THE CALL TO ARMS.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13795, 16 June 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CALL TO ARMS.

A3>i)JIESS BY .GOLOXKL OHAKFeV'

■ LOCAL 'HEINPOitCBMENTiS COM-

MITTEE nmwwj

(From 'The Cok>niwt,' J May 25.) There was'a large attendance at tha Council ■ Chambers yesterday afternoon at the meetingealkd by the Mayor ;Mr C. J. Harley) to meet" Colonel Chaffey, Officer "Commanding the, Canterbury District, and hear his views on ,tho question of reinforcements for tho New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. A considerable number of ladies wera among those present. The Mayor, who presided, stated that he had called .the meeting at the request of Colonol Chaffey, and he had much pleasure, in introducing tSio colonel. The present state of affairs demanded more men, and ".Colonel 1 Chaffey; was going through his disTrict on the mission of stimulating enlistment. He was of opinion that an inquiry office in the town would bo an assistance, as many of the suitable men were appar; ently not ready to go direct to the Defence Department. He was also of opinion that, a local committee, with ■sub-committees Throughout tho district, would be "helpful if meetings were call-1 ed, addresses arranged for, advertising done, etc., etc. He called upon Colo.'nel Chaffey to explain in detail what -'he proposed.•

Colonel Ohaffey, who was received with applause, referred briefly to the fine response that had J.ecn made so far, and said that in his district all tho men required had come forward voluri- j tarily. It had not yet been necessary to go into the highways and byways, but more men, and more men were required? and steps should be taken in good time. Fie detailed what had", been, done in Christchurch by the Defence Committee or National Reserve, composed of those who obyously were- not able to volunteer for active, service. Their moral support was great, 'but as a ■ fighting force, being men drilled without arms, they were practically useless, it was suggested that thpse men might help materially by opening a citizens' recruiting office, and try each man who. could not himself go to find a man who could and would. The ,idea was well taken up. An office was given gratis, and a'committee'arranged so that someone was always in attendance, and that office was responsible for an average of from. 20 to 30 weekly being recruited. Red tape was avoided, men who came from distances ware shepherded, kept in work till they were required, and various little, physical defects, such as defective teeth, etc., made good. The result was that very valuable work was 'being done, and maiiy good men put into the forces who otherwise might have drifted away for want of being looked after a little. Similar work wa? going on in Tiuuru, Waimate, Grey mouth, Kaikoura, and other places, and good work being done all over the district. He was sure that Nelson would not be backward. By tho look of things at present, it appeared as though'all the men of suitablo ago would be wanted. At any rate, there were a lot of men between the ages 20 to 40 who liad not enlisted, and who had not such ties as would naturally make them reluctant to enlist. He asked for the sympathy of the. women. In the Old Country, where there was more/ knowledge of tho atrocities perpetuated by tho enemy, the women were urging their men to o;o. This was-no, flash in the pan effort; the work had to go on steadily till the war was- through. The NelsoiiBlonheim quota for the Sixth Reinforcements was 102 out of 2700. In the middle of June another 30 infantry and 10 to 15 mounted men would be required, and tho average vt-ould be from GO to 70 every two months. Ho referred to the fact that in the North Island young men came forward more readily than in the South Island, and it would appear that the young men had drifted to tho North Island. He hoped that the Nelson district would be able to keep its end up. The Mayor suggested that the tourist inquiry office at the City. Council offices could well bp utilised as a recruiting inquiry office also. A young !adv was always in attendance, and there would always be the Town Clerk at call, who could afford information. He further suggested that the Patriotic Committee already in existence with funds in hand could assist. He threw out these suggestions as a start. The Hon. A. T. Maginnity emphasised tho necessity for the prosecution of the war with the whole strength of the Empire, as defeat' meant ruin. He Favoured the suggestion ir.ado by the Mayor regarding the central office, but tne effort required to bo carried into '■ the country also. A hearty round of : applause followed Mr Magiunity's- re"ferenco to the entrance of Italy upon the side of the Allies as a silver-lining to the cloud shadowing them. Colonel Grace mewed that the ladies and gentlemen present should form themselves into a committee to carry out the scheme sketched by Colonel Chaffey. That would bring the meeting to a practical issue. He said time a country should be able to put 10 per cent, of her population into tho firing line. The British Empire could not do this on account of her scattered possessions and numerous bases o.f supply. The 10 per cent, would mean a hundred thousand from New Zealand. We could not do this, because of the necessity1- to-defend our base of supply,■■'but we might manage the fifty' thousand ft would be well first to look to send 25,000: so far we had sent 15,000. Mr T. A. H. Field, M.P., seconded tho motion, and supported the suggestions made by the Mayor. Tho motion was carried unanimously, and the Mayor suggested that an executive committee should be formed at once. , ' i -i -i Mr Mansford proposed, and councillor Hampson seconded, that Mr (*. A.. Edmonds (Town Clerk) b© secretary, Mr Mansford stating that. hey would be pleased to assist Mr Edmonds. The motion was carried. . It was resolved, on the motion ot the Rev W. Baumber, seconded by the Rev W. E. Lambert-, that an executive committee of 20 be set up, with power to add to their number. The following were then appointed as executive committee: —Mesdames C. J • Harley, P. O. Andrew, Barr, *. <->• Hamilton -Pen-in, Grace, Rogers, Horn, Revs W.' Bffamk W. E. Lambert, and J. H. MacKo-nzie, Drs Gibbs, Johnston, Jeffreys, .and Washbourn, Colonel Grace, Major-Stdes, Hon. A. 1. Ma-innity, Messrs T. A. _H. *iejd, M P Hampsori, Duncan, F. U. Uibos, Hedges, .R.'B JWkson, A E. Jackson, T. Usher, W. Rout, C Moore C. R. Fell W. W. Sriodgrass,'D. R, Edwards, F Stallarc!, E. C. Kelling, A. Lulham, H C Cock, W. Heyward, W. Rogers, 1. E Mansford. Colin Caropocll. _ \n -nioloo-y was received from Mr w. Lock, who could not, attend, but was m sympathy with the movement * \ vote of thanks to Colonel Ohaffey terminated the proceedings, which were marked by enthusiasm.