Queensland Recruiting Committee
[1]The initial belief of the committee was that their role was primarily one of education; young men would enlist if they understood the issues at stake and the need for their service.
[3] As part of the education campaign, the committee commissioned cartoons for use in newspapers, posters for railway stations and a set of lantern slides which would be shown each day at the 20 picture theatres operated by Birch Carroll & Coyle.
[4][5] The committee also distributed promotional material developed in other states, sending several hundred copies of Victorian poster "Will They Never Come?"
[8] The committee asked each Queensland school to maintain a roll of honour listing those former pupils and teachers who had enlisted.
At each town, the local mayor organised for people to attend the recruiting rally at the station as the train arrived.
The trains travelled to destinations such as:[10] stopping at many smaller towns along the way and taking a number of branch lines along the route.
[12] The march began at Warwick with 28 men and followed the Southern railway line through Toowoomba, Laidley, and Ipswich to its destination in Brisbane, gathering 125 recruits along the way.
[16] The committee also advertised that it would arrange for a recruiting sergeant and military band to attend for any local "patriotic entertainment".
[18] It was hoped that holding Anzac Day ceremonies in Queensland on 25 April 1916 (the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landings) would encourage recruitment.
[22] To encourage frank disclosure, all those involved in processing the returns had to sign a document pledging strict secrecy.
[35] But in September 1916, it was announced that Queensland recruitment had fallen even lower being roughly one-seventh of the increasing levels demanded by the Australian Government.
[39] Indeed, it was unclear if their role as a subcommittee of the Queensland Government's War Council allowed them have an independent position.
[40] The committee was also concerned that the growing public debate on conscription was distracting attention from the need for ongoing recruitment.
[41] If employers were to "devote a little time to instruct female workers", the committee felt they could undertake work in offices, retailing, and manufacturing.
[42] It also advised local recruiting committees (who were not subordinate to the Queensland War Council) to prepare to campaign for conscription.
In discussing the completion of his war census card in January 1916, Ryan "hedged" his answer saying "there is great room for difference of opinion as to the best way to serve the Empire".
[45] Later in early October 1916, Ryan defended himself by producing a letter dated 18 March 1916 from Andrew Thynne, as chairman of the Queensland Recruiting Committee, withdrawing Ryan's call-up letter due to "the importance of your duties as Premier of the State and of your intended visit on public business to England".
[48] Although it was constitutionally possible for the Australian Government to have introduced conscription, it was a controversial move to do so in the face of considerable opposition demonstrated by the public and politicians.
On Wednesday 4 October 1916, Hughes came to Brisbane to speak in support of the conscription plebiscite at the Exhibition Hall.
