NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1915, Page 3

NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

UIE SHORTAGE IN THE llths. ' (From Our Own Correspondent.' Wellington, December 17. The Defence authorities state that on the present reckoning the Eleventh Reinforcements have gone into camp more than SOO men short of their full strength, and they are keenly anxious that men should come forward at once to (ill the vacancies, in order that there mav be no shortening of the training period. The shortage applies mainly to the infantry and men who have enlisted for other branches and are awaiting the call tn camp can assist now by transferring to the infantry branch. Probably a further appeal to the men of the country will be issued within the next twenty-four hours by the Prime Minister, whose recent appeals through the newspapers have had an appreciable effect o-.i the rate of recruiting. There seems to he no doubt at all that the present trouble i.i clue almost entirely to the Christmas holidays, many hundreds of men who have already registered for service having indicated that they are not willing to go into camp until the beginning of the New Year, but the position is serious from the point of view of the military authorities. Mho want the training of suecessive drafts to proceed in accordance with a regular routine. The late arrival of 5(10 men for the Eleventh Reinforcements will hamper the work of the training staff considerably.

MACHINE-GUNS FOR THE FllOX'i. An idea persists in some quarters that the Defence Department ought to do something in the direction of securing an increased supply of machine-guns for the New Zealand troops at the front. The truth is that nothii.g useful can be done in that matter beyond what is being done already. A few guns are being made locally, with the assistance of imported parts' but the fruits of that effort are bound to be very small. The purchase of machine-guns of the British patterns in any part of the world is out of the question, the Imperial authorities having ordered the full available output in every quarter. It will be remembered that .the Canadian people raised by public subscription a considerable sum of money to be used in buying extra machine-guns for the Canadian troops. This money is still in the hands of the Canadian Government, and the suggestion is being made that it should be returned to the donors, since there 13 no chance of it being spent within a reasonable period.

CARE OF SICK AND WOUNDED. The Minister for Hospitals (Hon. 0. W, Russell) informed your correspondent to-day that complete arrangements had Tieen made by his Department for the reception of the sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers due to reach the Dominion on the Tahiti, Ruahine and Maheno during the next fortnight or so. The convalescent camps at Rotorua and Hannier are practically ready for use and the accommodation available for soldiers in the public hospitals in various parts of the country is considered to be ample for all requirements. The handling of the invalided soldiers, as far as the Government Has been eoncenrnd, has been simplified very much by the fact that in the majority of cases the relatives and frienda of the men have wished to take charge of them. But the authorities are not sure that it is always advisable for the convalescent men to go direct to their own homes. Cases aie arising where the men havo suffered relapses, or have failed to make satisfactory progress, owing to the lack of skilled attention after they have passed out of the hands of the medical and nursing staffs,

PERMITS AND PASSPORTS. Applicants for passports and permits are still keeping the officers of the Internal Affairs Department very busy. Passports are required by every person who intends to travel to the United Kingdom or Egypt, while the permits have to be secured by men of military age who purpose leaving New Zealand. The officers who have the handling of these men state that the proportion of young men U high, and that a considerable percentage of the applicants are unable to show good reason why they should be allowed to depart from the Dominion at the present juncture. A story was in circulation the other week to the effect that the regulation governing the issue of these permits had been found to be ultra vires, and that one man had got away without a permit after insisting on his legal rights, Nr con|;,firniatioa of that rumor is to be secured locally. It is understood, on the contrary, that the Department intends to institute legal proceedings against a man who attempted to leave the coun- | try without having first secured a permit under the regulation.