LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2917, 1 November 1916, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE

Sir, —When Captain Barclay Look charge of tho recruiting office at tho Town Ilall on October 9, 1915, one of the first suggestions ho'niade was that a recruiting sergeant, with the familiar ribbon, should be employed to appeal to the young men of the city. Ho indicated a suitablo man, but that suggestion, like most of thoso ho made, was "turned down." Now, on October 31, 1916, after the customary gibe against AVellington city, we learn that yesterday the staff sergeant-majors appeared as recruiting officers adorned with red, white, and bluo ribbons. In this caso it has taken the authorities a year to give effect to the captain's suggestion. That is typical of tho attitudo of the Dofencd Department towards him. How he had to fight to get, first, a doctor, and then a dentist at tho Town Hall to examine the men when they came to enlist. How ho struggled to get tho Government to pay for the cost of putting teeth right, or of minor operations to enable a man to go into camp, or of glasses for men who did not need them in normal life. Ho urged tho Government to swear the recruit in when ho enlisted, so as to have a hold on him as a soldier. "Turned 'down." The . Department could not afford to pay tlio man. Months after tho Department adopts the idea, does swear the man in, does pay him, and then, for want of a littlo foresight and a littlo tact, Captain Barclay and his band of zealous helpers, of whom had hold high official' positions, aro allowed to givo up the work of registering recruits at the Town Hall, which tncy had dono so effectively (and to the relief of tho Department) for nearly a year. And tho thanks Captain Barclay gets for nearly a year's patriotic service is a reference to his "self-imposed task." the history of recruiting in Wellington conies to bo. written, the public and the soldiers, too, will realise how grateful the community should bo to tho Captain, and how much more might havo been achieved if the.Government, instead of snubbing him, ha<l given prompt and practical effect to his suggestions.

It was with reluctance that the Defence Department consented to the War League opening a recruiting office at the Town Hall, owing to tho War League's then "more men" policy (to which tho Government subsequently gave effect), and ever since that office opened, and while it was in charge of civilians, the papers of Wellington were strangely silent about its doings. Wo used to read daily of tho number of men registered at Buckle Street, but had no record of how many of those were enrolled at the Town Hall. But as soon us the Defence Department, at the invitation of the Mayor, installed itself in the Town Hall, day by day was recorded the number of recruits registered and sworn in, including a largo number of those who bad been previously registered by Captain Barclay. As for the reproach to Wellington for scarcely attempting tho work of canvassing for recruits, I venture to say, os far as tho volunteers are concerned, that when wo can get detailed and accurate figures from the beginning of the war, it will be found that Wellington has not only supplied her share, but part of tbat of some of tho other districts. As far as civilians persondly_ canvassing for enrolment on the National Register or for recruits is concerned, responsible people in Wellington have held and stated publicly that this is essentially work that should bn done by responsible officials appointed by tho Government, and having a. definite status, and that in a democracy should be paid for by the peoplo as a whole. The Government is doing at the eleventh hour what it should have •done at the first;

I write this letter in justice to Captain Barclay and to the City of Wellington, and also because the facts set out in it illustrate the unsytepathetio attitude of the Government to civilian assistance. The civilian is, speaking broadly (no matter what his experience, whether a .retired army officer, or a scientific man, and although he lias been in touch with 4000 recruits), troated as if his ideas were not worth consideration, and snubbed 1 accordingly. Now, if we are to win the war, and' win it we must, we have to rely not upon the soldiers in the field alone, but on the civilians at homo, too. Where would the Allies be without England's four million munition workers? So here ovexy man and overy woman who can take the place of a man who goes to the front, is putting one more man in the field against the Germans. But what is the Government doing to organise us for work at home in the producing industries of the country, in tho Civil Service, in the educational establishments, in the commerce_ of the cities? That organisation is surely something that could be entrusted to a committee of thoroughly representative I citizens. Plenty of men are eating their I

hearts out becauso they can do so .little, but their enthusiasm has been chiliad by tho ooldness of the Government.

Aiid tlio recruiting office at tho Town Hall is a typical example of hoir voluntary civilian effort is choked off. Had tlio Government been well advised, it would at an early stage liavo handed over all registration, enrolment, and swearing-in of recruits to the civilians at the 'J'own Hall, and thereby released' so many more of the staff for active service. I assume, of course, a Government with sufficient foresight to pass legislation to enable a civilian to administer the oath. As it ifc, wo have lost the services of a. man with a splendid grasp of tho work and a coiirtcsy and tact in dealing with men that is invaluable to the community; wo havo lost the services of his assistants, men of standing in tho city, and tho army in the field is reduced by tho immbor of soldiers who must stay in New Zealand to fill tlieirplaces.—l am, etc., H. F. VON HAAST.