TO RAISE 30,000.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1915, Page 3

TO RAISE 30,000.

THE RECRUITING SCHEME, '• : a ■■■■>■■ ■ - . 'OUTLINE OF GOVERNMENT'S VROPOSALS. STATUIEXT BY PRIME MINISTER. Auckland, Dec. 27. "Thirty thousand recruits will be required during the coming year to fill the reinforcement drafts for the Expeditionary Force," said the Prime Minister when interviewed to-night. "Every month a contingent of 2500 men must be dispatched to the front. The undertaking has been given by the Government tliat the reinforcements will be regularly maintained, and in order that there may he no default it has been decided to bring into operation quickly a scheme by which recruiting will be systematically organised throughout the Dominion." The main principles of the scheme were announced last week. The conduct of the campaign will be controlled by a Recruiting Board comprising the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Finance. An explanation of the organisation to. bo employed , was given by the Prime Minister. It is now intended to bring every part of the country under the influence of a systematic campaign conducted by voluntary organisers, so that a personal Appeal will be made to every possible recruit. The organisation will be based on the existing system of local government. At first every borough council and every county council will be ashed to organise a campaign in the area under its jurisdiction. As the scheme conies fully into operation it will probably be found advisable to distribute the work even further, so that road districts, and possibly even schcel districts will be constituted separate recruiting areaß. The Government anticipates that every member of every local body will give active assistance in the scheme, and that eachlocal body will be able to secure the services of other representative persons in its district.

An important feature of the scheme is that every recruiting centre will be furnished with a list of men of military age in its district. The names of all men between the ages of 19 and 44 years will be shown in the lists, and opposite every name will be an indication whether the man is married or single. These lists will be compiled from the National Register.. Emphasis ivas given by the Prime Minister to the fact that the use of the National Register in this way does not constitute a breach of the confidence that was promised when the census was taken. There will be no means of learning from the recruiting rolls in which way any man answered the essential questions.

General instructions will be given to the district committees regarding the methods to be followed in securing recruits, but details of the scheme in each district will be arranged by a responsible committee. Every committee will be informed of the number of recruits required from its district month by month and it will be asked to undertake enlistment of the full quota. Though the Government has not made any definite pronouncement on the subject, Mr. Mussey stated that recruits will naturally be sought first among Ihe independent single men, but if necessary an appeal will be made to married men. As it is estimated that there arc already probably sufficient enlistments to fill the Twelfth Reinforcements, which will begin training about the middle of uext month, the first object of the scheme will be to secure recruits for the Thirteenth Reinforcements, which wilb/be assembled a month later. The canvassing of eligible men will be continued steadily, till every one has been given an opportunity to state his intentions. Any man who is unable to join the forces immediately will be asked to say when he can do so, and a memorandum of his answer will be made. If the work is done thoroughly each committee should eventually complete a list of all eligible men in its district who are willing to volunteer. Its duty will then bo to ensure that its quota of recruits is complete each month by calling upon those who have promised to enlist for any particular draft, and if necessary urging others to come forward earlier than they originally proposed. Recruiting rolls are to be the confidential property of committees. They will become records of the response made to the appeal, of the date on which every volunteer enlisted, and the date of his departure for the training camp. The committees will also be asked to add to the rolls the names of any men who appear to have been overlooked in the national registration. The Recruiting Board has asked General Robin, Acting Commandant, and Colonel Gibbon, Chief of the General Staff, for suggestions regarding the 'scheme from a military point of view. The Prime Minister expects that their report will be received within a week. The preparation of district rolls will involve a considerable amount of work, air] the board has also to appoint certain executive officers to assist in the organisation of the scheme. Mr. Massey remarked that the holidays had undoubtedly affected recruiting for the December draft, but actually not to a serious extent. There were still some vacancies in the Eleventh Reinforcements, but these would be filled during this week. He did not anticipate any difficulty in regard to the January contingent, and he had no doubt in his mind that the Government would be able to send during lOlti the full number of inen which it had undertaken to provide.