THE SECOND DIVISION.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1917, Page 7

THE SECOND DIVISION.

JNTEBESTING INFORMATION; , What aiost of tho people of the Do: minion want to know just now is when the Second Division will be called up. how many men are in the division, an;! about what date each class of the'division may expect its call (says the Lyttelton Times). These questions cannot be answered exactly, but they can be answered approximately, and they are of great importance to all concerned. Those concerned are almost, tho wlwle of the people of New Zealand. To begin with, there were originally about 120,000 men in the Second Division. That total lias been reduced by the number of married men who hfi'v gone to the war. However, the stray ' of the division should still be over 1 ( 000, and for purposes of calculation the".; is no need to make a deduction just now. The number of husbands, widowers, etc., of military age (according to the lastest available census) arc shown in the following table:--Husbands, Age Group. Etc. 20 to 21 >. .. .. lfiO • ' 21 to 25 4,640 ' i 25 to 30 ... v.t v;; 22,450 30 to 35 .. .j, v.- j. .i 33,450 35 to 40 .... w '.ii 30,800 40 to 45 26,500 Total .. ... fr. 118,000 The classification of tlie division is:— A—All men without children. B—Men of from 20 to 35 with one and two children. C—Men from 35 to 46 with' one and two children. 13—Men up to three and four children. _ E—Men ove'j sy years with three and four children. F—AH men with more than four children. In round figures the conjugal conditions of the married men of military age may be set down as follows: Children. Men. None r .-.| -rr y* 10,000 - One yv [,vf r,24,000 Two . I.J. gg 22,000 Three y 14,000 Four .•• .. N.i rjv is? 10,000

It is worth noting that these men number 80,000. It appears that the numbers of men in the various classes are:— • Class A y;; v.- 10.000 Class B v. ; 30,000 Class C %ij r .- fl r . .-j [t 15,000 Class D E .,' 15,000 Class E '.w r--.; v.- 10,000

These are the approximate figures. The next thing is to arrive at about the dates on which the men may expect to look toward Trentham. It seems unlikely that the First Division will be exhausted before, the end of this year. There are nearly 40,000 men left in it. The last draw wont to the extent of 8500. If this rate were maintained thj division would survive only about four more draws, which means about four more months. That would take us along to September. Had any move been made in the direction of holding a wash-ing-up of the* First Division, it is possible that the Second Division would not be called before the end of the year, but the present indications are that while the year will not see the exhaustion of 'the First Division, it will sea the commencement of the Second Division ballots. In fact, to be on the safe side, it is well to set down October next as the starting point for Second Division ballots.

All thd Second Division men, of course, will not be sent, and it will be necessary to, reduce the total of the division by about half to provide aainst unfitness, exemptions, etc. , The reduction will leave the classes at the following strengths:—; " ' ■>-, Class A vr rraj frg -5,000 Class B 15,000 Class O w ;.y '.v Kj) 7,500 Class D y.-. y, & 7,500 Class E ■.. >. .1 ■. < ..-.i 5,000

If tho strengths of the drafts are kept at 2300, the dates of balloting for the various classes of the Second -Division may be set down as follows: Class A y? Oct., 1917 Class B jrtj grg Dec., 1917 Class C 1 [tit] [. .; June, 1918 Class D y.; Sept., 1918 Class E ,y ;nj Jan., 1919 Class F v.i March, 1919