SERVING THE KING

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2585, 6 October 1915, Page 6

SERVING THE KING

RECRUITING IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE SATISFACTORY FIGURES

A! return was laid before Parliament, ■yesterday showing: (1) The number of employees in the Public Service who have volunteered and have been accepted for active service ; (2) the total number of male employees in the Public Service; and ' (3) the total number of male employees in the Public Service between twenty and forty years of age. Getting forth those that aro - married and those-that are unmarried.

. The numbers' ivith respect to the various questions were: —

No. I.—Under Public Service Commissioner's control, 988; Railway Department, 1420; Police Force (a). , No. 2.—Under Commissioner's control, 11,133; Railway Department, 11,429; Police Force, 900.,

■ No. 1 3.—Under Commissioner's control, married 2472, single 2961; Railway Department, married : 4469, singlo *3296; Police Force, married 396, single- 180. (a) It was announced from the first that the police would not be allowed to volunteer for. active service, and therefore 'very few made written application for permission to. serve. A number of members of the. force resigned, and subsequently joined the Expeditionary Force, and are now at the front.' The Right Hon. W. F. Massey expressed extreme satisfaction with the fino spirit' shown by .members of the Public Service. There were apparently few shirkers,'in the service.

Mr. Payne: There are no'shirkers in New, Zealand.

Mr. Massey: I believe that is so.. It is not often that I agree with the honourable gentleman,- but I agree with ■him on this occasion. Continuing, he said that lio was of- opinion that now, wlieri . tlie demand was made for more men', the manhood of Newt Zealand would-not. fail in their duty., ' .

' Mr. D. Buick urged that men in the; Police Force, who wore fine vigorous young ; men, ought to be allowed to volunteer.

Mr. W. K. Veitcli said that the Police Force jiiras' put in an unfair position, in; that men who wished to go te the front had to resign from the force to do it. He thought that all public servants from whatever Department should be given their, jobs; back' on 'their return from tho front. ...

•: Dr. Thacker said that the Minister of Defence had asked, employers to release men of military age l'or service, and suggested that the Minister should put'his own house in order- by releasing young men; in the/Defence - Department/ who were doing ivork that, could quite well be done by men not fit for service.'

Mr. Allen: To whom do you refer?, Dr.. Tliacker: To the whole Defence Department—the Minister 1 himself,-if he likes to go to the front. We can do without him here well enough.'-

The Hon. 'A. ,L. Herdman . said that it had not been possible to give to the Police Force the.same facilities for going to the' front as had. been' given to other branches! .of the Public Service'. Tho matter had been carefully considered, by .Cabinet, and it' had been decided that it was' not advisable that liberty should be given to men 5 belonging to the Police. Force/to enlist. At present there .were about 900'mdn in the police., A large number' were between; 40 and'. 50 years of age, and some wont up to'' 60. If. meii below 40 were allowed to enlist, liberty would be given to three or-four hundred men to depart from New Zealand, and leave the force as weak as it could be. He himself would not undertake to be, responsible for the safety of the: country if carte blanche were given in the way suggested. If it were possible he would, accedo to the request of the police officers to lllow them to enlist. He was': sure that no . better'iecruits could be got, but the Government had to consider the safety of the people in,the country, the, preservation of order, and the proper administration of justice. The very'fact that so many young men had .left New Zealand made it difficult to get suitable candidates for the force, since they had to combine good character and good physique. , It had been suggested that returned. soldiers might be used as . policemen, but many' these' were sick, wounded, .or.otherwise incapacitated. ' . • Dr. Thacker: Why not get the farmers in "again?.

Mr. Herdman said that most of the farmers had gonb to the front. (Hon. members: Hear, hear.) The safety of the country had to be considered, and that- J being so the police must be' kept hero'. • It had been suggested that members of the force, who/had gone 'away should jlose nothing by going, aind to this suggestion lie would-give every consideration. If they returned he was sure that they would suffer no loss through having gone. ,

Mr.: J. Oraigie (Timaru) asked the Minister'.of in the House of Representatives yesterday if he were making provision for returning -wounded, soldiers to retain their uniforms, and if not whether lie would have some kind of badge issued to them to show that they: had been at the war. The Hon! J. Allen said ■ that when <i soldier was discharged ho. was no longer a soldier and was not entitled to wear the uni? foim. However, he thought:it was a proper -thing to allow such a soldier to retain'his -uniform. He was not quit-e sure whether the Department could permit returned wounded soldiers to parade in uniform, but he saw-no reason wliy it should not be done, at any rate at the. time of the return of the Main Body. He hoped that those who had been invalided home would have received: their service medals and would parade in uniform to meet- the Main.'Body when that ' glorious day of peace came.* :

The results of two races, flown under tlie auspices of tho Hutt Valley Homing Pigeon Society recently, are as follow: From New Plymouth (Mr. F. Jenness's trophy),' Whitehead and Booth's r.c.h.' Torcliy, velocity, 879 yds. per minute, 1; "\Y. and L. Booth's b.li. Sun Ray,'velocity, 876 yds. per minute, 2; E. M'Malum's b.c.h. Black Bess, velocity,- 853 yds. per minute. 3. From Te Kuiti (Mr. W. James's trophy), W. and L. Booth's .b.o.h. Ladylike, ' velocity, 464 yds. per minute,'l. Tlie only bird to do the journey in the time-limit.

Most people fail to realise the importance of the danger signals which a,re the forerunners of chronic Indigestion. Slight attacks of Heartburn, Acidity, Flatulence, Sour Risings, are tho first • indications that' your stomach is rebelling against the work it has to do. Thoy are signs that the stomach is unable to digest the food eaten and to convert it into good blood. Tho stomach is daily laden with a mass of fermenting acid matter and you become languid, morbid, and generally depressed. Take, good advice. All this trouble can be avoided by taking BENZIE'S PEPSO. BENZIE'S PEPSO at once cures Acidity and supplies .thostomach with those natural juices of digestion which convert the food you eat into good blood, thereby making bone, muscle, and tissue. Try ; it. All Chemists, and grocers, 2s. Gd.—Advt. ..