The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1916 RECRUITING.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 72, 24 March 1916, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1916 RECRUITING.

(With which 'is incorporated The Tai hape Post and Waimarino News.)

There was something to admire in the self-sacrificing nature of the attitude taken up 'at the conference of Local Bodies and Patriotic Society, in connection with the new recruiting scheme, held on Wednesday evening. The Mayor’s attitude throughout was firm and dignified, and he accepted on behalf of the Borough Council a responsibility generous to 'an extreme. The Defence Minister —for we are not aware that the Recruiting Board, of itself, has any power to change the personel of the Military Service has, from what was stated at the meeting, 'dismissed the Recruiting Officer here and has instructed him to hand over all his recruiting business and papers to the Borough Council, and he is to be employed in quite another capa- * city. The Borough Council is now responsible for supplying this Borough’s quota of recruits for future Reinforcements. Councillors have accepted the work thus unjustly, and, we may fairly say, improperly thrust upon them. They have, several of them, found it almost impracticable to neglect their private business to serve their fellow townsmen as Councillors 'and to have to become recruiting officers at the dictation ol a Minister of Defence, who has no legal or [rur-pl richt to encroach upon their liberties, is setting up a position that wi 1 become intolerable if persisted in. The Borough, it seems, has to open a Recruiting Office, employ clerical assistance, and Councillors have either to go round bailing up and bearding men, who should already ho at the front or in training, or they have to pay someone to do it for them. Of course burgesses could not permit their Councillors to suffer any monetary loss in this connection and so we find that the Government has shifted the cost and the work of recruiting off its own shoulders on to those of men, many of whom are already overloaded, unremuneratively, with public business. It is, unquestionably, the duty, the first duty, of every man and woman to do everything that is humanly possible in helping to maintain the entity of our Empire which Germany is threatening, but we regret that we cannot congratulate the Government in passing on responsibilities which, so obviously, should be borne by them, to men, who,, it cannot be shown, are under any obligation to accept them. We cannot conceive of any greater or more conclusive evidence of a Government’s, or a Minister’s, (we don’t know which) initiative anq administrative incapacity than the passing over to local bodies work that cannot be reasonably regarded as anything but what should be done by the general government. We are already largely governed by commissions and commissioners, and now it seems the thin end of a gov-. eminent decentralisation wedge is being inserted. |We have a splendid fair weather Government that sails along smr ingly in good weather, but in rough its ability to navigate is unequal to the occasion and the helm is handed

New Zealand and the Empire needs every man’s help in the extreme stress which obtains, and while our Borough Councillors have generously ; accepted the work and monetary re- ; sponsibilities in acting as recruiting [ sergeants they were under neither le- | gal or moral obligation to do so. They [have not the information that is | Available to the Government, and unVtil, at least, details of the National Register, recently taken, 'are furnished them with, respect to married and single men, their work will be to some extent onerous if not, really difficult. Recruiting is ostensibly a function of the general Government and we do not think a precedent can he found in British history for passing it on to {local governing bodies. We are not in the least degree opposed to the Minister appealing to local bodies for help, ; and we look contemptibly upon the ! body that peremptorily refuses to give its assistance, but it is quite another ' matter when the Government completely shuts up its recruiting shops, , and then endeavours to compel local bodies to bear the expense of re- { opening them, and also shoulder an | accountable obligation to do the ac- | tual recruiting. The Taihape Borough 1 has accepted such obligations, but we •' see difficulties looming ahead of members of County Councils. We sincerely trust that recruiting will not be delayed or impaired by so risky a change.