MORE MEN?

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2524, 27 July 1915, Page 6

MORE MEN?

AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS

NEW ZEALAND'S DUTY THE. NATIONAL REGISTER TO ORGANISE ALL RESOURCES Patriotic citizens of Wellington wlio think that New Zealand ought to do more to assist the Empire in tho great war waited upon tile ■ Defenco Minister ' (the Hon. J. Alien) yesterday afternoon to put their views on this question before him Their chief demand was that' New Zealand should send more men. The Minister gave the deputation some confidential information on this subject, to show that it was not at present advisable for New Zealand to send more men. This information he asked tho Press not to publish. Although no one mado any remark upon the subject, it was obvious from ejacuiatory comments made by some members that they were very much astonished to hear wnat Mr. Allen told them, and also that thoy accepted tile reasons given as absolutely conclusive.

Mr. 3P. Luke (the Mayor), introducing the deputation, said he had groat pleasure in co-operating in the movement', to ensure that Neiv Zealand should not do less than Improper part ill tho' Empire's war. He had been glad to noto that in tho Houso the other day members had deprecated tho making of comparisons between New Zealand and other parts of the Empire in respect to their efforts in the war. All were out to do the best they could. Mr. Luke proceeded, however,' to make a comparison between, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. If the United Kingdom, •lie said, only put into the field a million and a half of men, New Zealand's proportion would be 38,000. He understood that New Zealand had sent or had in training about 20,000. In. addition there was the' further strain on the popu-lation-of tho'.United,Kingdom'of keeping up tho,Navy, the personnel cf which was about 200,000 men. He hoped the Minister and his colleagues would give the matter earnest consideration, and give tho people an. opportunity to do their duty thoroughly. As a preliminary to this, the deputation would ask that a register be compiled of all "!,ho men in the' country fit for service.

Fallon Short of Our Duty? Sir John Findlay was the next speaker. "I should' like to impress upon you as a, first note in connection with this deputation," he said, "that it has.in no way the' least dement of political significance. Wo are here to-day absolutely above considerations of party interests, united in the hope that our coining here may help you and hearten us in t'lie cause in which. we are engaged. There are three' reasons for our coining here. The first is -our desire to impress upon you respectfully the view we take of New Zealand's duty in this great struggle, and tlie extent to which wo think New Zealand has fallen short cf her true recognition of that duty. Our second reason id'to impress upon you the readiness of one and all of us to serve the cause of our nation in any v.ay you suggest we can lie of service. To. yon, we suggest more particularly, if ■ you think fit, we are Teady to assist in the stimulation of recruiting by platform or Press work, or in any other way in which you think wo oould help you. Our third reason is to ask. you for information which wo can get trorn you alone." lteferring to the last reason lie said tho deputation' wished to be informed as to ■whether any effort they might make to stimulate recruiting would be fruitful of any, good. Sir John Findlay said he did not wish to make comparisons which might seem invidious, but he wished to put before the. Minister and. the people of New Zealand tho extent to which' Australia' had recognised her duty. On June 21, the Commonwealth Defence Minister had stated that Australia had sent or had in training 82,500 men. That was a month ago and recruiting had been activo since then. Also,, tlie Federal Prinio Minister had stated that ho would double tho number of her reinforcements, making her drafts 10,526 men instead of 5263 men. In addition to this new units were being raised, and he had calculated from the figures availablo that Australia would have sent 160,000 men before the end of March next. New Zealand was sending reinforcements, he believed, at the rate of 2200 men every two months, which meant that Australia, with five times the population of 'New Zealind, was sending ten times the number of men. , ' .

Ours the Greater Danger. He argued strongly that tho danger threatening Now Zealand in the war was greater even than the danger to England. Germany did not want to annex England. She wanted sparsely, populated lands like New Zealand, and'if .Britain •wont down in the fight the danger threatening to New Zealand was that she might pass under the iron rule of Germany. If this were fully realised he did not think the Minister would have any difficulty in getting men. In conclusion Sir John Findlay put before the Minister the following resolutions passed at tho meeting- held on Friday last:— "1. That as a component part of the British Empiro and as loyal citizens thereof recognising it as our jjounden duty to take our full share in the present war we are determined to place at once at the disposal of the British Government every availablo man backed up to the utmost limit of our resources to as- . sist in bringing the war to a successful and speedy issue, and we call. upon the Government to give immediate effect to our determination.

