MORE MEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 169, 6 April 1918, Page 10

MORE MEN

| NEW ZEALAND'S RESPONSE CABINET APPROVES MEASURES ANNOUNCEMENT TO BE MADE IN PARLIAMENT NO TIME FOR HALF-MEASURES. The provision of reinforcements, in view of the. serious developments on tho Western front, was considered at a meeting of Cabinet yesterday. The Prime 'Minister stated subsequently that certain measures had been approved and would be reported to Parliament when the session opened next week. Necessary arrangements were being made already, and the Government was in communication with the Army Council. It is understood that the decision of Cabinet involves advancing the date of the next reinforcement, and the dates of mobilisation of recruit drafts,. Probably some early use will be made of certain reserves already available in England. An increase of the monthly reinforcement quota is dependent upon information. that will be supplied by the Army Council. MR. MASSEY SPEAKS. "MORE MEN AND STILL MORE MEN." "Victory depends upon ourselves," said the Prime Minister at Khandallah last night. "I believe that things will come right, but they will come right only if British people in every part of the Empire do their duty. I can tell you, without giving away Cabinet secrets, that during a great part' of to-day members of the Government were sitting in Cabinet considering how best to meet the appeal for increased assistance that has been made by the British Prime Minister, Mr. Lloyd George. I am not in a position to state what tho Government has decided. We have arrived at certain decisions, which will be made tpublic in due course. I might be able to tell you more hut for the fact that some of our decisions have to be submitted to the Imperial authorities for their consideration and approval.

"A cablegram that mil bo dispatched within the next few hours, if it has not already been dispatched, will tell the Imperial Cabinet what New Zealand intends to do. _ We have asked for their advice. ; W hen we recoivo an answer to that cablegram, we shall make a ?;atement in Parliament as to what wo have premised the Imperial Government on bohalf of the people of New .Zealand. Wo shall be able to say to you, as citizens of the Dominion, 'The Imperial Government, in the hour of ummon peril, has nsked Neiv Zealand and -tlio other States of the Empire to give all tl.-eir assistance. We have done it already, and wo are going to do it again.' Wo have pledged you citizens of this country to a certain course of action, and I have not the slightest doubt that you will honour the pledge we have made on your bslialf." (Applause.) . Referring to the war . ituation, Mr. Massey said that ho and every other citizen of Now Zoaland had road the cablegrams of the last fortnight with a great deal of anxiety. But the nation's anxiety had been mingled with pride at the heroism displayed ty the soldiers of the Empire-pieroism , that had not be?n excelled in any of the battles of history, and I hat had se'dom been equalled. It 1 was quite evident now, as many people had known earlier, that during the winter ir.cr.'ths the Central Powers had been jprepaiing a smashing; blow on the British fiont, with the intention of ending the war in their favour. The blow hud been delivered with a stupendous weight of artillery and infantry behind it, but the British line, although it hf.d been bent, had remained unbroken, and the Empire's soldiers had made the Germans pay a heavy price tor every foot of territory they won. Another Blow to Gome. "We think now that the end of the first blow has come," if.id Mr. Massey. "The British line has renamed intact and the spirit ci o'.r soldiers is unbroken. But we have got to tight on. There will be another blow. Let us make no mistake about that. It is absolutely certain that another enemy push will come, and we have to bo ready to back up our soldiers in preparing f° r AVe have to face this, fast: that the Germans and "their allies have now a sufficient stock of food and munitions to enable thtm to carr? on the war vigorously tor a considerable period. "The. time has arrived for a great effort, and I think that Mr. Lloyd George did absolutely the right thing when he sent out that stirring appeal to the Dominions of the Empire and to the United States to send all the men they were able to transport. I hope and believe that, the response of the Dominions will be worthy of the occasion. I hope and believe that t lie people ol" the Empire will show thai their determination to win is as strong as it was at the outbreak of the war. (Applause.) This is no time lor hesitation or for hall-measures; nor is it a time for what Kipling calls the frantic boast and the foolish word. It is a 'time tor steadfast determination. We are told iiy some people that America is coming in and that Americans will win the war. A reply of that sort at tile present time does not show the true British spirit. i believe that the Americans will come in and that their millions will play a treat part later) But to-day the responsibility is with the British and ihe i'renoli. Jt is our fight. "Much has been saia of the courage and endurance of the Dominion troops, which have fought side by side with Britain's armies. We cannot eay too much of what our men have done. Today more man of the same stamp a:a 'wanted—more men and still more men. The more men we are able to place in the field during the next few months the bitter.it will bo for the Empire and far humanity. We know that fighting men are scarcer than they were. Our difficulties are grcitcr than they weie. But it is more :m----portant that we have additional troops in the field during the next .free months thnn it was to provide more men during the first six months ot the war. We cannot be guided by what any other country is doing. New Zealand is responsible for itself.. Our country has. done its duty up to the present timo, but this is no reason for stopping now. Our duty under existing circumstances is to do all that we are capable of doing. That is what the Government of this country is going to ask the people to back it up in doing/' (Applause.) The Prime Minister mentioned -.hat up to the present time about 1(10.000 New Zealanders had been taken into camp, and 90,000 had left the country for servico overseas. About ] 7,000 of these men had been returned to the Dominion, many, of them inoapaoitatsd

