A BIG PROBLEM.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 6, 8 January 1915, Page 8

A BIG PROBLEM.

OUR EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

NEXT YEAR'S QUOTA.

ONE MAN IN SEVEN NEEDED. (Written for the Sun.) Recent announcements by the Defence Department, and statements by the Minister of Defence have made it abundantly clear that New Zealanl is going to be kept to its original agreement to maintoin it's Expeditionary Force now in the field at its original strength for the entire duration of the war, "whether it lasts months or years." Most people are not aware of what this means, but even a most superficial glance at the figures will show that the Dominion is setting itself a .very big problem indeed; and should the war be a lengthy one—as there is every reason to fear it will be—the utilmate result must be that practically every man in New Zealand capable of rendering efficient military service will be called upon. The work of recruiting has been done so quietly, and there has been so little of popular enthusiasm which marked the departure of our contingents to South Africa, that the great bulk of th& public has failed to grasp the magnitude of the, effort which the Army headquarters in London ask us to make.

I 12,460 ALREADY CONE. When the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force sailed from Wellington in a grey October dawn, it comprised over 8000 men, and two months previously about 2200 men bad been despatched to Samoa. Since that date a body of reinforcements numbering over 2000 has sailed for Egypt. Tims, before ever a New Zealander has fired a shot, we have in the. field more than than 10,000 men, and a fifth of that number on the 'water—a. total already left our shores of 12,400 men. The Government now states that it must have 900 men every month in order to keep our division in the field at full strength,, and it proposes to keep 3400 men continually in camp at Trentham, undergoing preliminary training before being dispatched whither the War Office orders.

Although everyone appreciates the difference made in his own circle of friends by the departure of the troops, the actual effect of the temporary loss of so many young men to the Dominion is apparently so small that peo nle fail to recognise what a sacrifice the Dominion is behig called npon to make. When the nations of Eurone are putting millions of men into the •field, and when the British Force of some 300,00 men can be referred to in German official circles as "a contemptible little army," a force of 12,400 seems a mere bagatelle—and such it would be if it were not for the fact that it has been supplied by

a country whose total population is not much in excess of a million. .OUTSTRIPPING BRITAIN AND CANADA.

Already New Zealand has dispatched one person out of every 88 in the Islands. What exactly these figures mean may he hetter understood when it is remembered that, so far, Great Britain has sent one in every 150 of her population, Canada one in 218, and Australia one in 127. The Antipftdean Dominions have in the beginning easily outstripped the Homeland and" Canada. Of course, as time goes on, Creat Britain will have a far •greater proportion of men in the field ithah -the most self-sacrificing of her Dominions; but that is only natural. The nearness of the war, the imminence of the danger of invasion of Great "Britain itself, the sight of the movements, of the huge armies and mighty fleets, the constant arrival of prisoners of war, refugees, and wounded from Europe—-all serve to bring home to the young men of the Homeland that the Empire is really at (loath-grips, whilst we in New Zealand sec life going on around us very much as if nothing out of the way had ever happened. That is what makes it all the more remarkable that the Empire's call for help has already often answered in such a generous fashion.

But the true significance of tbe figures come out when we reckon out the proportions of tjie soldiers required of us to the male population capable of bearing arms—for, after all, this is the most valuable computation of all. When the troops were first ■assembled-, just after the outbreak of war, recruiting was confined to men between the ages of 20 and 35 years. The whole of the Samoan Force, and the hulk of the main body were refruited from men in that period of life. Subsequently the age was raised to 40 years, and a force of 500 men between the ages of 40 and 45 is now being raised for service in Samoa. SOME INTERESTING FIGURES, According to the census of 1911, there were in the Dominion 193,254 males between tbe ages of 20 and 40. These numbers were inclusive of everybody, without regard to fitness, nationality,' or any other consideration bearing on the possibility of their being called upon for military duty. Tf we leave out Chinese, enemy subjects, and the obviously unfit, we shall he leaving a generous margin if wo calculate the numher of males in the Dominion in 1914 as 195,000. Of these we have already dispatched from our shores 12,400 or one in 15. Wlien it is remembered that the overwhelming majority of the first two

forces were well under the age of thirty, it ran be seen that the proportion of young men of Tentorial age already taken from us is very largej well over 10 per oent. Our soldiers in South Africa numbered only one in 25 of the "serviceable" population.

