RECRUITING TROUBLES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2669, 15 January 1916, Page 6

RECRUITING TROUBLES

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—The time having apparently arrived when .considerable difficulty is. being experienced in obtaining a sufficiency of recruits, I can no longer restrain my curiosity about a certain fea« turo of the recruiting campaign : that has puzzled me ever since the first Government appeal was first published. Tlie question I have asked myself every, time I read a recruiting speech is this:. Why are the unmarried men without dependents always singled out for the undivided attentin of recruiting agents? What about the married men, without do pendents.? They form a fairly large class, yet as far as 1 have been able to ascertain there has not been one solitary reference made to them in aiiy recruits ing: appeal, either by the Defence Minister or any other speaker or writer. Furthermore, no social pressure is brought to bear upon them, and 110 white feathers aro sent to them through the post. 'Why is it? • By married men without dependents I mean those fortunate young men who. Giving chiefly to the industry and toil of their ancestors, are possessed of wealth in bulk sufficient to free them from the necessity of labouring- for their bread and butter (or even for their motors and polo ponies). By no stretch of the imagination could tha families of these people _be classed as dependents in the recruiting officerssense of the word. v The,34,000 shirkers, now receiving so much abuse in the Press, are, I think, entitled to 'a certain . amount _of svinJ pathy while this state of . affairs exist, Many of them, doubtless, feel as I do, that'the wealthy man of military age, whether married or single, should he the very first to enlist in defcnce of his country. Ho lias more *ifc stake should, victory fall to the enemy; the war hs,s added enormously to his profits; ho has experienced, or has had the opportTint ity of experiencing most of the domestia. and material joys that this life has to offer; lie can go to the front without sacrificing his prospects, and leave his ' wife and children with no anxieties as to the future. If he should unfortunately lose his life, his wife would sur* vivo tlie sorrow just as well as would the unmarried soldier's mother; moreover, the country need be at no expense as to pensions. If he should come back > disabled, he would return to a luxurious ' home and a renewal of family ties and i interests, independent of brittle Government promises or tightly-held patrioi tic funds. Now contrast for yourself the lot or the wage-earner or salaried man who ia asked to give up his prospects and en-, list. I need not trespass further on your space by doing so in detail; it_ is very obvious that the wealthy married man has' all the best of it.. Sir, is it . not incredible that no one seems t<! have even hinted that it- is the duty of these men to enlist'. Again I ash; „i,» »»-!-, etc „ PLAY FAIS ; [The Government calls on every man of military age in a position to serve. There is no class distinction, and all classe-s have' responded to the call freely. That there are shirkers m oil classes is equally clear. Tlie remedy is compulsory service.]