THE SUMMONS TO ENROL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2863, 30 August 1916, Page 6

THE SUMMONS TO ENROL

MILITARY SERVICE ACT

TO BE PROCLAIMED TO-MORROW

THE DUTY OF EVERY MAN

As already announced, tho enrolment of tho First and Second Divisions of the Expeditionary Force Rcsorvo will he proclaimed on Friday, September 1, and Saturday, September 2, respectively, states an official announcement by the Recruiting Board. A period of fourteen days' thereafter, namely, until Saturday, September 16, is allowed by the Act to all men of military age who have not registered under the National Registration Act to become enrolled. ■ Military age means not less than twenty years and under forty-six years. This applies equally to men who have failed to register, and to those who had no opportunity to do so through not being residential the Dominion when the National Register was taken. The Act also directs every man who hereafter becomes a member of the reserve, either by attaining the age of twenty years or by becoming a resident- in New Zealand, or in any other manner, to make application for enrolment within fourteen days of becoming a member of the Reserve. All applications for enrolment must bo sent through the post by registered letter to the- Government Statistician, who will thereupon make tho necessary additions to the district registers affected. Addressed ami stamped envelopes will be obtainable at every post office for this purpost on and after Friday, Soptcmber 1. A vigorous publicity campaign by means of advertisements, posters, placards, and lantern slides will bo conducted during tho enrolment period, in order to bring home to the men concerned, as well as to all employers of labour, the obligations, imposed on them by law. .

You Must Register. It has already been made abundantly clear that the roll is the only instrument by which the compulsory provisions of the Act can be enforced; therefore every man of military ago must bo on the roll if that compulsion is to operate with justice and fairness to all,, and particularly to those who have loyally done their duty by registering. It' should never bo forgotten that the absence of every man who should bo in the Reserve increases tho chanco of tho enrolled men being called up for servico whonever a ballot is taken. Tho Legislature has made very complete provision in the Act to ensure a complete roll, ' and . these stringent measures, quite apart from the additional check resulting from the work of local recruiting committees, justify the prediction _ that _no man will be able to escape his obligations to the State in tho present great crisis. It can be stated ■ with equal certainty that it will not pay any man to attempt to' evade enrolment, or to neglect to notify any change of abode, for tho purpose of escaping service. Failure or refusal to comply with the express directions of the Act entails serious consequences to tho individual or individuals concerned, and this important difference between tho National Registration Act and the Military Service Act should bo carefully considered by anyone who has failccl to j'egistor and imagines that because ho has so far not been proceeded against he is, and will be, immune from prosecution under the Military Service Act. Whereas the National Registration Act ; threw the onus on the Government Statistician of proving that a man did not register, tho Military Service Act specifically throws on the individual the onus «f proving that he did register, or in cases where the proceedings are taken against an employer for continuing to employ a man who is not enrolled, the onus is on the employer of proving that he or she had reasonable grounds for,believing that his or her employco was enrolled.

A Serious Duty. The Reserve consists of every malo British subject of military ■ ago resident in New Zealand, excepting members of tho Expeditionary Force and soldiers who have Been discharged from such Force in consequence of disablement or ill-health after service beyond the seas in that Force. For instance, members of (the First Samoan Force or of the Main Expeditionary Force- who have been discharged at their own request, and members of the Expedition* nry Force discharged either in the Dominion or abroad because of their refusal to be inoculated or vaccinated, must enrol in the Reserve. Every man who is required to enrol should therefore think well before ■lis ?<uls or refuses to comply with the precise and clear directions of tho Act, because in addition to the substantial penalties to which he thereby renders himself liable, he can on conviction for this offence be called up forthwith tov service in the Expeditionary Force, without having any chance of the luck of tho ballot. He will simply find himself enrolled as a member of the Force without further option. Tho Government Statistician is preparing a certificate of enrolment under the Military Service Act in order to pvi.ikle overy man of military age with a ready proof that he is in the Reserve. This certificate will he issued only on application by each Reservut. Application forms addressed to the Government Statistician will be obtainable'at every post.office in the Dominion, and the certificate will bo forwarded as seen .i<> practicable thereafter to. the postmaster for personal delivery to tho Reservist. This cei'tiliciitii should bo carefully preserved, and should always be in the personal keeping of tho individual whose name is bears, for this important reason. Tho Act empowers a constable to stop' and question ai.v man who may reasonably bo supposed to bo of military age as to siny matter relevant or his membership of tho Reserve, and the production of his certificate of enrolment will bo a sufficient answer by every man so questioned.

