OUR RESOURCES IN MEN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2558, 4 September 1915, Page 4

OUR RESOURCES IN MEN

Lord Kitchener's appeal to the Empire tcTdevclop its military resources to the "utmost limif'has not so far produced marked results in New Zealand. The full X text 'of the; War Minister's great speech at the Guildhall appears elsewhere in this issue, and we commend it to the attention of our readers. The appeal for men is clcarly. addressed not merely to tho people of the British Isles-but to the whole Empire. It was shortly before he delivered this speech that Lord Kitchener made his. call to Australia for men '.'with or without equipment," and also advised tho New: Zealand Government, ac.cording to Mr. Allen's statement in Parliament on July 1, that if-we would send men Home he would arm them. The appeal made in the speech is 0110 of exceptional ■urgency, liven men engaged in Britain on work directly associated with tho military forces are asked searchingly/'.to consider whether their work, technical 01; responsible as it may be, cannot be-undertaken by men unfit for servico or by women. "Don't delay," says Loud Kitchener, "make up your minds quickly," and "act at once.." No summons' could bo more" imperative. Men are wanted and wanted now, and the Imperial authorities have promised to supply arms for all who como, forward. The necessity for reinforcing his enormous armies; in the future has not deterred-Lord Kitchener 1 from •making this still, further appeal for men. "It is," he says, "an axiom tliat the largor an army is tho greater is its need of an ever-swelling number of men of recruitable ago to maintain it at its full strength, while.at the' same time.the supply of those' very men is automatically decreasing." The ever-present fear of the Defence authorities in New Zealand has been that by sending larger numbers of men away from tho Dominion we shall impair our ability to maintain the necessary supply of reinforcements during the; war. How unduly nervous we are on this scoro is clearly shown when a comparison is made of the extent to whioh Britain and New Zealand have drawn upon their available supplies oi; men. In the Fortnightly JZeview 'oi April last appeared an an instructive _: article on the ■ war strength, of Britain written by Mr. \V. H. Mallook. Taking tho men of military age, i.e., from 17 to 55, Mr. MalLook found Britain- in possession of approximately 11,030,000 such on the outbreak of war. Tho corresponding number for Now Zealand, if tho census figures of 1011 are taken, and the necessary allowances mado for increase, was, roughly, 301,000. Britain at the end of June had about 3,000,000 men under arms, equal to 27 per cent, of-tho men of military age",' while we had on August 4 20,760, or 8 per cent. This comparison is striking, but it is necessary to go further. To know how many men we really can, send to the front without collapso ■it is necessary to.consider to what extent the working population can be reduced by the withdrawalof men of age. To arrive-at some idea of this, tho number of such men employed in essential occupations must be discovered. Mr. Mallock classes these, essential occupations as: Agriculture, manufacture of foodstuffs, . necessary clothing, mining and smelting, metal manufactures, and transport, In New Zealand tho essential industries are mucL-the same, except that in mining it, is neccssary to include only coalmining, and metal manufactures need not be counted in,'as wo are not. a war munition-produc-ing country. Lot us now compare the figures. In this we are at a sjight disadvantage, as the New Zealand census does not show the' number from 17 _ to 55 years of age in each occupation, but only from 20 to 45 years.. Tho only effect of this discrepancy, however, is to make tho comparison more favourable to us by. omitting 76,000 men still remaining in industries in % ,Dominion. Tho figures are as under Britain. N.Z. , . ~ ,17-55 yrs, 20-45 yrs. Agriculture 1,800,000 55.470 Manufacture of foodstuffs G7Oiooo ' 3,350 Manufacture of cloth- • in« 360,000 C.OIO Mining and smelting 1,000,000 3,088 Metal Manufacture • 720,000 — - Transport 1,200,000 24,588 5,750,000 ,101,530 This, let us say, is the total of the indispensable-male workers of military age here and in the Mother Country. What proportions do tho figures bear to the total number of mc.n of military age, and what available surplus is in-hand , in each cftse] This is. best shown in another as follows : — Britain. N.Z, 17-55 yrs, 20-45 jts; lotnl- males in the age group 11,030,000 224,452 Withdrawn for mili- , tary sorvico 0,000,000 . 26,760 Not yet withdrawn ■ ' from industry... 8,030,000 197,692 Normally employed in essential induitries 3,750,000 101,536 Number left tot *11 :• GtliQi: >fi(%tties 2,i!j0,0C1l 01,155

The figures show how heavily Britain hacl drawn upon her available sup--plies of recruits oven before Lord .Kitchener made his appeal of July 9 for still more men. The percentage or the men not employed in the essential industries as set out above who had gone under arms iu Britain and New Zealand respectively was as'under oil the given dates Britain.- N. 55; 17-55 yrs. 20-15yrs. enlisted 57 21 Percentage in.reserve... 13 79 Enough has' been said to demonstrate how entirely groundless is the fear that we should Tic unduly weak-' cning our ability to reinforce our contingents by permitting larger drafts of the thousands of waiting and eager volunteers to go forward for service.