RECRUITING BOARD

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2699, 19 February 1916, Page 6

RECRUITING BOARD

?HE PERSONAL CANVASS

! SOME POINTS IN ITS FAVOUR

| Tlio following statement lias' been issued by the Recruiting Board:— I : "The present allotment of quotas for 1 tbe Reinforcement drafts up till Decern, i ber,-1-916. under the Kecruiting Board's | scheme,, has been'based on the prelimi inary results of the Natidnat'Eegistra-, | tioii figures of all • classes ;of men;' of i: Military ago in each military group: It j., is expected that this allotment'will be -'. subject ,to perhaps. considerable altera- | tiou, particularly , when the present figures are checked- and amended as a re- • suit of the personal canvass provided for ; by the now recruiting scheme. "So.apart altogether fromrthe flow «f L' recruits that it should bring-to "the euj lisiiriont office, the- great value of a ;; thorough and systematic personal appeal ' lies in the fact that the preciso numbers i 'furnished'' by it' will enable the Recruit-i'-fing Board to review, and if liecessaryj j. reassess 'the allotment of quotas of the several group areas on a more assured I and reliable basis than is •at present available; v The board will thus ue able, ■ in arranging 'for future requirements, i '.to gfei)':"credit : td tlio groups -which ; ltavo-.ioyally responded to the call, and 1 supplied their-fall or'.even more than ii-heir'full 'quota. Similarly, the board t will_.be in ."a; position -to discriminate against the areas which have failed at any .given date to send forward their , proportion of men, and to ask theso !, - groups to supply an increased quota for ine tuturc. j- - "It has: always to be remembered, of ...- course,. that in allotting these quotas ' I'liG board will be guided not only by ■> tie number of ; men .volunteering to ; - serve with the Expeditionary J?orce, but also by the number of eligible men available as shown by the personal can- ; .vass in conjunction with the figures of the . National Register. . "Another. great advantage to be derived'from'the exhaustive personal can- ' Yass as outliued and provided for under ; ithe new recruitang scheme is .that it will 'Supply the board with the- informa- . tiou necessary, to "enable it to deal with the question of migrating population : . since the National Register was takon, and to adjiiat'-' these - -fluctuations on a basis ' that will be ? equitable to each group area. . "But the personal cahva6s under the " board's' scheme has another and still more omportant function. The only information that the Recrniting Board .•has fn its : possession 1 'with respect to the men of military age who are eligible : ior service in the Dominion is that pronded by the National Register. The, ircuracy of the particulars ia each registration form returned to the Govern•l ment. Statistician was governed only by ; j phe; conscience and loyalty of the individual. There was practically no .pheck on tho man who failed to'give ■ vtheinformation directed'.by. the* National , Registration \Act or who deliberately ■V. ••refrained from doing so.

<' "To Verify and Amplify the National

Register."

"The board, looks to the personal can' rvass. under the recruiting scheme, and ; to the scrutiny of the local alphabetical rolls by the local authorities and committees of- each' di strict, ■to • enable it to verify and.amplify tho National Register, so :that'in the event of compulsory measures' being necessary at any -time tho Government will bo in a position to mako that compulsion operate in the fairest possible way according to tho family and financial obligations of cacli man of military age. It is ob-vious,-therefore, that without, this systematic and thorough personal- canvass tho unwilling will still be able to evade l.heir duty and responsibility; and "will still be'-able -to shelter ■ behind the hien who 'have loyally . responded to tho call of duty. It is thus in the interests of every man who has conscientiously complied with the provisions of the National Registration Act, and it is doubly, in. the interests of every man who has., intimated his willingness to serve, when the call comes, to seo that a completo and thorough -personal canvass of tho men cf military age is made from end to end of the Dominion, because if that is not done tho willing mid loyal men of New Zealand may still-have to carry ...more'-than their fair share of this terrible' "burden, even should compulsion conie:; ;• ; "It is very evident that this aspect jf personal canvass has not been appreciated by those local 'authorities '■ho axe declining to co-operate with iho Recruiting Board and carry out the scheme, and who are urging that compulsion is the only fair method by which . >ur Expeditionary Forces can be mainwined at full strength. Compulsion may be the fairest and best way of securing recruits, but a compulsion that was based on the National Registration figures alone, without tho necessary check that is only to be obtained by a.: personal canvass over every portion of tho Dominion would fail to achieve tho very object that those favouring compulsion havo in now.,

Appeal to Local Bodies. "Tho only effective method by which the available information with respect to the men of military ago can be satisfactorily checked in order that compulsion—should it ever come —may 'bo onforced on a fair and equitable basis, is by. the local bodies and citizensJ'ih cach district undertaking the work of I personal canvass, as they havo tho necessary local knowledge to enable tho. data_ as compiled from tho National' Register to bo made as perfect as possible. Every citizen therefore, who wishes to fill tho gaps left by the men who have already paid the supreme price of patriotism, every citizen who wishes to stand by our soldiers at tho. front who are waiting expectantly for help, everv citizen who wishes that tho sacrifice should he made by those host able to make it, and by the unwilling as well as by the volunteer, should ho prepared to help in-the fullest possible decree to mako this canvass a thorough ■' id searching one.

"It will thus bo seen tint- the personal canvass as outlined bv the: Recruitinjr Board is of tho most, vital importance. That is why the board lias appealed to every local bodvand every pubKc-ipirited citizen to'work steadfastly oik! ..wholeheartedly to ensure tiie success of this scheme. This is a work that for the time being should supersede'all other Antics. Tlie National Government must havo a trustworthy stocktaking of its manhood of military age, so that it may be in a position to prcnaro for any oventnality ' in . this crisis. And who knows wliat the morrow mav brine: forth?

"The Recruiting therefore Tircpiitlv to every local body, to every public man, to every citizen, to give the new recruiting scheme the fullest possible support,- and particularly In see that- the personal canvass is in no way relaxed until en absolutely definite knowledge has been obtained of tho position of every nian of military <ige in New Zealand." T