NATIONAL REGISTRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1915, Page 4

NATIONAL REGISTRATION.

BILL BEFORE THE HOUSE. STATEMENT BY THE PRIMfc MINISTER. By Telegraph.—'Breas Association, Wellington, Last flight.' This evening, in moving the second reading of the NatlonalHegistration Bill, / tlie Prime Minister said that bo far (s he ', had been able to judge the gipat bulk .< of public opinion was in favor of the Bill, Some features might require explanation, but this fact stood out—that if we are going to do our part in the * great war we must know where we stand. During the past fourteen months - we had learned a great deal. Our troops, man for man, were equal to the troops of the Kaiser, and our Allies, in deadly earnest, but we must recognise the fact that we are fighting an enemy who is thoroughly organised, and who ean only be beaten by an organisation superior to,their own. He, however, i was bound to admit that, except In the navy, we vcre not prepared. In the matter of machine-guns, Germany was perhaps tetter organised than Britain, and her Allies combined. The position was being, met by strong men in Britain. We had every confidence in the British authorities, we had confidence in our own troops, and in our navy, but:we must not shut our eyes to the fact that we are waging a war upon a strong and treacherous enemy. We bad every rea-, son to be proud of what we had done in the past in the matter of sending men to the front, but we bad other resources whicn we must organise, If ever there was a time when "whatever our hand finds to do we must do it with all our miglit." By*.Tanuary next we want 14,000 men, in addition to men already .< in camp. By that time we will have sent 45,000 men; a result which, to hitn, ■ appeared wonderful for; so 1 small a country. In order to do 'this more, thoroughly' we must have a national stocktaking, a census of capacity. Other countries nad done this already, but we bad not gone ' so far oa France. We are not asking foT a census'of wealth, because that in->. formation is already in, possession of theTaxation Department. ,No inquisitorial questions will be asked,'and the Government were not asking, for a, census of women, because they were already doing their part. The men of New Zealand . had done splendidly, but the women !h»d done even better. Many a young nan was in the fighting lino to-day who would not be there but that his mother ' pointed the way. He, however, intended .. to give women the opportunity of voluntary registration, and he had not tne slightest doubt that thousands of women would volunteer for war work.

The Bill, said Mr. Massey, proposed to provide for the compilation of a national register of men between the ages of seventeen and sixty years, and for the compilation of statistics as to other persons. He had heard that the workers of the Dominion were against registration, but lie did not credit,that for a moment. English Socialists wire in favor of that course, and he quoted an article in the London Clarion as expressing the views of British Socialists in that direction. Slmiarly, he quoted interviews with Auckland Socialists, who also favored registration, as he believed were also the great majority of wage earners of the Dominion. Tho essence of the Bill was contained in Clause 4, The questions there were pertinent, but not impertinent. The i Bill was not .intended to give effect to conscription. He did not favor conscription, and he did believe in ,compulsory national training, but if by any chance we were not able to find men he would not hesitate a moment between compulsory service and defeat. The' Registrar-General had informed h.im that Clause 5 was not necessary, and he proposed to strike this out in Committee. The Bill would bring home to thousand* of young men a clear sense of their duty, and by doing so he thought it. woul.l render conscription unnecessary. Mr. Massey formally moved the second reading. Mr. T. M. Wilford congratulated the Government on tho introduction of the Bill. He thought no one would object to it. The only mistake made,was that it was not brought down soon .enough. Such a Bill was a necessity for every country engaged in the war. He did not expert to hear a' discordant note against the principle of a national register. ' , Any alterations considered necessary could be made in Committee. Mr. J. Payne said ho endorsed the principle of the Bill, but objected to t'\ words, "If not, why not ?" as part of the question in reference to service. If necessary, he would will'ngly give his services en the platform, Mr. L. M. Isitt <ontended that extremists must be ignored. He said that some Labor men were suspicious and distrustful. He opposed conscription, but it was a question of saving the Empire, and to save .the Empire he would arm every tnalc that could carry a musket, because conscription was in effect fair and equitable to all. lie thought the register should be searching in the matter of wealth, and he hoped the Bill would be discussed in a national spirit. Mr. C. H. Poole said the Prime Minister had struck a high note, anl hoped the Bill would be discussed in that spirit. He believed in compulsory training, and it was due to that system, we had been able to Bond away so many troops so expeditiously. In a time of national peril men must be put to the' work they were most fitted for, and a national registratipn would enable that information to be obtained. Mr. J. McConibs objected to the Bill because it did not go far enough, It .should provide a census of wealth, iiot only of flesh and blood. He complained that in the questions to be asked tinder the Act there were impertinences. Mr. D. Buddo said this was a memorable occasion in which we were making ajroll of the flesh and blood of the nation. He thought people would cheerfully pay the new taxation for war pu.'poses, and he would accept the Bill as it stood.

Mr- ip. C. Webb contended that war profits should belong to the community, and urged that every "effort should be made to Jighten the burdens on workers. - ', Poland supported the BUI.- Ho thought that if the war continued after next year some drastic steps would be necessary. He considered that people did not realise the urgency of the crisis and if the necessity arose he would bo prepared to support conscription. The National Cabinet should look the position fairly and squarely in the face .reater efforts were required than could bo made by the voluntary svsteiu.