THE TERRITORIAL ARMY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 66, 14 April 1909, Page 4

THE TERRITORIAL ARMY

A GREAT LESSON IN ADVERTISING. London, February 20. 'Mr. Haldane has got the ll,oiib men that he required to complete :hc strength of the Territorial Army in London, and this result oi two weeks' booming and advertising is really a very remarkable tribute to the jpower ot the Daily .Mail. When that journal un dcrtookto raise 11,000 volunteers in London for the Territorial Army, most people thought it a forlorn hope. A fortnight ago the percentage of the fixed Territorial establishment in the County of London was the lowest of all British counties, and the ordinary methods ot recruiting were proving hopelessly inadequate to arouse the interest of the London public. Then came " An Englishman's Home, the now famous play, with its dramatic appeal to Young England to prepare for the defence of hearth and home. London was stirred at last. Its indifference gone, the next step was to enlighten its ignorance. Nobody seemed to Know anything about the Territorials. Nobody knew where to enlist, iiow to enlist, what to expect on enlisting. Tne Daily Mail, at the request ol Lorn Eshcr undertook to enlighten the public on these points, and get the 11,000 men required. The response was immediate. One of its earliest effects was the magnificent gift by an anonymous reader ot the Daily Mail of a cheque for .C 10,000. Large employers -of labour were approached, and without exception responded with the most generous and enthusiastic assistance. Conferences *erc held with mayors of boroughs and ar vangements made for them to deliv r addresses at local theatres calling for recruits. The crowds who throng the football fields were interested in , the movement, the Daily Mail distributing thousands of leaflets among the young men spectators. Applications from men who wished to join poured into the office, out trie response was not limited to that. Hundreds went nightly to the several headquarters and offered themselves direct. The stream grew till in one night alone over 1000 were sworn in, and the daily average since the appeal was made has iieen 500. The lowest was over 300. Commanding officers, following the lead of the London Scottish, assisted by readily arranging route marches for recruiting purposes. Mr. Sandow rmuie a generous oiler to make men rejected for slight defect of physique fit to be enlisted.

The result of all this activity is that the London battalions rank to-day among the strongest in the country, and will probably soon head the list. "The County of London," says Lord Esher in a triumphant letter to the commanding officers, "' is now as proud of the Territorial Fcrec as the City of London was of the trained bands. The old sleepy methods of recruiting have been proved, as far as London is concerned, to be out of date and useless. Modern conditions of national life demand enterprise and advertisement. We are not creating these conditions. They have been created for us. To ignore them means defeat and failure. . . . We have

been criticised and mocked at for ap pealing for soldiers through the Tress. To this we are, and shall continue to remain, profoundly indifferent. They laugh who win, and we have won.''