20TH REINFORCEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1916, Page 3

20TH REINFORCEMENTS.

((From Our )wn Correspondent). Wellington, September 1, The failure of the military districts to complete their quotas for the 2Uth Keinforcement, and the decision of the Defence authorities to let a shortage of 225 men stand over until tile 21st I!e----inforcements are called up during the piesent month, have directed attention to the Reserve, which consists nominally of 1000 men in training over and above the requirements of reinforcement drafts. It is being suggested that the existence of the Reserve makes the present shortage of recruits of no practical importance, since partially trained men are j available to fill the gaps. Another statement made in this connection is that New Zealand cannot be accused of suffering a shortage of recruits, since there are between <IOOO and 5000 registered men who have been passed as fit and are waiting to go into camp with later reinforcements. The facts require a certain amount of explanation. The Reserve, in the first place, was created in response to a suggestion made by the Imperial authorities towards the end of last year. The Minister for Defence mentioned the matter in the House of Representatives at the tima ahd indicated that the Reserve would enable New Zealand to meet a sudden call for men at any time and would also give a necessary amount of elasticity to the recruiting scheme. Experience has shown that the Reserve is an essential part of the training plan, since without it scarcely a draft could be sent away at full strength. Wastage always occurs during the training period. If a Reinforcement enters camp at full strength, it is sure to below strength in the course of training, owing to desertions, transfers, dismissals and the discharge of men on medical grounds. Partially trained men must be available to fill the gaps, since it would not be advisable to add raw recruits to a draft already some way through its course.

But obviously the Reserve canno.il be regarded as a recruiting ground. If the purpose of the Reserve is to be realised and the body kept in existence until tliQ close of the war, the Defence Department must take into camp every month the full number of men allotted to the monthly Reinforcement draft, plus the number of men required to cover, wastage. The system is not rigid, and a shortage of men in one month may be covered by a surplus in the next. But broadly speaking each month has oeen required to produce its proper quots of recruits, and when a draft went into camp below strength the districts liave been asked to cover their shortages as quickly as possible. It can hardly be claimed, therefore, that the mere existence of the Reserve is Rn adequate explanation of the decision of the Department to let the shortage of the 20th Reinforcements stand over until the'list Reinforcements enter camp, especially as there is no guarantee that the later draft will not have a shortage ot its own.

Xominallv the Reserve consists of 1000 men in various stages of training. Us actual strength, even on paper, pfobablj' does not reacli 1000 at the present time, and its strength in men available to day for transfer to a Reinforcement is a very long way below I'OOO men. The exact figures are not announced by the Department, bat it is known that the Reserve lias to carry the main part of the burden of the "ineffeetives" who appear on the lists of men under training. Men absent without leave, absent on sick leave, in detention and so on make a total of many hundreds on any particular day, and they must be counted as liabilities against flic Reserve, since it is essential that each Reinforcement shall contain, at the date of departure, its full complement of fully trained and entirely lit men. The fact that the books of the Defence Department contain the names of 4000 or 5000 men passed as fit and set down for later Reinforcements really has 110 bearing upon the question under discussion. These 1""" T» not present assets. They have stated their willingness to go into ;anip a month, or two months ov as much as ix months hence, but they are not willing to begin their service now and so they do not help the Department to cover a present shortage. The number of these registered men tends to increase and no doubt the great majority of them will enter camp sooner or later, tliough experience lias shown that without conscription the Department cannot count upon putting into uniform all the men who register and are passed lit. Districts have called up ten per cent, in excess of actual requirements and have then failed to secure their full quotas, owjng to the failure of enlisted men to "toe the line." That the Defence Department will continue to send away each Reinforcement at full strength is not doubted. There has been no failure in the past and the placing of the Military Service Act upon the Statute Book is a guarantee that there will be no failure in the future. But a feeling exists inside Defence circles as well as outside that attempts to gloss over shortages in the drafts of recruits are not good policy from any standpoint. It is a fact that the iOth Reinforcements went into camp short and that the Department has not succeeded in securing enough recruits to cover the shortage. The men of Xew Zealand should understand that fact, since the conscription law lias not yet become operative and the country will be still dependant upon voluntary enlistment for a month or two to come.