EIGHTH BALLOT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3097, 30 May 1917, Page 6

EIGHTH BALLOT

8,545 NAMES BEING DRAWN

BIG SHORTAGE FOR THIRTY-SECOND

REINFORCEMENTS

~T H 'l', . *""n g of the eighth ballot under tliii .Military tferviee ■ Act was commenced yesterday l>y ilie Government Statistician ■(Mγ. .Malcolm leaser), under the, supervision of Mr. S. IC. AJ'Cartliy, b.Ai. Tlie .recruiting authorities had reported that they required 8345 names trom the roll of the First Division to cover the shortage of voluntary recruits J'or t'>o Thirty-second -Reinforcements. Ihq Dominion shortage for this draft, ■which was closed to voluntary recruiting >'on-Saturday last, was 1898, the largest yet recorded. The proportion of men to be drawn was fixed at 4J to 1, the>resnlt of- the last ballot haviug suggested that the • proportion of five names for each recruit actually required was slightly too high. The ballot .proceeded smoothly during the day. It will be resumed this morning, and probably will'be completed this afternoon. The system of drawing is essentially the same as adopted at the earlier ballots,' biit Iho increased skill of the' Staff and minor improvements in procedure have accelerated the operations greatly. The-cards representing the men remaining in the First Division are- distributed over 107 boxes, . but these boxes no longer contain 500 cards «ach, as they did at the time of the first ballot. The girls who lift the cards when a marble hns been drawn and the number upon it called are now thoroughly practised. They" do their work with almost mechanical regularity, and occupy themselves in their internals, with sewing or books. Every district is concerned in the present ballot. The smallest number of sanies to be drawn for a single recruiting district is 162 for Clutha. Auckland City, which, required 3DB recruits and secured 82 Volunteers, has the biggest shortage, and will be represented by H22 reservists in Hie ballot lists next "week. Wellington City secured 85 volunteers out of 247 men required, Christchurch 10-out of 155, and Dunedin 21 out of lfiS. The position of the various recruiting districts in "relation to voluntary Tβcruiting for the Thirty-second Reinforcements ig as follows:— . Recruiting Voluntary No. ; District. Recruits. Sh'rt'ge. ' I—Auckland, City ...: 82 < 31G 2—Hauraki 7 5G 3—North Auckland 12 , 58 i— Waikato 28 80 a—"Wellington City 85 IG2 6—Manawatu , 10 89 7—Ha.wke'e Bay ......... 2i ,76 ■ S—Taranaki 10 99 9-JChristchnrch 10 145 ' 10—South Canterbury ... i 8811—North Canterbury ... .1 48 12-Nelson ~ 11 . f.l ■13—Dunedin 2+ l.'tt li-Southlaud '. 1G 109 15—North Otago 4 40 16-Clutha 3* . 3G 17-Bay o£ Plenty 13 45 18—Wairarapa 8 80 19-Poverty Bay 18 48 20—Wanganui ~.. 7 80' .. 21—West Coast 0 IS Totals ..... 379 1898 'A comparison of the number of voluntary tecruits secured for successive drafts indicates that the voluntary system can no longer be relied upon to provide a large proportion of the men required .for the monthly drafts. The Defence authorities require about 2200 recruits per month, and the shortages ■which have had to be covered by meai)3 of the ballot have been as follow:— Shortage. \ 23rd Reinforcement 784 24th Reinforcement 585 25th Reinforcement 1000 26th Reinforcement'. 1212 27th Reinforcement 022. 28th RemfoTcement 1367 29th Reinforcement 1501 ■30th Reinforcement ■ 1203 31st Reinforcement 170(1 32nd Reinforcement 1898 There lave been only 0 eight ballots, two Reinforcements being dealt with tojother on two occasions.