AUSTRALIA'S ANSWER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 177, 5 January 1915, Page 4

AUSTRALIA'S ANSWER.

PART IN THE WAR. RECRUITING GOING ON. ' HOW MANY MEN?

How many more men is Australia to Beuil to Europe? Tlie question is pressing on many minds, and those most responsible—politicians—arc on the point of a feverish agitation, writes the Mel-1-mrne correspondent of the Sydney Sun. "We have sent 22,273 officers and : en, including a general medical unit; : ,(K)0 more go this month, and 3000 reinforcements every two months after. ; total of 42,000. It is by no means a : :preme effort. We could send 200,000 men, and even that would not exhaust us. An Australian army of 350,000 would not be beyond our capacity, and whether it should be called into being or not depends on whether it is needed. "Australia lias so far done everything asked for, and a good deal more. Our navy has been placed unreservedly under Admiralty control. It lias effectively Kiiarded 'the coasts of Australia and Xew Zealand, kept the Pacific and Indian trade routes open, taken all German possessions in tiie South Pacific, and destroyed tlie E.'iuleii. Before tlie arrival of our ships, the Soutli Pacific was guarded l>y a sister ship to tile Good flope, and a cruiser of considerably less power than the Monmouth. Tlie other ' ships of tlie Australian squadron did J not count. Considering that the Good Hope and the Monmouth were sunk by the Germans in the East Pacific, we are entitled to think that we might have had a good deal of trouble in flic Western Pacific waters if we had not had the dreadnought Australia. On land we are providing 42,000 men, fully equipped and uniformed with Australian material. We have given special aid to the other Dominions in the equipment of their 1 troops, and have found our supplies of ammunition of general value to the Empire. By the prohibition of the export of wool we have voluntarily foregone a large part of our annual income, and we have struck at the enemy wherever possible by restricting our trade. "All that is solid service. Our strokes have counted in the war, and even if we do not increase their force, they will continue counting until the end. But they are nothing compared with what we could do. There are few Australians who( would not answer tlie call to arms if the answer means victory instead of defeat. Even those few wc should be quite content to call up by special conscriptive law. But to do more than we are doing means to adopt makeshift provisions, overstrain military machinery, sacrifice home training, take rifles from the citizen forces, and spread unemployment at home by deflecting all available loan money into tlie war funds. It would be foolish to exhaust ourselves—perhaps for a generation—in this way unless necessary. Only Kitchener can. say whether it is necessary. Therefore, the Government, overcoming its diffidence, should secure from London a definite statement as to what is needed from Australia, and particularly as to whether the land campaigns are goin« to need the fullest possible man-strengtli of the Empire. "Our military experts are ready for anything. But they dread the prospect of any addition to tlie strain on the military machine. The camps are full, j instructors are as busy as can be, equip- j ment is reaching its limit, and at least : in one other important respect the facilities for the despatch of troops are taxed to the utmost. Having secured apparently the last available instructor in the, country, the authorities naturally dislike the "idea of new eamps and new armies. With a rush of new members info rifle clubs, they are aghast at tlie thought of the disruption of regulations and methods by tlie sudden call for thousands of rifles for more expeditionJ ary forces. "Our resources in trained men can be ' stated as follows: jln concentration eamps .. .. 20,(100 I Trained citizen forces .. .. 50/203 i 1014 C.F. Recruits (from senior I cadets 10.000 ! Riflemen in rifle clubs .. .. 51,153 | "With tlie 22,000 in Egypt and on tlie I water, these give a total of lG4,o3l.Tliey j have rifles, uniforms and equipment. In ' addition there are. many thousand psirtI ly-trained men in the Commonwealth—- | men who have been through the Boer War, or served in the militia, or passed through rifle club training. Thousands of country and suburban homes possess a rifle —the souvenir of militia 'Or rifle club days. In very few cases would these weapons be rejected by the one essential test of service ability in war — interchangeability of ammunition. Prac- , tieally all are of the .303 bore. In uniform, tentage, and footwear, our resources are unlimited, provided organised means were taken to seenri all requirements at whatever sacrifice to ordinary industry. In transports we would have our greatest difficulty: brtt the ships exist, therefore the difficulty could be overcome. In men, partly trainefl and wholly untrained, our numbers foi a supreme effort, could be put up a 1 ' ."500.000. j "Until information tomes from 'Lon- : don, there can be no saying whether this supreme effort is needed or not. Tt if already clear, however, that we have ir | retrievably bound ourselves to the po liey of winning in Europe. Wc have n'l | ready, by preparing 42,000 men for tlu I European front, weakened our home, do | fences to such a point that we call se! j no way of maintaining the integrity <r , \ this country should the verdict in Ett ; j rope be against the Empire. There can . therefore, be no question that whnterei I I is needed in Europe must be sent t< ■ | Europe, though it be sit further cost V Oiir home defences."