COMPULSORY ENLISTMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 August 1916, Page 6

COMPULSORY ENLISTMENT.

3 (WHEN IT IS TO BS APPLIED. VOLUNTARY ENLISTMENT INTERFERED WITH. (From Our Own Correspondent) ; Wellington, August i. i The defining' of districts under the i Military Service Act does not. complete ; the machinery for compulsory enlist- • mcnt in New Zealand. The next steps - will be the constitution, of the Reserve, 1 containing all wen of military age who 1 have not yet volunteered for service 1 with the Expeditionary Forces, and then • the Government must issue sundry regu- ' lations defining methods of procedure. | The Act itself i? sketchy as to details, aiul "leaves sewral difficult points for 1 adjustment by Order-in-Conncil. When » the Government lias dealt filially .with such matters as the classification of the eligible men, the method, of ballot and the form of appeal, the Ministers must I make up their minds when and where i compulsion shall be applied. There ap [ pears to be uncertainty on this point, ; even in official circles. i Ministers have said loosely that the compulsory clauses of the Act will lie |. brought into operation "when the volun- , tary system has failed." hut these word? [ are capable of more than one interpretat tion. The Defi'nce Department has . enough registered men on its books at . the present time to fill two ot the i monthly reinforcements, and the rate of : recruiting all over the whole Dominion ; suggests that the voluntary system can be made to suffice for the remaining months of the present year. But the system has failed in certain districts, which are not sending forward their prosent quotas of recruits on a population basis, and its tendency to operate unfairly is becoming more marked every month. Tlie proportion of married men among the recruits is increasing, al- . though the supply of single men is by no means exhausted, and while men with ! dependents and other responsibilities are , making great sacrifices in order to kce]i ' the ranks full, the real "'shirkers'' are , escaping. It is obvious, moreover, that , the machinery of compulsion will work • slowly at first, and that it must be ■ set in motion before the voluntary system. has actually failed; if the regular . monthly d-afts are to be maintained ; without a break. 1 Another consideration that is likely to weigli with the Government is the necessity for maintaining a just balance as between the various districts. Ccr--1 tain areas are failing at the present time to provide full quotas, while other areas are finding extra men to cover the short- • ages. The quotas are assessed on the i numbers of men of military age in the 1 various districts. If the voluntary' system is maintained until the willing districts are exhausted, the difficulties of the Government in introducing compulsion may be substantially increased, since count will have to be taken of the accumulated deficiencies of the unwilling, or less willing, districts. The Defence Minister is known to be in favor of an early use of the powers ; given the Government in the Military Service Act, and he may have his own ; way in this matter. Presumably Cabinet will reach a decision on the point ' before Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward [ leave for London, It is certain that ' steps will be taken at once to constitute ; the Reserve, as indicated by the Recruit- ' ing Board the other day, and to prepare j lists of the available men, classiiied ac- , cording to the method outlined in the , Act. The Government lias power to confine the operation of the Act to any ; particular district, and it may choose to , confine conscription at first to the ! areas where the' supply of volunteers isi not adequate. But the opinion prevail- > ing in Defence ciieles is that a general f application of the Act .will give better r results and produce less friction than t partial operation. There are indications - already, indeed, that the presence of the t new law on T= J*»»tatute Book is going 1 to reduce voluntary enlistment material- . lv, since men with domestic and business - responsibilities feel that they can wait > their turn with easy consciences now . that the Government has power to draw • upon the manhood of the nation according to requirements.