The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1916 THE CALL FOR MEN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 86, 8 November 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1916 THE CALL FOR MEN.

Tlie call for men and yet more men is terribly insistent and. Britain is organising most thoroughly to put her fullest energies into the conflict. With the latest evidence of Prussian perfidy over Poland, and the Hindenburg demand' for the levying of a Polish army to help the battered Hun forces stave off utter defeat for yet a further term, it is more than ever plain that the Allies can take no chances, and that every man capable of bearing arms, who is not otherwise engaged in the work necessary to carry on the Avar, must be prepared to light. The conscientious objector and til*} shirker of every other brand, must aiow put on one side his objections, anti-war theories, or any other pretence to dodge service and come right out, if only for his own sake, as a lighting man. Britain is "combing out" in every direction, and wo now fiearn that even the Police Force is being further overhauled, for suitable Soldiers. The British Empire has still a great reserve of man-power if the work of organisation is properly attended to, hut it in 'for the individual to play his part. The London Times' military correspondent', discussing the supply of men for the airmy and the need for the enrolment tof men of military age who have been, escaping military service, says: "However satisfied we may' be with the losses and defeats we havo inflicted on the Germans this year, we have no right to entertain any more allusions <>n the subject of German power. Tn making our estimate of strength for the next year, we must take for our basis the calculation of the German strength' which is unfavorable for us. We know the number off German divisions in the field and We must assume they are or can be brought up to strength. We must still admit large reserves behind them. The sweeping up into German factories and farms of ablebodied men and women in Belgium and in the nine provinces in France occupied by the enemy, combined with the utilisation of Poles for military purposes, will produce a large accession to the strength of the German armies. The 1917 and 1918 classes of recruits in Germany have not yet taken the field. There is a constant reflux to the front of wounded who have recovered. Lastly, we must admit as possible that before Germany

accepts defeat she will call on all

youths and men fit to bear arms between the ages of fifteen and sixty and thus hope to wear us out by a. long phase of victorious resistance." Knowing and understanding all this, and knowing as we ought to do that Britain is making the most supreme sacrifices, it is surely for us in New Zealand to at least keep our pledges to supply the men we have promised to send as reinforcements.