NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1916, Page 8

NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

RECRUITING REQUIREMENTS, .(From Our own Correspondent.) ' Wellington, Jan. 7. , Speaking a.t Talmerston North last night the Prime Minister is reported to have said that the Dominion had sent 31,000 men to the front, had 12,000 men in tamp, with another 2200 just going in, and would require 30,000 recruits for the current year. The Government has to make its calculations on these lines, since it cannot fix a date for the end of the war, but it should be noticed that the Defence Department's arrangements do not provide for the despatch of 30,000 men this year over and above the men now in camp. The 30,000 recruits mentioned by Mr. Massey will include the men in camp on December 31 next, and those men will provide the reinforcement drafts up to April, 1917. In other words, 30,000 additional recruits will cover New Zealand's obligations at the front for the next eighteen months, since the draft that leaves in April does not reach the firing line until June at earliest. If the end of the war is not in sight in December next, the Dominion must proceed accordingly. But there seems some ground for hope that this country will not require to provide men beyond the middle of next year; in other words, will not be required to find I recruits after the end of this year.

EXPORT OF CROSSBRED WOSTj. The prohibition of the export of crossbred wool to neutral countries had been expected, and wise, growers will not waste their time protesting. The instructions of the Imperial authorities are quite definite and are supported by clear evidence that the prohibition is in the interests of the Empire at the present juncture. The Xew Zealand Government, it need scarcely be said, has been ,in no hurry to stay the operations of the American buyers, who have been sending a great deal of money into this country. The issue of the prohibition was delayed as long as possible, and in this respect the farmers have to thank the Government for some fancy prices that they otherwise would not have obtained. RECRtfITIXG BOARD'S WORK. Probably the details of the new recruiting scheme will not be available until next week. The. Recruiting Board, when it begins operations, will follow the example set by Lord Derby in trying to enrol the whole of the available men within a short period. The goal set before the local recruiting committees will be the enrolment of enough men to provide for the needs of the Defence Department right up to the end of the present year. The man who cannot go into camp now or in the near future will be invited to state when he expects to be available for service, and if he can say that he will be readj in one of the later months of the year he will be enrolled accordingly. Tf the Defence Department had on its books 20,000 men, distributed over the months of the present year, the position of recruiting could be regarded as sound.

NEEDS OF RETURNED SOLDIERS. Captain Donald Simson, who made an aggressive recruiting speech on the Ricearton racecourse a few weeks ago, told a gathering of returned soldiers here today that they were in danger of becoming nuisances, and that it was their business to form an organisation which could look after their interests. Then the individual soldier would have no need to ventilate his grievances, real or fancied, at the street corner, and would not be required to make personal appeals for assistance to mayors, secretaries of patriotic societies and other civilians. Captain Simson's idea is that there should be a Returned Soldiers' Club and a branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association in every centre. He is going to press his scheme throughout the Dominion.

"The returned soldier of to-day is very much like the returned soldier of other wars," said Captain Donald Simson today, when addressing a gathering of returned invalided men. "You come back and are given a warm welcome. Your relatives and friends are very glad to see you. But after a while you°begin to pall on them. The general public know s you are a returned soldier chiefly because you appear to be a man with nothing to do. Fellows who have not enlisted 'buy you a drink and then pass on, feeling that they have done their part in the great war. You are tempted to tell your grievances at the street corners. You are forced to ask favor* of people. In fact the returned soldier is liable to become a nuisance to himself and everybody else."

The text of these remarks was a proposal made by Captain Simson.for the formation of a Returned Soldiers' Club, owned and controlled by the men themselves, in every centre' throughout the Dominion. The Club, said the captain, would be a meeting place and a rallying point for the men, especially for "the invalided men who had not received their discharges and were in the meantime at a loss to know what to do with themselves. The Association Would be the body representing the interests of the soldiers. No man then would be required to appeal to a civilian for assistance, lie would take his ease to the Association, and the officers of that body, thoroughly competent to judge of the facts, would deal with the matter. The civilian who was asked for help by a soldier—all soldiers were not angelswould bo able to refer to the Association. The men present at the meeting agreed to proceed with the scheme.