RECRUITING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2950, 9 December 1916, Page 11

RECRUITING

THE NEXT BALLOT.

' Voluntary recruiting for the Twentyfifth Reinforcements, due to begin their mobilisation in the second' week ; of January, will close to-morrow even- 1 .. ing. The figures already available prove that there will he a fairly substantial . .shortage, and it-is expected that a bal- £ lot. to. cover .the. deficiency, .by selection from among the reservists ofi the First •. Division, will be taken nest week. The exact extent of the shortage should he ■ known by Monday. : The Recruiting Branch now occupios an upper floor in a city building, where it iG dealing methodically with a great mass of work. The number of appeals in hand from reservists of the First Division summoned for servico is well in excess of 2000, and tlio handling of J each appeal involves a' considerable amount of labour. Some twenty girls are employed completing notices, typ- , ing records and copying letters and doouments forwarded by reservists in support of their appeals. This' is one branch of the clerical work. Other

clerks have, te classify and index the

Appeals, forward them to the proper Appeal Boards, and keep records of.the progress of onch appeal, until the fate of the reservist is decided. Th& mon who do not appeal, as well as the men whose appeals ■ have been disallowed, have to be notified when and where to attend for medical examination, and generally the branch has to'keep in .touch with each man until he has got to' enmp or has been finally discharged or allowed to_ fall back into the Reserve, to await the chanco of another ballot. The Government''Statistician's' staff, nencling the'_ taking'-of the'secind'hailot, in checking and amending %h© ; rolls' as fresh information-is:received from the recruiting authorities, the police and other'sources. ■ ! The' : first ballot vealed a- number of errors in the roll, but examinatioi(.:haß-.Bhown 'that inmost case's the explanation was' simple. Tlie reservists themselves were very often at fault. For example, a reservist stated on, his card of - enrolment that lie was married in tho isccond half of last year. His'.n,ime_ was added to tho roll of the First Division, and was picked up in the ballot v But it has since been discovered that the man was a widower when he niarried las't'vear, and that ho hais children of his "first marriage to isupport. Consequently ho belongs to the Second Division, though nobody could havo discovered that fact from his card.