HOW RUSSIA GETS HER RECRUITS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2691, 10 February 1916, Page 7

HOW RUSSIA GETS HER RECRUITS

JHE 1917 CLASS

A MILLION MEN AT A STROKE While the German politicians. are cx- ' pressing their astonishment that tho Entente Powers are uot yet induced to ■sue for peaco (sa.ys the "Pall Malt Gazette"), the Tsar is evidently still preparing for a very long campaign, ;for 'he has issued a ukase ordering tlie Enrolment of tho 1917 class in 1916. It. jneans tliat those men who havo passed , itheir twentieth year in 1916 (born 1896) toust appear at specified dates in their 'liiilitary district before the military authorities for tho purpose of jpinine the . ./army. '> Russia has no difficulty in controlling lier population in this respect. Everybody in Russia from the date of his birth is registered by the Government. Later on everybody is provided with an ■"internal" or home passport, without which, 'he is r.ot able to travel in the Russian Empiro. Indeed, thore is a saying in Russia that a man consists of body, soul, and passport. In his own town, even, nobody' in. Russia can stop in a, hotel for ,one night without producing his passport. Thus the authorities know well not only the'numbers, hut even the names of thoss: vlio are compelled to undergo military service during the subsequent 20 vsars. In ordinary times. Russia has more men than she needs.' The Russian frontiers, those which must be guarded from the enemy, are very narrow t as Compared with the size of the country. < 'For this reason only a part of those on the listris selected for the army, although, theoretically, everybody is liable to military service. Iu the first place_, all only sons are automatically put into the second reserve, which is exempt from military training, and only in the greatest emergency are 1 these men put under military discipline. In the. second place, the eldest son is exempted 'if the father is over 50 ■years of age and there is & difference of •more than three years between him 'and the younger brothers, as he is considered the support of the family. His .financial position, however, is not taken into consideration. -He thus also belongs to the second, reserve, and j;ets ■ a "blue" ticket. Thirdly, no priest of . any denomination, and no village -■ schoolmaster, certified as such by the , Government, is liable to military service; and, finally, no one- bom in Tin kestan (and in Finland). Thus in practice, though not in . theory, not tlie wliole manhood 1 of 'dus'«a is liable to military service. .. Nor is this alj. As there are still too many men before they undergo a .medical examination they aro ballotsd; those who draw the highest niunbors are relieved. Tlie number of men relieved by ballot depends on the number required for military service from the particular district, and varies accordingly. After all this the remainder have to undergo a medical examination. They arrive at ,their recruiting office in tlo autumn. «t dates fixed for the purpose. Therefore we can see oute plainly the reason why, out of 1,300.000 men. orly several hundred thousand, less than a half, were accepted, while the rest, with the exception of the absolutely, unfit, are counted as the first reserve, to which ; also "Belong all men who have . fulfilled i their military service—three years in infantry, five in cavalry, or seven in the navy. ' However, in the present case the matter will he ouite different, and this new class of 1917 . can easily produce over a million men.