TO-MORROW'S BALLOT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 5, 19 January 1942, Page 4

TO-MORROW'S BALLOT

THE first ballot for married men will be released to-mor-row. Those included in the lists will total 27,000 eligible males, the bulk of whom will be required to go into camp almost immediately. The ballot will.be the largest individual list ever gazetted in this Dominion, and speaks of the urgent need which is felt by the military authorities for the builcVng up of a strong and efficient garrison force. We are informed that to-morrow's ballot is but a. prelude to greater and still more definite steps to muster the full manpower of the Dominion, and in the near future will follow the first group of the married men class with children. This group will include all young married men from 18 to 24 irrespective of the number of children. If necessary also the Government is prepared to waste no time in the calling up of further classes, based upon age rather than upon the family responsibilities of the men concerned. The total figure aimed at is 100,000 trained men, while a further scheme is the compulsory attendance in camp of every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 45. The whole idea constitutes a military drag-net which is calculated to bring into training all available men who could reasonably undergo a period of camp life to meet the possibilities of Japanese aggression in the South Pacific. The list of married, men from this district in to-morrow's ballot will appear in Wednesday's BEACON.