AUSTRALIAN RESERVES OF MEN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3561, 22 September 1916, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN RESERVES OF MEN

The Commowealth''statistician,' Mr Gf. H. Knibbs, reoentry •prepared a return of the number of male eligibles for military service based on tho war census cards. Deducting the number of men who have embarked since the census was taken from the number revealed by the census, a total of 607,399 men of military age iis shown as remaining in the Commonwealth on June 9—203,402 of them being single men, 5243 widowers and divorced men, and 298,754 married men. Commenting on these figures the statistician makes ;a".remark, regarding his method of calculation. The- total of 507 3 399 is probably approximate^ correct," ho says, "but the distribution according to conjugal condition is less satisfactory, since it depends in respect of embarkations on the analysis of a sample parcel taken from the rolls of the first division despatched in October, 1914." Having arrived at the number of men in the Commonwealth on June 9, allowance has still to bo made for the number in camp. The military authorities supplied the statistician with a return, which' placed the number at 54,781 on June 9. Using the samo basis of calculation as before to obtain the conjugal condition, Mr Knibbs decided that of tho men in camp 50,492 were single, 394 widowers and divorced men, and 3895' married men. Deducting these from the total, he arrived at the following totals of men of military, age "not yet enlisted, or enlisted, but not yet in camp":—Single men, 152.910; wklqwcrs and divorced • men, -4849; married

men, 29-1,859; total, 452,658