The Pukekohe & Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1916 OBSTACLES TO RECRUITING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 173, 12 May 1916, Page 2

The Pukekohe & Waiuku Times

PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1916 OBSTACLES TO RECRUITING.

" FT*c nothing extenuate, nor tel down auaht in malice."

The Official Organ ot . The Franklin County Council. The Pukekohe Borough Council. The Tuakau Town Board. The Karaka Road Board. The Pokeno Road Board. The Wairoa Road Board. The Papakura Town Board. Tho Waikato Rivor Board. The Mercer Town Board. The Manurewa Town Board

That recruiting both in Franklin County and in the Borough of Pukekohe is failing to give satisfactory returns is causing concern to the respective Kecruiting Committees. The reasons of the failure to support the national cause, however, ' must be ascribed as to some extent due to official methods, which tend to damp the patriotic aidour ot loyalists For instance, the employment in the Fukekohe district by the Railway Department of enemy aliens as labourers on the railway works in progress on the main line Wbs recently the subject of adverse public comment locally, very great resentment being expressed at the fact that places vacated by Britishers enlisting were filled by foreigners, with whose nation England was at war. The information then afforded by the Kailway Department was that tbe men 'referred to were Dalmations, who refused to acknowledge allegiance to Austria. The knowledge, however, still remained that a good many ot the men, [who to suit exigencies styled themselves Dalmatians were un naturalised and thus being alien-enemies should not be in receipt of Government pay. The latest development is that this week one ot the men has been arrested by the police and has been handed over to the military authorities lor detention, by reason, it is understood, ot the fact that he neither in accordance with regulations reported himself to the police as being a vassal of a hostile State Dor applied for any permit lor bis occasional absence from tt.e district as required by regulations. Wbiht these foreigners are premittcd tu "jump" places vacated by patrioticNew Zealanders it is only natural that recruiting will be impeded Then, again the retention in the Dominion by the Defence Department ot yuunj; atle-bodied men as members of its permaneLt or temporary Stall is not encauraigng to observers. How can a possible recruit to made to realise that he has any duty to perform to the

himpire when he sees before him a man in uniform, who has a remunerative billet and holds on to it, whether by Lis own inclination cr by consent of the Defence Department, instead of going forward for duty in the tiring tine? i'he excuse that such men should for training purposes be retained in the Dominion is no longer serviceable. Equally or more competent men have now returned Irom the front incapacitated tor further participation in the war but eminently fitted for duty as Area (Jlt'cers or as recruiting oilicials. Nevertheless tor some reason or other the Defence Department does not sppear to desire to take advantage ot their sirvices, but prtfeis to retain in occupation the- e(alwart thpfible, who should be serving his country in a more important sphere of duty

to characterise the procedure of the Defence Department in regard to tbe enlistment ot recruits, as denoted by the mllowing cutting from the "Auckland Stat" of last Saturday, viz.:—"Three voung rain from Bombay have a grievance against the recruiting officials in Auckland. They 6tate that on Thursday they visited tbe recruiting station in VrctoriH street for the purpose ot enlisting; that on asking to bs attached to the mounted rifles or the artillery they were refused; ar.d that when, in reply to % question, they said they came from Bombay, they were told that they must enlist at Hamilton. One of the trio—a strapping young tarmer named Cornthwaite—siys that they left the station with feelings of disgust, and with a determination to return to their work." This development may or may not have been a sequel to the objection forwarded by the Franklin County Council to the Hecruiting Board against the practice adopted of acceptiog recruits from the country districts and crediting them to Auckland instead of to their proper recruiting centre-Hamilton, in the case ot Pukekohe and the County of Franklin-with the result that the district concerned was handicapped in furnishing its allotted quota to No. 1, Hamilton, area. Surely, however, the solution of the problem should be easy and is only a matter of bookkeeping. A recruit should be accepted wherever he offers his services and it would be no matter of difficulty to simply credit him in the books to the district to which he actually belongs. So far, the greater proportion of the recruits from Franklin County and Pukekohe have joined the ranks in Auckland instead of in Hamilton and will continue to do so as the more accessible place, and the sooner the Defence Department accustomß itself to circumstances and arranges formalities accordingly the more confidence will be placed in its administration