NEW ZEALAND'S DUTY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2895, 6 October 1916, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND'S DUTY

"Fresh supplies of men for the armies and munition aro urgently needed," says the British Man Power Board, after hearing evidence from .the War Office, the Admiralty, and Ministry of Munitions. ' The appeal concerns Now Zealand as well as the United Kingdom, and the mere statement that the present rate of_ reinforcement is sufficient to maintain the strength of this country's units in tho field, despite the recent .heavy casualties, is not,a sufficient reply. Admittedly, tho monthly drafts aro i large enough .to cover .normal wastage, with the assistance of the, reserves that accumulated during the period' of comparative inactivity following the withdrawal from Gallipoli. But tho question raised by The Dominion a few days ago, and emphasised by the statement of tho Man Power Board, is whethor or not. the maintenance of the units already in the field is tho full measure of New Zealand's duty at this stage of the war. Obviously there is a limit to the number of men that this country, can send intothe firing lino without gravely reducing its capacity for production, and if that limit were being nearly approached a proposal for nastening, the mobilisation of the remaining men would not be sound policy. But the available figures, which may be subject to officialcorrection, indicate thatrTew Zealand could form two additional brigades of. infantry for service in the probably decisive campaign of the next European spring and summer w'ithout\ impairing its ability to reinforce the existing units at the present rate until tho end of next year. The number of men remaining available for service in the First Division of the Expeditionary Forcei Reserve ought not to bi far short of 15,000, and in addition thero will be between 8000 and 9000 men reaching the age of twenty years during the next • twelve months. Then at a conservative computation there are not fewer than 15,000 married men and widowers of military age without children, forming the first class of, the Second Division of the Reserve. Some of these men will bo able to claim exemption on the ground that their enlistment would be contrary to the interests of the State and for other reasons, but against that may be counted the fact that New Zealand has not yet made any organised effort to' free fit men for service by arranging for their replacement by unfit men and women. For example, we are still employing male tramway conductors and male shop-assistants in considerable numbers, whereas iii' tho United Kingdom these employments have been occupied almost entirely by women for some time : past. The Government is not entitled, in these circumstances, ■ to argue that wo are straining our resources. Yet if we are doing anything less, with the decisive stages of the campaign close upon us, we surely are falling short of our duty. The point for consideration to-day is not what amount of assistance New Zealand can conveniently render tq the Motherland in her war; the war is our war just as much as anybody else's, and the call is for our maximum effort to be applied in tie most effective possible way. The United Kingdom is not leaving fit men in civilian employment in order that reinforcements may be available in 1918.. The policy of the War Office, plainly stated, is to concentrate effort on the smashing of the enemy this year and next year. New Zealand can fall into line with that policy by hastening tho mobilisation of the men still available for service.