WANTED A TONIC!
FOR RECRUITING EBB & FLOW IN -WELLINGTON 1 . The Rccruiting.'OfficeJn the Wellington Town Hall may be regarded -as a very trustworthy thermometer as to the state of recruiting in Wellington, and, as the present lull in the face of very heavy casualty lists is sunicwhat extraordinary, :a Dominion reporter sought for possible reasons • to account lor the' big drop. "Juuc was remarkable," said Captain Barclay, "for the' accession of recruiting in Wellington. Thanks to something like definite .talk about the Military Service Bill, a big wave ,of recruits railed in, • which give us our maximum results since tho first, few weeks after the'office was opened last year. . .1 une, I say, was .remarkable—so was July, lor on' July Iwe only registered eight recruits, .as against an average of at-least thirty pe'r'ttay'in sthe preceding month. And rt has tiuctiiu.tcd on a low! • average through the month,, until I see to-day (it was then 3 p.m.)' we liavo • registered only three recruits. . , . • "The Town Hall Recruiting Office authorities have been careful to. secure an adequate-number of men for the 19th Reinforcements, and from official statements,! believe that the men rolled up in full numbers. The next problem, however, is to procure a sufficient number of men for the 20th and 'succeeding drafts. The question that presents itself just now is—what is the cause of the sudden fall in recruiting in July (as compared with June). Primarily, 1 believe it" to be the'uncertainty as to when compulsory service (under the Military Service Act) is to come into operation. ■ l't is a remarkable fact that, with daily casualty lists, of formidable length l appearing, there is no response 'to fill 'the gups. The reverses in Gallipoli acted as a tonic at that time to recruiting,, and how much more should the present greai effort bo backed up by the spontaneous oft'or of-"service by our young manhood.
"I w_a.nt to emphasise this point, too. Tho circumstantial rumours more or less current for some time past of the probability of ifcho Central, Powers not facing'another winter may have liad a deterrent. effect on our spontaneous energies. If there is anything in this, tho antidote, is obvious. Should such a happy consummation arise as terms of peace to be seriously discussed within, say, tho next six months, surely it is up to New Zealand, xyith "its sporting ius'tincts,, to bear in mind that when two combatants approach the', last round it is the man with the biggest punch that holds the oddp. •
"Why should we not recruit a reserve, say, of 20,000 men, over and abovo our normal requirements, so that when the time'comes Now Zealand may havo u Lacking in men—if not with men-at-arms ;-whorowith to hammer in hor opinions, opinions she may be entitled to' voice for the price of blood she has paid. . "In the meantime' we can only continue* lo work along .tho lines wo havo been working, and urge tho young men —there are plenty of them yet—to come ■along'and enlist. Come along and fill Up the gaps! I think,that a serious .pronouncement on the present "position by the Government ,Recruiting Board would-be of immense assistance 'to recruiiiifg/ at tho present juncture (failing something definite, about, the date on which the ..Military Service Act is to become operative). It is, in fact, tho needed tonic!". ,
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2832, 25 July 1916, Page 6
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555WANTED A TONIC! Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2832, 25 July 1916, Page 6
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