THE RECRUITING SCHEME

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2757, 28 April 1916, Page 6

THE RECRUITING SCHEME

ONEHUNGA-S ACHIEVEMENT

"READY FOR CONSCRIPTION NOW."

WHY ROLLS MUST BE

COMPLETE

A proof that no impossible task is i set to recruiting committees under tho ' Government scheme is furnished by re- < suits achieved by the Onehuuga Bor- ; ough Council. This body has abso- : lutely completed its work in accordance with tho Recruiting Board's requirements. And Onehunga, it should bo known, is no village. The borough i contains a big population. "I have had a letter from tho Onehunga Borough Council, reporting what they nave done," said the Defence Minister yesterday, referring to the matter. "The council sec to work, and arranged for a canvass of everybody in the district. They made some SOOO visits; they found 187 men whose names were not on tho roll, and they put them oil; they> found that 200 names on their roll ought to be on other rolls, and they dealt with these cases. . They have' got in 991 recruiting report cards, and tney met with onty_ au men who refusod to sign the cards. They met with no troußle of any sort—no insults or abuse. They have supplied the Recruiting Board with full particulars of all the men in their district of military age—those without dependants, tuosc with wife and child, those with two children, and so on. The men are all classified. Onehunga is ready for conscription to-mor-row should it be necessary to introduce it. And unless this sort of thing is done in other distriots there is bound to be injustice when compulsion is put into operation. If the rolls are not brought up to date the shirker will be allowed to shirk. He will not put his own name on the roll. Somebody must put it on for him, and the only people who can do this work effectively are the local people who know the district and the people. The National Register is not a complete record. I have heard of numerous cases of men who simply tore up their registration cards." Referring to the Auckland recruiting system, which is not the Government scheme, Mr." Allen saiu that it was wonderfully effective up to date, but he still liad doubts about its effectiveness over a long trial. Also, it would not dovetail in with the compulsory . scheme to be introduced. It was true, ho believed, that Auckland was getting a fair number ot its recruits from surrounding boroughs, and_some few from country districts. Tne question was sure to crop up soon as to' what districts ought to have credit for men enlisted in the centre in this way. It was only justice that districts where some trouble had been taken to complete tho, rolls and prepare .the organisation should hsve credit for every man from that district who enlisted", whether he actually signed on in that district or outside of it.