NEW ZEALAND'S EFFORT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2588, 9 October 1915, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND'S EFFORT

The Minister of Defence announced in the House of Representatives on Thursday last that before the House i'oso he would make a statement as to the' whole position in regard to recruiting. Ere this article appears Mr. Allen may have made his promised statemcntj and >vo trust, if such is the case, that the message which has gono out to the people of New Zealand will be. a more inspiring one than those which havo recently emanated from ' the same source;; Prior, to the commenciment of the war and. for some time after the 'outbreak of ''hostilities 'Mr;; Allen did §uch admirable work as Minister of Defence that it is diffi J cult to, understand his attitude in more recent times.. We do not propose, however, to make more than passing reference ', to his actipns and his attitude towards' recruiting and tho dispatch of increased rein- 1 for cements.; nor to- dwell in any. detail on his disinclination .to -adjust his ideas to the changed condir tions which have resulted, from the unexpected developments in the vari; ous theatres of war.. .. What ive desire to urge 'is the necessity' , which; has now unmistakably disclosed itself of introducing new methods in connection with recruiting anduttio; procedure followed after, tho enlist-, ment of recruits. In August last' MR.Lloyd George, discussing '.he efforts already made in-England and/urging that still greater efforts .were necessary, made this remark:— •'

We must all admit that we are not 1 infallible, and when wo have committed 4 must repiiir. it, instead .of persisting in "it, and. finding excuses for ourselves. ' . ' . V : ;

We have made a mistake; in-Nov 'Zealand.'in. our recruiting methods and it is hecessary to, remedy-, it, if; a sufficient number-of men to fill ,tho reinforcements reqiiii'ed arc to be obtained. So splendidly did the young men of- the country; respond made on.;them; so magnificent 'was their,enthusiasm,' that, despite ftie damij'eniiig effects of long delays between time of .enlistment" and enrolment at',a; training camp,.' and despite certain : discburagenienfe; of other kinds, the' numbers required from'', time, to' time''were more, than met.. Tie'.i faCt, v-hoyeyer, /that: so. many: v who.. . had . -"enlisted Were not - called into.'training for, months' , .their medical examination,/ )iot 'only ' Lad a discouraging effect .on the men thus .treated; but -assisted also to create, an impression which'tended to slackness throughout the whole community. The urgency of the appedl -t'o 'the manhood Of . the . nation wasHlis-' counted' by the seeming' dalliance of the Defence authorities after • the'men', had-''once- enlisted., ~Thb: policy" was in direct, conflict, with that'of Lord Kitchener,' and.-"no. doubt has., been responsible in part for the lessened enthusiasm, (in the part of the young men who might be expected to- corto forward to help ■' their mates ill .the" fighting lines. .The litt-itude of the Minister of Defence on tho question of sending increased reinfoircements has also contributed to^/some extent to encourage the : idea that men were not required at once—that they would be wanted for. future drafts; but it was undesirable to »in : . crease the number, now being sent. It is true that tho Minister and tho Defence Department/both said they wanted every, available, man to register at oncc; bu'b their policy.' of T , de-i laying putting the men,.into training and their refusal, to' ; 'tho necessity for materially y ; increasing tho reinforcemcpt' drafts have disj counted their well-meant efforts in this direction. / . . ; , -'

We have: no desire to in any -way belittle the work of ,the Defence authorities, who deserve ja. great; deal of credit for what they have accom-; plished, but it would be absurd to argue - that ; because they have -been successful in certain directions cveiything theyA'ave done hasbeen right, or that t'ne methois pursued cannot be improved on. In the Mother Country the/, are; constantly, changing .and-improving; hiistakes: are fre-1 qUontly admitted and-profited by. Our chief mistake has neen a tendency to cliiig too closely to '.dons which, though admirable, enough before the waiyand in: the early stages of tho struggle, are now quite \ un-. suited to the ; changed'. ;.conditions.;-. One of the first" things necessary isXto. impress on the public'the-urgency..of: the call for; more mon. One .of the best means of doing this is to cliango our policy and take, men into.'.'camp practically as soon as they enlist. This will serve not only to. convince the public that the urgency is real, but it will ensure what-is equally essential that the fullest - possible training is given to every man who enlists before ho is sent out of 'the country to the battlefields of Europe. Tho fact cannot be disguised that, wo have now received an imperative call for more hien_ to be sent in tho quickest possible time. Wo have had men enlisted, but without any opportunity for; training, for many weeks past. They are not yet in camp, and under prtsent ' arrangements they will leave this country with less train-: ing than other reinforcements which havo preceded them. This is now unavoidable so far .as theso men aro concerned. Tho Minister informs us that they will complete their training in Egypt or at Anzac, and \\e are not going to attempt to argue that point now. What we do desire to emphasise, however, is that such a condition 'of things should not; be allowed to occur again. The remedy is to be found in a change of policy to the extent, of mon into training at once—even if it is in preparatory camps—instead of keeping ■ them waiting for weeks and months after registration. The country will think none the .less of the Minister and the Defence Department if they change their policy to suit the needs of the situation. What is wanted, a J Mr. Lloyd Geop.ge so frankly stated respecting the Home Government, is, not that we should attempt to bolster up our mistakes or to find excuses for ourselves, but to repair . p'dlit OI'I'UVB and bo pavo tho way to J_ ultimate succcssj ' i '