NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1916, Page 8

NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

ANZAC DAY. • (From Our Own Correspondent!. Wellington, Aprii 2». 1 It is not certain yet that An/.ac Day will be added to the list of officially recognised holidays in the Dominion, though there arc many people, who would like to sete this done. The anniversary of the landing on Galled: Peninsula is not likely to be forgotten by the present generation of Ne>v Zealandera, but the Government is not encouraged by the commercial and industrial community to increase (f,he number of public holidays, already fairly large. The war is not over, moreover, and nobody can say yet what part the- New Zealand division is going to take in the decisive stages of the great struggle, possibly in some sphere, of operations I'm removed from Gallipoli. There may be a Peace Day to be celebrated. COMPULSORY SERVICE. The extent of the opposition in and out of Parliament to the proposed Compulsory Service Bill cannot yet be gauged, but there are indications that the objectors will be few in number, and that they will be more concerned with the details of the measure than with the principle underlying it. The increasing 'difficulty experienced by the Defence Department in finding recruits for the Reinforcements is an argument that cannot easily be answered." Apparently the. shortage in the infantry of the 15th Reinforcements will not be entirely made up before the 16th Reinforcements are mobilised, and there seems to be no doubt at all that the 10th Reinforcements will enter camp some hundreds below their proper strength. . The existence of the Reserve saves the situation for the present, and the Department does not count upon sending the Reinforcements away promptly and in full strength. But obviously the recurrence of these shortages must be avoided. The suggestion that the rate of recruiting would improve if pay and pensions were more liberal and if the separation allowances were increased, hardly meets the case, since these considerations affect least of all the very men at. whom compulsion will be levelled primarily—the single men without dependents. These men are offered already a. wage of 35s a week, with board, lodging and clothing

free. Few of them aro doing much better than that in civil'life, and if they will not listen to the call of duty they are hardly likely to be attracted by a few shillings extra pay. THE RECRUITING PROBLEM. An officer who has had exceptional opportunities for studying the recruiting problem told your correspondent the other day that he believed an adequate' supply of men could be assured for many months to come by a substantial increase in tho separation allowance. Thousands of young married men would wmieforwaj-d, he said, if they were placed in a position their wives and families an income of »not less than £3 a we.ek. • The .present separation allowance, as most people know by this time, is 7s a week for the wife and 3s Cd a week for each child up to the number of four. The husband should be able to allow his wife 3s a day, or 21s a week, from his pay, while retaining Is for himself and allowing Is to accumulate as deferred pay. He can allow the wife 4s a day if he saves nothing against the day of his discharge. If the separation allowance were intreased to 20s a week for the wife and 5s a week for each child, the position of the married man would be fairly secure. The question is one of policy, unless the Government is to be charged with economising at the expense of the wives and children of the men who are serving. Apparently the Government does not wish to draw, upon the married men at the present time. 1 '

LAND FOR SOLDIERS. : The Prime Minister has mentioned that one of the important Bills to be placed before Parliament during the coming session will relate to the provision of land for returned soldiers. Something has been done in this direction already, but the Government is realising that a few score sections will not go far towards satisfying the requirements of the teijs of 'fcousands of men who will come back to New Zealand with hardened muscles, a new sense or self-reliance and a liking for the open-air life. Then, this country, like the other dominions, will be asked what it can do for the discharged soldiers of the Motherland, many of whom will be unwilling to go back to the cramped life of office or factory. New Zealand will need some of these men, but cannot ask them to come unless there is land for them. The question is a vcrv big one indeed, and one feavs that the National Government will not tackle it in a very energetic or drastic way. The purchase of land on the required scale seems to be out of the question, and the available nreas of Crown land are comparatively small. The Liberal Ministers may propose taxation on a scale that will force the rapid subdivision of big holdings. But what wilt their Reform colleagues say?