THE ELEVENTHS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1915, Page 8

THE ELEVENTHS.

GONE INTO CAMP SHORT. ' A CRITICAL RECRUITING ' ! PROBLEM. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Dec. 14. The Eleventh Reinforcements have gone into camp short of their full number, as was generally expected, and evidently the fact is going to give a new impetus to discussion of the recruiting problem. Ministers have suggested that the trouble is merely a temporary one, due to the Christmas holidays, but there is some doubt on that point. The'two southern military districts have not been providing their full quotas for several months past, and after the summoning of each draft the Wellington district and, in a smaller degree, the Auckland district, have been called upon to fi«d extra men to make up the shortages. But tills time Wellington has a shortage of its own to face. Auckland is reported to have sent a full quota, and, according to a telegram published to-day, has been asked for 100 extra men to fill the gaps in the southern drafts. The recruiting problem is assuming a new phase and it will have to be faced squarely. There is no need for anything in the nature of a "scare." The Special Reserve is large enough to cover moderate shortages in reinforcements drafts for several months to come, and the number of men in. camp at the present time is larger than at any period since the beginning of the war. But the Defence authorities have to look ahead, and they require to be satisfied that recruits at an average rate of some 2300 per four weeks are going to be available for the next year at least. They are not regarding the position with entire confidence at the-present time.

To-morrow the Minister for Defence is to leave for Auckland, and he will not be back in Wellington until Tuesday next, so that one may assume the Ministers are not proposing to tackle this question round the Cabinet table in the immediate future. The Prime Minister has said confidently that there is going to be & rush of recruits in January and February, when the holidays are over, and the work on the farms is becoming less pressing, and some of the military men engaged in recruiting work hold similar opinions. If they are right the recruiting problem may not become critical until well into next year. But the indications are that a Government pronouncement on the subject will not be delayed very long.