The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, September 25, 1915. NATIONAL REGISTRATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1451, 25 September 1915, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, September 25, 1915. NATIONAL REGISTRATION.

In moving the second reading of the National Registration Bill, the Prime Minister said we have confidence in our uavj, but we must not shut our eyes to the fact that we are waging war upon a strong and treacherous enemy. By January next we want 14,000 men, in addition to the men already in camp, and by that time we will have sent 45,000 men, a result which to him appeared wonderful for a small country. In order to do this more throughly we must have a national stocktaking, a census of capacity. We were not asking for a census of wealth, because that information is already in the possession of the taxing departments. The enquiries made will be as simple as possible, and no inquisilorial questions will be asked. The Bill proposed to provide (or the compilation of a national register of men between the ages of 17 and 60 years, and for the compilation of statistics as to other persons. The Bill was not intended to give effect to conscription. He did not favour conscription. He did not believe in compulsory national training, but if by any chance we were not able to find men be would not hesitate a moment between compulsory service and defeat. The Bill would bring home to thousands of young men a clear sense of duty and by so doing he thought would render conscription unnecessary. The Bill met with the almost unanimous approval of the House and was passed through all its stages.