THE RESERVISTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2882, 21 September 1916, Page 7

THE RESERVISTS

PREPARING THE ROLLS

BIG WORK PROCEEDS SLOWLY

Some members of tho Expeditionary Force Reserve are expressing anxioty on account of their failure to receive from tho Government Statistician cards of acknowledgment in'reply to their applications lor certificates of enrolment. They ask if they ought to repeat their applications, lest they sliould become liable to penalties under tho Military Service Act for not securing evidence of enrolment. The Act, they point, out, places the onus of proof oh the reservists themselves, and not upon the' Government. Referring to this point yesterday, the Government Statistician (Mr. Malcolm Eraser) said that his staff had sent out cards in connection with all the forms received up to Saturday, the last day of the fortnight allowed for the enrolment of the Reserve. Tho total number of cards sent out had been about 146,000, but some hundreds of these- had been returned "to him through the Post Oliico owing to- fail.nre to deliver, and further efforts had to be made to reach the nion concerned. The addresses given the men themselves liad been insufficient in some cases. ,Other men had failed to notify change's of address, or had placed illegible signatures on their forms. Mr. Eraser added that men who had filled up and dispatched their forms within the prescribed period, and had not yet received carde of acknowledgment, had bottor wait until tho end of the present "week before proceeding further in! tho matter. If they . did not receive cards then, they should notify him of tho fact, giving full names and addresses; or they could send in other forms. The filling up of duplicate forms was risky, since a man ' might get on'the register twice. . It was estimated originally, on the 1 basis. of tho -National Register, that .about .200,000 men would become;members- of the' Expeditionary Force Reserve when it was proclaimed. Thero should be that many men of military age in New Zealand, when allowance has been made for the withdrawal of all those who have already entered the training camps. The number of applications for certificates of enrolment received by tho Government Statistician is under 160,000, so that 'thero is, : a' substantial margin of men to be 'accounted for. .The authorities are;disposed to believe, from tho evidence that is available, that very many of theso men are enrolled on the National Register,, but have failed to.'appl| for.their certificates of enrolment.. \The idoa persisted ' in.'the minds of some men that if they had sent' in their National Registration forms 'in 1916 .they need not trouble about enrolment in the Expeditionary Force Reserve, as tho officials would be sure to attend to tho matter. Their negleot to follow the directions given them, by applying for certificates of enrolment, involves much extra work for the- Government Statistician's staff. The distributionoosf s the certificates of enrolment is not likely to bo completed before thoond of October. Tho reservists who have sent in their applications on .the forms provided for the purpose will receive first attention. Then the officials engaged in this work. will have to check the names in order to. discover the men whose names appear in the National Register, but .who have not applied for certificates. The addresses of these men will have to be verified before arrangements pan bo completed for the distribution of.their certificates. Finally, the authorities will sot about the task of finding any men who have evaded registration. altogether. . ' The work of the Government Statistician will not be complete when tho roll of the Expeditionary Force Reserve has. been prepared and the reservists have all been provided with their certificates of enrolment. The operation of the Military Service Act will require the preparation of a separate roll for each of the recruiting districts into which the four military districts are being divided. Each member of tho reserve will bo allocated to his own district, and then the quotas of iecruits, to be provided month by month, will be assessed on the basis of the number of members of the First Division in .eacli-of the-districts. The task is a "huge on, and will keep a big staff very busy for man}' weeks to come.