AUSTRALIAN RECRUITS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2984, 23 January 1917, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN RECRUITS

ENCOURAGING ENLISTMENT

NEW FEDERAL SCHEME

.. : The new Australian recruiting scheme has somo interesting features. The Director-General of Recruiting (■Senator Mackinuou) has authorised the State Commandants to make provision for tho raising of reinforcements on a Territorial basis, and also to make arrangements to enable men to enlist, so far as the military situation per- . inits, in the branch of the service which they prefer. These instructions read as follow:— v "Each recruit when volunteering is Jo be asked to express his preference •for the aim of tho service that ho •wishes to join, and the particular unit to which he desires to bo allotted. This will be inserted at the head of his attestation sheet and application form for enlistment. Each recruit will be alloted to the arm or unit ho prefers, as far as vacancies iwrinit. No difficulty in this respect should occur in the allotment of men as reinforcements ifor any partioular infantry or pioneer unit. If the arm of the sorvico preferred by a recruit is full, volunteers should be urged to waive their preference, so that fEo urgent nee'd for men should not suffer. " "The wishes of friends and companions to be allotted to the same tent, hut; section, or unit are to be complied with. Men belonging to the same occupation, or_.in employment, or men from jhe same locality, are to be allotted to the same unit, and they may enlist together, provided they can form a reinforcement draft of 150 men. -Such a draft may go into camp as a separate reinforcement unit,, be trained , together, and embark together. Aii ap- ' peal should be made to the following classes to form separate reinforcement units:— Warehousemen, sportsmen, stock- , men, farmers, artisans, and build- . era, rifle clubs, universities and high schools, sawmillers and timier men, bankers' and accountants, labourers, clerks, and so on. _ "To provide for the provision of reinforcements on a territorial basis, each Federal electorate committee should be informed of its monthly quota to maintain infantry reinforcements, and, as far as practicable, an attempt should be made to 1 regularly allot recruits from certain electorates as reinforcements for tho same units. •In this manner-each electorate (or two vor more electorates, as necessary) will . 'gradually Become identified with a par•'•'"viioular unit abroad. In this connection it will also' be -nossiblo, to some extent, to associate this Territorial recruiting scheme with the localities of militia infantry units, which are being renumbered similar to units now on active service, according to proposals re'bently submitted to district command- • ants." Local responsibility as th'e Eeynote of Senator Mackinnon's scheme. He wiehes to identify each district in, tlfe Commonwealth with a particular unit and so > give the residents a , definite obligation in the provision of reinforcements: _ He stated last week that ho ■was satisfied the movement would succeed. The attention of the people had •been arrested, and turned tothe necessity for further effort. '