The Dominion. FRIDAY MARCH 31, 1916. A DEFECTIVE REGISTER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2734, 31 March 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY MARCH 31, 1916. A DEFECTIVE REGISTER

Whatever may bo thought the Recruiting Board's scheme to stimulate voluntary enlistments for service with our troops abroad, it must bo admitted that the effort made through the local bodies has been productive of at least one good result. It has led to the disclosure, that the National Register of men of military age, compiled some months ago, as a guide to the number .of men available in the country for military service and to ascertain tho number willing to enlist, is by no means a reliable guide. In discussing the work of those engaged in recruiting, the Prime Minister, a day or two ago, very properly made mention of the excellent service rendered by the Recruiting Committee in the Ashley County:

Evidence of what can l>o done In furtherance .of the Board's recruiting scheme when the work is taken in hand by a hand of enthusiastic workers (the Prime Minister remarked) is afforded by the labours of the Ashley County Recruiting Committee, of which Professor F. W. Haslam is the hon. secretary and organiser. The committee carefully checked its own roll in conjunction with the rolls of the adjacent local bodies,.with the result that it has added to the original roll supplied \>J the Recruiting Board from tho National Register nearly as many names as were on it, in addition to transferring to their proper rolls the names ot men that appeared in error on the Ashley County roll. The Ashley Committee then completed its very excellent work by having its amended and amplified roll reprinted for the use of the cauv«33ers who are making tho personal appeal.' Evidently the Ashley Recruiting Committee is a model for recruiting organisations everywhere, but the incidental reference to the state of the National Register is startling. If ■ the Register is defective in the manner indicated it may easily bo so marred by further detects in the way of omissions and otherwise as to largely reduce its value. There is no reason to suppose that the Asnley County rolls, based on the National Register, are worse compiled than others, and such being the case tho value of the National Register' is seriously discounted., At tho present time the whole recruiting effort is being conducted largely on the basis of.the National Register; and the recruiting epiotas allotted to the difference military areas are also based on the figures of the National Register. While the actual results of the recruiting campaign may not bo seriously affected by the condition of the-Register, for except in isolated cases tho personal canvass which it was intended to facilitate does not seem to have been attempted, the matter is of considcrabk importance in view of the probability that before the war onds resort to compulsory.- service may be necessary. The National Register is practically tho only guide the Government and the military authorities at present possess as to the men available for service, and if that guide is as incomplete as the Ashley experience suggests, then the sooner it is brought up to date the better. The first thing to be done obviously is to ascertain how it is that the krown cases in the Ashley County came to be omitted from the National Register. There should be no difficulty in getting this information, and it should prove very useful to the Registrar-General's Department in . assisting to probe the position in other parts oi the Dominion. The matter is' one which should be dealt with by the Government without unnecessary delay.