion had been brought forward without notice. On the Mayor's suggestion, the Council suspended its standing orders, so as to dispose of the question without deferring it. LABOUR'S ATTITUDE. Cr D. G. Sullivan said he did not anticipate that Cr McCombs's motion was going to be carried, but he would second it because he wanted it discussed. A great deal of very severe criticism had been levelled at Cr McCombs in this matter, under cover of which there had been very bitter attacks on the party with I which he was associated. He appreciated very keenly the impartial, from the attitude. The principle non-Labour members of the special committee which had dealt with this matter, they had tried to ascertain all the facts of the position. The I fact that they were unable to agree i with the proposal did not detract from that attitude. The principle I accepted by the special committee I was that no man who enlisted should j he asked to suffer monetary loss in | addition to risking his life, lie bej lieved that an overwhelming majorI ily of the men who had not enlisted, I had been influenced, not by personal considerations, but by the duty they I | owed io their dependents. Anything J that was going to help these men out j of their financial difficulties was go- i ing to help recruiting. When it! came to a question of selling wool, a | cry arose that the nation had no ! right to take the wool at its own | price—that the right price to pay was that demanded by the wool-owners. ! But when it came to a question of the 'wage for military service, it was! [said that the men who brought for- • J ward that suggestion were shirkers. ,|He did not believe that the public I would be fooled by a philosophy of .that kind. If a man had to give 'jmilitary service at the price fixed by j the nation, then the man who had wool should also give it at a price fixed by the nation. He knew that ■Jibe payment of 25 men would be but a drop in the ocean, but he believed that it would help to induce the Go- ' vernment to make more adequate '! provision. - Cr Reynolds could not see how a 1 man who was earning t'2 18/10 a 51 week was making any iinancial sacri- > lice. lie was offering the supreme . sacrifice, as every man at the front 1 was, but he was not making any I iinancial sacrifice. The » men who : \ were doing that were those who had . been earning, say, from ,1300 to ; j;l(J00 a year, and who had enlisted. 11l was impossible to carry out fully 'the principle that no man should be l j allowed to make any financial sacriIjlice; the country would soon be ' I bankrupt if that were done. Cr J. McCullough said that no man ( had a right to say that voluntaryism j had failed until every legitimate , means had been tried to gather in \ the men to light for their country. > lie went on to argue along the lines "of adequate remuneration for ser"\vices rendered. J RATEPAYERS' OBJECTIONS. I The Mayor read three letters he .had received. One writer, a lady | whose husband had enlisted, protest- * ed against rating those who had 'already gone to the front or were "going. She instanced her own case. I Her husband was trying to keep up

the payments on his house. He was a Government servant, receiving no compensation for enlisting beyond being kept financial in regard to his superannuation. His military pay was less than his civil salary. Why, she asked, should he he asked to pay for bribes to others to do their duly? The second letter simply voiced a ratepayer's objection. The third embodied the objection of a ratepayer, who asked: What about all the boys who had already gone to the front? Continuing, the Mayor said that, speaking as a ratepayer, the scheme had/to him, not a redeeming feature. Thousands of men who had gone to Ihe front would have just cause to feel dissatistied if 25 men were selected for special treatment. His sympathy was with all the men who had gone, and he thought they should be treated all alike. Or .1. R. Hayward had a certain amount of sympathy for Ihe proposal, but could not support it as it was put forward. He had no idea until that evening that the council was committed to so much for the men at the front. At the same time, it was sometimes necessary to make representations to those in authority. He thought the Government should be urged to make provision, similar to that made in Britain, for men who had financial obligations. Cr Hayward proceeded to read an amendment, hut at Cr Sullivan's suggestion he refrained from putting it as an amendment to the motion, and deferred his proposal until that already before the meeting had been dealt with.

In replying, Cr McCombs said that j he did not believe there were many : who had sons at the front, wlfo were opposed lo assistance being! given lo those who wished to go to ! the front and who were in need of | assistance. As for Ihe objection that a few men would be singled out for j special treatment, he pointed out the council, by its payments to its employees who had enlisted, had already endorsed the principle of pay-1 ing one soldier more than another, i The motion was defeated by 10 votes to seven. Those who voted for it were Crs Herbert, Sullivan, McCombs, McCullough, Millar, Burgoyne and Scott. Against it were Crs Cooper, Hayward, Reynolds, Reek, Taylor, Beanland, Williams, Jameson, and Otley and the Mayor. HELPING MEN WITH LIABILITIES Cr Hayward then moved the reso-| lution he had suggested. It was:—| "That under the present Empire need for soldiers this council strongly recommends the Government to make the necessary legislation that will provide special financial assis- J tance for those men who have finan- j cial obligations and who are natural-1 ly anxious to make proper provision for their liabilities.' This was seconded by Cr Sullivan. Cr H. J. Otley objected. He did not know where such a thing would stop. R was an Imperial matter, and the Governments of all parts of the Empire were doing all they could. He did not see that it would do any good. Cr Millar: What about wool? Cr Otley: I don't quite understand the position of wool. I don't think von do either. \ Cr Herbert said it was the Govern- j ment's duty to help, and the council wanted to help the Government. He I spoke of the difficult position of men who had mortgages on their homes, and other financial obligations. Cr G. Scott emphasised that many men wtre afraid to enlist until they were enabled to make adequate provision for their dependents, especially with the cost of living rising. The Government should make proper provision for men with dependents. Cr Sullivan protested against allegations of "want of patriotism in the Labour Party. Because they tried to get better pensions and better pay for soldiers they were not unpatriotic. Such attacks were cowardly in the extreme. | Several other councillors Strongly urged the need of the action suggested. The Mayor supported the motion. He stressed the point that the British Government had made such provi-1 sion, and said it was not to the credit of the New Zealand Government that it, too, had not done so. The motion was carried. I