"2. That as a means to this ond, but 'without in any way delaying the immediate further increase of our forces, a register bo taken forthwith and with all speed of all persons in tho country with all such details as . are required to enable the authorities to make use of every person in tho country for tho purposes of -the war, whether for actual fighting or for ; necessary civil work in the country." Ho reminded the Minister also that the Federal Senate had passed the War Census Bill. If a census were to be made in New Zealand tho members'of the deputation were anxious to help in any way possible in the making of that census, "Failing Lamentably." Mr. S. A. Atkinson' said that they felt New Zealand was failing lamontably in its duty. Why was it that we had in this darkest hour of the .Empire's need dono nothing in response to Lord Kitchener's last appeal for'more men? He believed it was because the people had' been allowed to think that by doing all that the Imperial Government had asked them to do at the outset they had discharged their full duty. This view seemed to him to bo entirely wrong, and as dangerous as it was wrong, lulling tho peoplo into a tense of false security. This belief would have to be destroyed utterly if the people of New Zealand were to make any real progress towards helping the Empire. He suggested that someone in authority should have gone Home from New Zealand ta learn by personal contact exactly what was °oing on at Home. It was well known, lie said, that close upon three million men were under arms in England. Mr. Allen: How do you know they are under arms? Mr. Atkinson said that if a register were compiled they would be able to discover who were the men who ought to go, and who ought to stay, '"ho main industries must bo kept going, and the Army must bo supported, but when this was assured the rest of the men would be available to go to light. There were at least 110,000 men in New Zealand between the afces of 17 to 55 years of age, and at least 75,000 between the ages of 19 and 40, who were not needed for the industries to which lie had referred. New Zealand was now 'sending at the rate of about 25,000 a year in reinforcements. ' Sir John Findlay: That can't be at the present rate. . Mr. Allen: Tho rate.i 3 1f!0 per cent, per year. c Mfi .H. F, y.oii .tost fcfud ho. .wt«d t«

ascertain especially in what way his services and the services of other men in tho same position'as himself could bo utilised for tho defence t. f our country. He was not of military age, but ho was halo and strong, and he was ready to bo sent into tho firing lino or anywhere elso if lie could be of servico to_ his country. This . was one reason why he said the register should not be confined to men of military age. He would like to see a register taken of all males between the ages of 15 and 55. Surely the people of this country would be ready to make the same sacrifices as Germany, and to put into the firing line nur schoolboys and our bearded men. That' was tho only spirit that could bring victory. When the men between 10 and 10 were exhausted, those between JO and 55 could be drawn upon, and tiiese, he was sure, wfiuld be cqu®l to the levies Germany was putting into her armies at present. Possibly also it might be well to discover how women could help to free men to go into tho fishting line. He also wished the Minister to say if he could, how tho National Ile- ■ servo could be of aid. If the members of this body were only to go on playing at soldiers, let them be ttold so at once, because there were men in it who. would wish to give their services to the State in some other, branch of work. Ho suggested that members of the Reserve Who' qualified by practice. and, examination might 1m given temporary appointments as officers of territorials to fill tho vacancies of the men at the front. Or perhaps some of them might be sent to do garrison duty somewhere, or clerical work, or work in connection with the Army Service Corp3. '

.THE MINISTER'S REPLY. MISAPPREHENSIONS EXPLAINED ' AAVAT. Tho Hon. J. Allen said he had been very glad to hear the deputation, and he fully appreciated tho spirit actuating them all in coming to him. They all wished to do all they possibly could for the iimpire, at this time of need. Tho only difference of opinion that could be among them was as to what was the best thing they could do. First of all he would deal with the national register question. "I am entirely in sympathy with you in the matter of a national register," he said, "but 1 go farther than somo of you go. To me it seems that a national register is of comparatively little value unless it is very wide indeed; unless it embraces tho whole of the iabour of the country. I have realised for a considerable time that the day must como—and in my opinion it will come pretty'soon—when New Zealand will have to register everybody, inen and women, and will have to organise not only her fighting forces, but all. her industries. I don't say that day has yet como. Wo have been more fortunate than 'Great Britain and. more fortunate than Austra l iia, but we can't expect to go on drawing on the community- as we have, depleting the hands' for some of our primary industries without realising that organisation will very soon be necessary." Mr. Allen 6aid this had come home to him especially with regard to the medical service. Apparently, members of the British Medical Association had an idea' that he did not want their aid. Ho did want their assistance, and he invited it. Tho best way in which they could offer it was by joining tho New Zealand Army Medical Corps. Then they could bo utilised. If, however, tho doctors wished to retain civilian status, it was a much more difficult matter to utilise them. Ho did not ask any medical man for honorary service, but if it wero offered it would be accepted gladly. Nothing was further from his mind than to refuso to utilise the medical service, or any other service. Only that day he had" been working out a scherao for utilising tho dental service of the country for greater efficiency. New Zealand was entitled to' congratulation for the fact that she alone of the Dominions saw the need for sending dentists with the Army on service, and these officers had been of great assistance not only to tho New Zealand soldiers, but to the Australians also. ,