The Government now intends to call up 900 men per month for training, which means that during the year in which we are entering .10,800 men between the ages of 20 and 40 iwill be needed, These, with the men already in camp at Trentham lor the. third and fourth reinforcements, will igive us a total of very nearly 25,000 men by the end of 1915. The Dominion's quota will then he one in II of its entire population, or one in7.B of its "serviceable" manhood. And that is for only seventeen months of a war which may quite conceivably last for at least three years. The task before the Dominion is, therefore, one of very great magnitude, and to carry it out loyally and thoroughly will tax our resources to the utmost.

It may be said that surely in the hour of the supreme need of the Empire, one seventh of the manhood of the nation Avill be patriotic enough to respond to the call, and that is probably very true; but then the question arises, what proportion of this seventh is fit for service? Of course, the Defence Department does not tell how many recruits have already been rejected as medically unfit, but anyone who has seen anything at all of the recruiting of the forces knows that they number thousands. During the first rush For enlistment in Wellington, the writer saw large numbers of men passing through the hands of the officers of the N.Z.A.M.C., and was surprised at the proportion of rejects. The examination was very strict,and in many cases young men were ordered to stand aside who had never had a day's real illness in their lives, and who were quite unconscious of the fact that there was anything constitutionally wrong with them. HURRIED RECRUITINC. A /striking illustration of this was afforded by the recruiting for the lal'tillery on the day before the main body actually sailed from Wellington. At the last moment it was decided to send another field battery, and notices were posted in the city calling for recruits. It was too late even for the insertion of an advertisement in the daily papers. The notices were posted about noon, and applicants for enlistment were- asked to attend at the wharf at 2.30 p.m. Fired no doubt by miitary-enthusiasm engendered by the sight of the embarkation of the Force, hundreds of young tfnen presented themselves. They came straight from their work in office, shop, and factory, many of them without coats and bearing the marks of labour at the forge or on the waterfront. An eager and apparently healthy band they were. Smart sergeant-majors went through the ranks, picking out the most likely men, and here and there summarily dismissing an obviously unfit candidate 1 . Then in batches of four or five 'the best of the men were passed in to the doctors. It was more than surprising to see the number who came out crest-fallen and hastened away with the curt remark to the enquiring sergeant-majors, "Blown out!" These men were really keen. The troopships were actually pulling .out from the wharves to, take up their positions in the stream ready for the morrow's eariy departure. They had no time to settle their affairs; many of them could not even get home to say goodbye to Ibheir people. They were urgently needed, and they were prepared to give up everything to fill the sudden gap; but no consideration of their enthusiasm weighed with tfie medical officers. "Sorry, old chap," they would say, "but I am afraid you won't do for artillery." "But I've never been ill in my life," the disappointed recruit would say. "You arc not fit for military duty; put on your clothes and make room for someone else. Next please!" The would-be soldier was thus dismissed, and had no other course but to take his wondering departure. EVERY AUITAfeLE MAN WANTED. In many cases, of course, men have been rejected for temporary ailments, and many now, be quite lit. These should present themselves again. Frequently also, the rigid examination showed some minor defect which can easily be set right by a slight surgical operation, and where the really keen man is aware of this he can be depended on to have himself put right. 11l ofte case known to the writer a young man who had been previously passed for substantial life insurance and thought he was physically perfect, was informed by a medical officer that he was in this position. He has already submitted himself to the surgeon's knife, and has been accepted for one of the reinforcements.

Perhaps as time goes on the examination imposed may not be so strict, but a sick man is only a hindrance in the field, and it is not fair to the recruit himself, no matter how keen he may be, an allow him to expovse himself to hardships which would only make acute any small trouble he might have. Tt seems absolutely certain that before the nexb year is out, the Dominion, will have need of every healthy young man it can get.

and it behoves the youth of New Zealand to keep lit in case they may be culled upon, it is humiliating for a man to be rejected for the sole reason t". his 1 teeth are unsound, and as that Ivs been a frequent cause of rejecteia-i there should be "great things doing" in the dental profession for the next few months. This is not the place for a dissertation on the subject of "shirker^"—a question which is open to a great deal of misunderstanding and misrepresentation —but for the credit of the Dominion, on cannot but express the hope that all young men who are physically fit. and who are not debarred from serving by very weighty family or business considerations, should o their utmost to see that the Dominion does not fail in the performance of the fcn*k she has undertaken for the salvation of the Empise.