THE PERSONAL CANVASS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 42, 19 February 1916, Page 4

THE PERSONAL CANVASS.

WHY IT IS NECESSARY

THE NEW RECRUITING SCHEME.

The present allotment of quotas for the reinforcement drafts up till December, 1916, under the Recruiting Board’s scheme, has been based outlie preliminary results of the National Registration figures of all classes or men of military age in each military group. It is expected that this allot meat will be subject to perhaps considerable alteration, particularly when the present figures arc checked and amended as a ; result of the personal canvass provided for by the new re--cruiting scheme.

So apart altogether from th e flow '£ (recruits that it should bring to the enlistment office, the great value of a thorough and systematic personal appeal lies in the fact that the precise numbers furnished by it will enable the Recruiting Board to review, and, if necessary, re-assess the allotment of

quotas of the several group areas on a more assured and reliable basis than is at present available. The Board will thus be able, in arranging for future requirements, to give due credit to the groups which have loyally responded to the call and supplied their full or even more than their full quota. Similarly the Board will be in a position to discriminate against the areas which have failed at any given date to send forward thpir proportion of men and to ask these groups to. supply an increased quota for the future.

It has always to be remembered, r r course, that in allotiug those quotes the Boeft’d will be guided not only by the number of men volunteering to serve with the Expeditionary Force, but also by the number of eligible men available as shown by the personal canvass in conjunction with th e figures of the National Register. Another great advantage to be derived from the exhaustive personal canvass is outlined and provided for under the now recruiting scheme is that it will supply th e Board with the information necessary to enable it to deal with the question of migrating population since the National Register was taken and to adjust these fluctuations on a b?;sis that will be equitable to each giroup area. But the personal canvass under the Board’s schcm e has another and more important function. The onlv information that the Recruiting Board has in its possession with respect to the men of military age who are eligible for service in the Dominion is that provided by the National Register. The accuracy of the particulars in each registration form returned to t w Government Statiscian w r as governed only by the conscience and loyalty of the individual. There was. practicallv no check on the man who failed to give the information directed by the National Registration Act or who deliberately refrained from doing so. The Board looks to the personal canvass under the recruiting scheme and to the scrutiny of the local alphabetical rolls by the local authorities and committees of each district to enable it to verify and amplify the National Register, so that in the event of compulsory measures being necessary at any time the Government will be in a position to make that compulsion operate in th e fairest possible way according to the family and financial obligations of each man of military* age. It is obvious, therefore, that without this systematic and thorough personal canvass the unwilling will still be able to evade their duty and responsibility and will still be able to shelter behind the men who have loyally responded to the call of duty. It is thus in the interests of evefy man who has conscientiously complied with the provisions of the National Registration Act,

and is doubly in the interests of every man who lias intimated his ■willingness to serve, when the call comes, to see that a complete and thorough canvass of the men of military age is made from end to end of the Dominion, because if that is not done, the willing and loyal men of New Zealand may stilt have to carry more than their fair share of this terrible burden even should compulsion come. It is very evident that this aspect of the personal canvass has not been ap-

predated by those local authorities who are declining to co-operate with th e Recruiting Board and carry out the scheme, and who are urging that compulsion is the only fair method by which our Expeditionary Forces can be maintained at full strength. Compulsion may be th e fairest and best way of recruits, but a compulsion that was based on the National Registration figures alone without the necessary check that is only to be obtained by a personal canvass over every portion of the Dominion would fail to achieve the very object that those favouring compulsion have in view.

The only effective method by which the available information with respect to the men of military age can be satisfactorily checked in order that compel sion—should it evi>’ com"— may e~forcod on a fair and cquik'blo* bode by fhe local bodies and citizens in cod' district undertaking the work of nersonal 'canvass, as they have the necessary local knowledge, to. enable tb l data as compiled from tne. National

Register to be made as perfect as possible. Every citizen, therefore, who ■wishes to fill the gaps left by the men who have already paid the supreme price of patriotism, every citizen wwj wishes to stand by our soldiers at the front who are waiting expectantly for help, every citizen tliat sacirifice should be by those bestable to make it. and by the unwilling as well as by th e volunteer, should be prepared to help in the fullest possible degree to make this canvass a thorough and searching one. It will thus be seen thart the personal canvass as outlined by t-be Recruiting Board is of the most vital importance. That is why the Board has appealed to •every local bod yarn! every publicspirited citizen to work steadfastly and whole-heartedly to ensure the success of this scheme. This is a work that fur the time being should supersede all other duties. The National Government must have a trustworthy stocktaking of its manhood of military age so that it may be in a position to prepare for anv eventuality in this ciisis. And who knows what the morrow may bring forth? The Recruiting Board therefor- urgently appeals to every local body, to every public man, to every citizen tn giv 0 the new recruiting scheme the fullest possible support, and particularly to see that the personal canvass in no way relaxed until an absolutely deT finite knowledge has been obtained of t-be position of every man of military age in New Zealand.