COMPULSORY SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2848, 12 August 1916, Page 10

COMPULSORY SERVICE

STATEMENT BY RECRUITING BOARD GROUP QUOTAS TO BE FURNISHED VOLUNTARILY OR UNDER THE ACT. There are a good many people iii New Zealand interested in the Military Service Act who will 110 doubt be more or less anxious as to the manner in lvjiich it is to be put into operation. Up till yesterday recruiting officers and recruiting committees have been as much in the dark as anyone elso as to certain important points—points on ■which they have from time to time been questioned. Now, however, tho Government Rccruiliii;: Hoard ' (of which the i'rimc. Minister is chairman) has issued the following statement to .Hearuitiiig Committees, which clears up several of the points at issue. Tho following is a copy of the memorandum referred to: —

"Dear sir, —In accordance with tho provisions of the Military Service Act, the Dominion has been divided into recruiting districts, which will also he the permanent group districts for Territorial training and all defence purposes. 111 order that each group recruiting district should have a boundary clearly defined and easily ascertainable, it was decided iu all eases to adopt county boundaries lor this purpose, and each district therefore now consists of so many counties, and, of course, all boroughs v and road and town districts situate within those counties.

"It is earnestly hoped "that the existing local body recruiting committees iu such of Lhe new districts where no organisation of the kind already exists wilt take .steps to form a central executive, or, in _ the case of the larger group recruiting districts, one or more executives as circumstances may rcudcr desirable, lour knowledge of local conditions will enable you to determine what is best in your own ease, It is felt that such a committee in each district is desirable, not only for the purpose of controlling.recruiting as heretofore, but to assist and advise with respect to matters that may arise from tune to time in the administration of the Military Service Act. '''In thus asking for a continuance of labours which 1 Know have "Seen" arduous and exacting, 1 desire, on behalf of th&'Recruiting Boatd, to express its grateful appreciation of the valuable assistance that has been so cheerfully given over practically the whole Dominion. I am sure you will be recompensed' by the knowledge that the work is ilia highest national importance. ''The work of preparing registers of the men in the First Division of the Reserve in each of the new districts '■will bo undertaken forthwith, and so soon as tiicse are complete—namely, fourteen days after the enrolment of tho Reserve has been proclaimed, your district reinforcement quota will be reassessed on tho basis of tho number of men of the First Division only then found remaining therein. By this'moans •strict justice will be done to each district so far as its past recruiting is concerned. For instance, to take an extreme case, if any district has recruited so well heretofore as to have quite exhausted its First Division, its register will show blank pages, and its quota will bo nil, until such time as the First Division of tho rest of the Dominion lias been used up, and it k necessary to trench on the Second Division. !

"Once the new quotas have been allotted on the First Division, the.decision as to whether the voluntary principle of enlistment is to' continue or is to be superseded or supplemented by compulsion in any or every district will be left entirely to the meii of military age registered therein. If a district prefers to find its required draft voluntarily, it can do so cither wholly or iu part from one or both Divisions of the Reserve. In the former event, the Military Scrvico Act will bo for it non-existent; in tho latter event the Act will automatically operato to make good the shortage, but the ballot in every instance will bo for men of the First Division only. "I should like to emphasise these two salient points:— "1. When tho now quotas are allotted to tho group recruiting districts, each district will be required to find its complete draft, cither voluntarily or under the Act; and "2. "While each district can voluntarily recruit from tho men in the First and Second Divisions'of the Reserve, any shortage will be made good by ballot of the men of the First Division only. "It is proposed to make announcements from time to time in the Press as the preparations for bringing the Act into force progress."