Liabilities and Penalties. Rcfcrenco has already been made to the responsibility of employers of laBour with respect to enrolment. Ono of tho most important provisions in tlio Act in this connection is the section which prevents any man nf military ago receiving, or continuing in, employment in the Dominion unless he is able to prove that ho is enrolled in tho Heservo. Hero, again, tho production of his certificate will bo sufficient proof of enrolment. This section makes every employer of labour of any kind whatsoever who, after tho enrolment of tho Reserve has been proclaimed, engages in his or her service, or continues in his or her employment for more than seven days a man who should be, but is not, enrolled therein, guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine of not less than £20 nor more than £100. Tho widest publicity will bo given to the grave responsibility of all employers, and to tho onus which is cast upon them of satisfying themselves, by the production of the certificate of enrolment, that every man they engage of employ is properly enrolled in tho Reserve. As the preparation of between 200,000 and 300,000 certificates is involved, it will be some little time 'before they

can all be forwarded to Reservists, but duo notice will bo given through the Press to all employers so soon as these certificates are ready for issuo, and thereafter any employer who engages or employs a Reservist without satisfying himself that such Reservist is enrolled will do so at tho risk of the heavy penalties provided in the Act. _ • _ _ . Severe penalties (including a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months) will also bo imposed on any person who employs or retains in his or her service a man who has deserted or is absent without leave from the Expeditionary Forco. Here, again, the onus is on ifie employer to prove that he or she did not know that the man so employed or retained in service was a deserter or absent without leave.

But hi addition to tie foregoing provisions dealing with enrolment, the Act has definite instructions with respect to changes of address after enrolment. New Zealand is noted for the migratory character of its people, and, needless to say, therefore, the number of men who are affected by this section of the Act constitute quite an army in themselves. It is tho duty of every man who has changed his abode since furnishing his personal schedule under the National Registration Act, or who changes his abode after enrolment in the Reserve, to liimself notify the Government Statistician of such change of address by registered letter. A registered lotter form fully addressed and stamped will be available on and after September 1 at every post office in the Dominion for this purpose. This notification must bo seat before Saturday, September 16, in the first case, or within fourteen days of changing his abodo in the second instance. Liability to- a fino not exceeding £20 for failure to do so is the direct penalty imposed by the Act, hut neglect of this duty may, and in many cases will, entail much more serious consequences. As has already been stated, the district registers will be finally closed fourteen days after the gazetting of the enrolment of the Reserve, namely, on Saturday, September 16. Every man will remain on the district register in which his name appears at that date, no matter how often or to what other district he may remove. If, ' for instance, a man is registered for the North Auckland district, and subsequently removes to tho Bluff without notifying his change of address, as directed by the statute, the lot may fall on him in any ballot that is taken to make good a shortage occurring in the quota for the North Auckland district. His name will thereupon be gazetted as one of the men in that particular district on whom the lot has fallen, and a registered lotter will bo addressed to his last known place of abodo advising him of tho fact. If he then fails to present himself for service at-tho time and place notified, the excuse that he had changed his place of residence and was not aware that the lot had fallen on him in the district in which he formerly lived will be of no avail, and he may be called upon to stand his trial on a chargo of desertion, which is an offence punishable on indictment before a civil court by 'imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. As an alternative it may be dealt with as a military offence by court-martial.

Mesh Drawn Still Tighter. Finally, the enrolment mesh is drawn still tighter by the provision which renders any person liable on summary conviction to a lino not exceeding £S0 who, having in his or licr possession any information relative to the circumstances of a man who is or may reasonably be supposed to be of military age, or which may be of use in enabling any such man to .be found, refuses to discloso such information on a request from the Government Statistician or a constable or a defence officer. ° It is to the interest of every man of military age, and particularly of the married men, to furnish the fullest particulars with respect to himself and his family, because the Act specifically, directs the Government Statistician, il iu doubt, as to whether a man is a Reservist or not, to. enrol him in the' Reservo, and, if in doubt as to whether a man belongs to the First or Second Division of the Reserve, to enrol him in tho First. Division thereof. A further statement will be prepared explaining exactly in what manner the compulsory, provisions of tho Military Service Act will be brought into operation whenever and wherever the necessity arises, for it must always be remembered ,\ that the decision as to whether the voluntary system is to continue' or is to bo superseded or supplemented by compulsion is left entirely/ to tho men of military ago in tho several recruiting districts of the Dominion. ' W. F. MASSET, Chairman.