H.—l9e

4

(/.) If at any time there is a surplus of registrations there is no need to discourage men from recruiting, which is a necessity in the case of direct enlistment. (g.) Under the system of registration there is no necessity for continuously altering the recruiting standards, as is the case with direct enlistment. 12. The following disadvantages inherent to the registration system have been put forward :— (a.) The system is galling to men who suddenly make up their minds that they want to get to the front as soon as possible. Men are naturally impatient. The moral is to register right away in order to get into camp at the first opportunity. (b.) The failure of the system to take the unemployed, who find it difficult to obtain temporary employment under comparatively uncertain conditions. On the other hand, it does not necessarily follow that the unemployed from whom this complaint comes form the majority, or the bast class from which our recruits are obtained. The man who has employment and can keep it will undoubtedly prove the best soldier, and Now Zealand wants the best men that she can produce for her Expeditionary Force. (c.) It has been pointed out that many men after registering obtain employment and fail to come up when they are required ; but this has proved no appreciable disadvantage, since there has been no lack of necessary recruits registering up to the present time. (d.) Men throw up their employment through ignorance of the registration system before they have been called up to go into Trentham Camp, and so are thrown as a burden on the country. The remedy is to take steps to distribute the posters and registration leaflets more widely, more particularly in the backblocks. The Press of the Dominion, members of Parliament, Mayors, Rifle Clubs, National Reserve, Legion of Frontiersmen, and patriotic societies, &c, can assist very appreciably in this direction. 13. The following advantages have been put forward in favour of direct enlistment —that is, the taking of the recruit into camp immediately he offers his services : — (a.) Men can more easily be induced to enlist when appealed to by parades of troops or patriotic speeches, in that they offer their services under the influence of temporary excitement. This argument carries no real Weight at the present time, as there has been no lack of recruits under the present registration system. (b.) Appeals more directly to human nature, and allows the men who want to do something for the Empire to go right away and do it at once. 14. The following arc some disadvantages of the direct-enlistment system : — (a.) A standard course of training cannot be adopted, since men Would be in the training-camp for varying lengths of time. When men are coming in daily a much larger Instructional Staff is required to deal with them. The Instructional Staff of the Defence Forces is at present taxed to its utmost. Further depletion of the District Staffs to any appreciable extent would seriously affect the Territorial Army, which is the school not only for the present war but for future Wars. Such a course is therefore not to bo lightly entered upon. (b.) The result of a Reinforcement draft of men in various stages of training being sent out of New Zealand would render it extremely difficult for the Imperial Government to handle the men efficiently for further training at the training base. (c.) If men Were to come into camp for varying lengths of time it Would be practically impossible to train units collectively prior to embarkation. Such a course Would involve a long period of training at the base. This throwing extra Work on the Imperial authorities Would depreciate New Zealand's efforts. (d.) Although it is claimed for direct enlistment that men are accepted whenever they wish to offer, the claim falls to the ground in actual practice. Whatever the organization, there must be some limit to the number of recruits that can be handled at a time. Training Staff, accommodation, arms, equipment, clothing, are all limiting factors. Every man in the country fit for service cannot be taken at one time. The object is not to place a maximum force in the field for a few weeks, but to maintain the greatest possible force in the field for the estimated duration of the war. Under direct enlistment when recruiting is slack men are obtained by patriotic appeals and by a lowering of the standard. The result is frequently a surplus, when direct steps must be taken to discourage recruiting. The usual steps taken are closing recruiting for certain arms and raising the standard. These methods are a commonplace in the United Kingdom in connection with recruiting in peace-time for the Regular Army, which is limited by Act of Parliament. Study of the Australian Press will show that similar stops are constantly being adopted to deal with unceasing fluctuations of recruits in the Commonwealth. A recruit turned down

Surplus registrations. Recruiting standard. Disadvantages of registration. Delay in getting to the front.

Unemployed.

Men failing to report when required. Men throw up their employment.

Advantages of direct enlistment. Men more easily induced to enlist.

No delay in getting away. Disadvantages of direct enlistment. Larger Instructional Staff required.

Training at base rendered more difficult.

Collective training impossible.

Discourages recruiting.