In this matter, as iri others, New Zealand had led. "Wo have not been falling behind," he said. "Wo have been in. the lead all the time. I don't 'admit, I won't admit, that New Zealand is falling behind in any way whatever."About Comparisons. He remarked that the speakers had all said that they were not going to make comparisons, but nearly every one of them had made comparisons. Ho had always taken-up the attitude that it was not our business to make comparisons. If Canada, or .Australia were falling behind it was not our concern. Our concern was with what New Zealand had to do. He would not make any comparison except to remove misapprehension, and to do that he would take Kir Jonn Findlay's comparison abouit Australia. Up till June 21 Australia had mobilised-82,500 men. Today she had 88,000. Sir John Findlay said, either at tho front or in training, New Zealand stood head and shoulders above that. Wo had 25,000 either at the front, or in training, and Australia to show an equal achievement must have mobilised 125,000 men. They had actually mobilised somo 88,000. He did,not, however, attach any value to these comparisons. „ . The Registration Schcme. Now Zealand had laid dowii a policy, and had followed it absolutely, more closely than any other country in the Empire. Our policy had been to get every available man to register for service abroad. ' It had never been quite understood that this was the policy, and that tho object of it was to have registered a largo number of men from whom the Defence authorities could draw for reinforcements, assured that they had men availablo for months and months ahead. In this matter of persuading youn» men to register the deputation could help: As tilings were now, recruiting became active just before reinforcements were called up, and died down afterwards. A member of the deputation: What about tho danger of Australia taking them away from.us? u Mr 'Ulen: Australia has attracted a few, but I don't know .whether they will tnlcfi aiiv more. Ono reason for tlu?, lie continued, would be the better pensions offering here. It was not for him to explain the spurt in rccruiting-in Australia, but his impression was that Australia had to call up men because she was short ot men for her winforcemens. Even with lier reinforcements doubled, she could not catchTp to New Zealand. The statemen that only 2200 men would be sent was not mute ,-iccuratc. .The next draft to go would be 3560 men. (Hear, hear. He said that some extra- men were in this draft, but ho referred in detail also, to the ways ill which almost month by month New Zealand had odded to her force. And New Zealand had been asked not to.aim_at lncroasiiv tho mam body so much as to be surf of sending regularly , adequate Reinforcements. Now Zealand increased her main body, but had scut increased reinforcements as. well. Mr.- Alien the" gave confidentially, reasons why it was not thought advisable to increase our force materially at present. Organisation the Need. Mr \llen said he believed the people would make a. great mistake it they concentrated only on the provision of trained soldiers. They ,could set to work on tlie problem of organising our industries and our food supplies. As" for these supplies he would like to bo able to control them so that they could be put in the hands of our so diers at the front at as reasonable a cost as poss blo Perhaps he was talking heresy in saving this, and he did not pretend to bo abb to wive the very difficult problem involved. The production of food-meat, cheese butter, and so on—and the supplying of them where they were needed, could not be neglected In this organisation was necessary. Organisation of -lie civilian medical service of the country was badly needed. He had been asked to send 100 medical men Home to take an R \ M.C. course, and he wished we could supply them, but he was afraid the men could not be got. ... i, Tho members of the deputation could assist the Government in no better way than in the encouragement of recruiting, in keening up the registrations, and in helping to organise oi\r industries. Bis own-idea was that we should compile a national' register .of all males from 17 to 55 years of age. Some would bo for the fightin" line, aiul some for the industrial line here. ' Women many of whom had already done invaluable work, might nl=o be -organised lo assist in industries, totako tho place of men, perhaps, and to do other work. The National Reserve. \s for tho National Reserve, it might, .hdn in Ptaotisfl JtNh JTfeo Nb»

tional Reserve in Featherston turned out 100 strong on Sunday and assisted tUo Sixth .Reinforcements to shift their.camp. Also some residents of Featherston had turned out and mado roads into the camp, and metalled them. If the National Reserve here set to thinking they would soon discover ways of helping here. First of all, they could help with recruiting, as they had done at Dimedin. If he' wanted the aid of any of them on Hie platform he would not hesitate to ask for it. Fortunately no such stimulus had been necessary in the country yet. Mr. Allen said in conclusion that lio would like to do more, but there were certain, limitations upon what Now Zealand could do. He had tried to think of other ways in which we coukl help, but had not yet been ablo to make offers that had been accepted. If anyone could mako suggestions to him he would receive them gladly. Mr. Allen's speech was received with tipplause.