THE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11670, 10 April 1916, Page 8

THE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

MEETING AT ASHBURTON. ( _____ NATIONAL SERVICE DEMANDED, : At a meeting of the Ashburton Agricultural- and Pastoral Association held on Saturday, the chairman (Mr D. G. Wright) • moved—" That tho voluntary system having proved inadequate for the .present requirements of tho Empire, this committee urges the Government to introduce, without delay, a system of national sen-ice." The chairman stated, that he felt that it "was tjmo that some new- system of organisation should be tried in order to meet the country's obligations in regard to recruiting. Men were now being taken away'who were essential■ for carrying on the work of the country, and men were being left behind who were not essential. It was not for him to say who should go and who should be left behind. For instance, in rogard to plbughmon, he maintained that a gooa ploughman could not'be trained in a -day v /He also thought that some 01 : ; tho men might be drawn from the tram He considered that if the «s- - the resolution it would . ;j-hov the Government that they, were ' locking' l to it to'do something in regetting some form of national introduced. E. Blunden.seconded the motion pro forma. ■ ?(\Mr C.'Reid said he would'second the , ''jnotion." whole forma." Ho considered : : some form of national service was :;r ijwquired in New Zealand. He felt sure r ; committee would adopt the . "..Resolution unanimously. Ho had already ; :..j§aida.great deal omthis question, ana : - ! jt .was, not necessary for him to suy V £nore. L . "V'Mr Jamos Cow said ho -would sup- ' ■ the motion. Ho considered that •' ; -the; Government had been weak-kneea ' • .over this matter. He was like Mr Reics r • and was inclined to feel very, strongly :';-: on'the'subject when he thought.of the , .way. they had been muddling along. ■ , ,The - Government had been trying-to shuffle the work on to the public, whicn ;.,-'was-wrong. He considered that the '...".-,' voluntary system was now at an end The'; Government should tackle theques- ' \'tipn,. and he hoped that Parliament -'' "would rise to the occasion. .';-.- '. Mr 'J. Cairns said that they haa ';>■'* i heard a lot of. talk about what they do and. what they should not :'" For his part, he considered- that / ..'-tfie voluntary system. When it haa ,• reported that eighty-five men haa L;' sfenlisted under the present scheme since ;' fthe canvassers had been out in the ;_ ;'county it showed that they were doing ;' .- T ery well in getting recruits. He considered that plenty of men woiild offer V,-,-their services when the right time ar- " -Vjived. <i ~-,'". The chairman stated that he was not V ."looking at the matter from a county C: - point of view, but from the Dominion ( " ' -jas.'a wholes It was not his intention to ? j ' 'cast any reflection on what the Ash-!-;•--.burton county had done. He consider- "' - -ed that the Dominion as a whole hati -- : not been thoroughly organised. ' \ Mr H. E. Blunden stated that 37,000 i.l..«men. had already gone from New Zea--;-:;land,:.arid'4ooo to 5000 men'were still ~" *'in' camp waiting to go away. "When it ..--was,taken'into consideration that two '•!■■. 'ryears.ago New Zealand had not. been | r ' a"-military country, ho considered that i "| '/Jit, : had done very well in regard to send- '■ soldiers. No doubt mistakes >had been made by the Government, but Rafter all ho did not think that they -'■ - /had .done so badly as some people had ,\;.. -vtried ;to make out. ;" :-. ;.Mr T. E. Upton said that the Gov-! "-•-Saroment had done well, but he con- 1 *. sidered that it was time steps were taken to rake in some men who were C .Jurying to avoid giving their services. /"""xlo'.knew of some people who had six j 'or, seven sons and not a single one ot ■ had offered their services. ,-; '•-$£ 3_vßlunden stated that he had heard ;'' vj^said,that, poor men's sons were offer,v< <Jng : their services while rich men's sons ' - p were .remaining behind. He agreedthat .;all should be pUt on the same level. v : li Xfpton said that in England many ■V rich men had offered their ser- :: V'lripea in.the ranks. .-.' Mr Blunden said that conscription - V°uld even things up, and they woula •'.- , then all be on the same level. • VMr.F. Frampton said that he was ■' \ jaofc'in favour of the Government being •- asked .to bring in national service. "He - wanted to see the required number 01 r .men'going without having to bring in , conscription, and it was his conviction that" sufficient men would be procured f;. without it '•The chairman said that he took na- ' • tional service to mean that men woulu Lave to show that they were profitably .employed for the good of the country before they could secure exemption from going. They all knew what hat* happened in Belgium, when the soldiers had to be brought back out of the trenches to help to carry on the manufacture of munitions. ' \[ The resolution was carried. ,