wholly or partially. Thousands of others luid fallen, and their names were recorded indelibly in the history of the nation.

NEW ZEALAND'S RESERVES

THE MILITARY POINT OF VIEW. The suggestion is nuda in military circles tiui the most uiiective way fur •New Zealand to 10 the request lor more men is to create an additional brigade or brigades lroin troops already 111 England and undertake to reiniorce tin; ueiv units as well as the Now Zealand Division. This arrangement would involve ail immediate increase 111 the reinforcement quota. Die ex lent of the increase woulu dopenu, apparently, upon oiiicial reports as to tne rate ot wastage under present conditions 011 the West front.

i'igures that have been made public by tne .\linisier of Defence suggest that the iNew Zealand reserves available 111 England and France are large. The number oi men sent from New Zealand has been in the neighbourhood of i) 0,000. The Minister has said t-nat the strength of the Aw Zealand Division, the lUounted Brigade, the Tuunellers, and certain smaller units requiring to be .reinforced totals 23,243 men. .Nearly 17,000 men have been returned to the Dominion, and about 11,000 are dead, missing, or prisoners. Then there are the sick and wounded men in hospital in Englaud and France. After allowing for these men, very many of whom will eventually return to their regiments, it is evident that the New Zealand Command lias a large body of troops in reserve.

The distribution of reserves was explained by the Minister of Defence in tho House of Representatives last year. The Minister said that thero wore 4500 men in the 4th Brigade, an extra unit formed from accumulated reinforcements and since ordered to be broken up as required for the supply of reinforcements to the division. There was an immediate reserve' of 4000 fullytrained men at Etaples, and there were 10,000 jit men in England, presumably consisting largely of new drafts in process of training. Then there were troops en routo to England and some thousands of men. employed at tho camps and headquarters in England. The Defence Department has always realised that the maintenance of adequate reserves is necessary. The fighting forces have to be maintained at full strength, and heavy casualties may be incurred at any time. New Zealand is so far away from the scene of operations that tho reserves must be in England or Franco if they are to be available when they are wanted. All increase in reinforcements at this end. cannot begin to have effect in the field for at least ;-ix months, owiiiL' to the period of training and the time occupied in transport. But the figures quoted above suggest that there should he 110 difficulty about tho reeoiistitu-. tion of the Fourth Brigade, if indeed it is not still in existence, without, trenching unduly upon reserves, and it may be possible to do more. If the Government should decide 'to increase reinforcements, there will be no military or technical difficulties to face. .The training organisation and the camps are already in existence. Extra, equipment (an bo secured without. difficulty. Tho camps, since tho reduction of reinforcements, have been working very far below r their full capacity, and if it were thought desirable now tliev could receive at least 10,000 additional recruits at short notice. But the feeling in military circles is that the response to the appeal for more men is not likely to take the form of an immediate big draft. The transport difficulty would loonr very large if anything of this nature wore attempted, and the necessity for main-' taining reinforcements for the remainder of the,war, an indefinite and possibly prolonged period, is another consideration.