THE MILITARY BALLOT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2938, 25 November 1916, Page 10

THE MILITARY BALLOT

MANY GLAD'TO BE CALLED

ISSUE OF THE NOTICES

The announcement of the names of the reservists drawn for servico in last week's ballot aroused keen interest in . the City, and the lists published in yes- :■ terday's newspapers . ivero scanned eagerly afc breakfast tables and. in . trains and trains. "Did they get you?';' appeared to be the popular greoting in Wellington (luring . tlia morning, and the men who answered "Yos" seemed quite as happy as tlioso ■ who were : able'to reply, "Not yet." Indeed the cheerfulness of most of the chosen gave support to the oft-repeated .. . statement that the.ro aro thousands of men who did not feel afc liberty to ■'volunteer, but who would gladly' don khaki if told authoritatively that they • wero needed. Some of the recruits were apparently ; disappointed to discover that they could not got into camp . . at once. Others, again, were in a hurry to secure forms of appeal. The preliminary telegrams, informing the selected reservists of the result of the ballot, wero dispatched in the morning;, and. should all have been'deslivered during yesterday. The telegrams stated that formal notices, ac- . companied by forms of appeal, would follow by registered-posty; and the post- ' ing of these. iiotifces proceeded during ; the day. The recruiting staff completed .the work last night, and every recruit ■ should rcceivo his papers within the ■'next two or tlireo days, according to tlio distance of his place of residence from Wellington. The notices have been, posted to the addresses given by V the men themselves in their registration forms, and any. reservist who has since changed his address / without .notifying the Government should take steps to'secure his letter. Tlio Defence authorities had stated in advance that the ballot'would reveal some errors, owing to the impossibility ■ of completing an absolutely accurate roll ■ of _the_ reservists of the First Division in the limited time that was available. The rule laid down for •the guidance of the officers was .'that if any doubt existed! regarding a partiv cular name, it was to be placed upon , the roll. The man himself could then secure any amendment to which he was entitled, whereas if a doubtful name ; were left off the roll a reservist might : be assisted avoid his proper, responsibility.. ' Similarity of names, insufficient addresses, - partically. completed ■ registration forms,_ bad writing, and ' other factors handicapped tlio authorities in their effort to secure accuracy and completeness. Some of the anticipated errors revealed themselves yesterday, but as far as could be gauged, the number -was surprisingly small; It was stated that one or two men : who had been called ud were already ' members of the Expeditionary Force: ;This would be due to error, or lack of - information, when the roll of the Re- - servo was being.checked against the •j lists of. members of tho Reinforcements.. A. few of the men summoned are stating.that th'ey are not of mili- , tary age. Points of this kind will be 'adjusted by the' Military Service -Boards, and any reservist w-ho has been called un wrongfully will have tile matter put-right, for him. ■ The Starred Men. Many complaints were made yester- . day by men . who claimed that their names should have been starred in the •published lists, since they had previously volunteered for service and had been rejected. There 6eems to have been some misunderstanding on this point. The Government Statistician had explained on . several occasions through the newspapers that men who wished their names ■ starred v must produce evidence of their enlistments The ■ proper procedure was for the man concerned to show his card of enlistment ; at a recruiting.office, and got a form .for dispatch to. the Government Statistician, who would - then endorse the ' man's registration card; The responsiliilit.y was left .upon .the ' reservists themselves, the authorities not caring t-d undertake tho additional work" of comparing the' roll with the Defence Department's records for the purposo . of discovering the rejected recruits. If ; this _ work 'had. been undertaken I there inevitably would have been errors mid confusion owing to insufficient and changed addresses, and similarity of names; It should be understood, therefore, that some of the men included in the lists published yesterday ■ had previously volunteered for :' service, though they' were not starred'. Several of the"'men who were titled to-be starred, as having volun-teered-for service,, have called at The Dominion office for the;.purpose of show- ; ing their, proofs of enlistment. Among the compulsory recruits Who had offered . their services prior to the ballot are Joseph Clifford. Bradley (Islaiidl Bay), Charles-E; Bo wen (Leraud Street, Wellington South), William ' Henry .Tebh (o Macfarlane Street), Frederick i-G. S. King (62 Cambridge Terrace), ■■■'■TE6mas"Simmbns'""(37"" Jessie" Street), Rodolfo S. P. Noseda (Occidental Hotel), and Frederick P.' Monk (29 ■ Oak Grove, Hankey Street). F. S. Hodson (Y.M.C.A. teacher) .has been a member of tha Expedition- . ary Force, in the N.Z.M.C., since April ; last, and is at present stationed at the ■ ■Bacteriological Laboratory. Mr. F. G. • S. King, mentioned above,- has been in - camp and has been discharged medically unfit. Mr. Tom-Rist states that he enlisted, some . 18 months ago, but was rejected by Colo.net Purdy, and Mr. F. W. Norrish, Brentwood Farm, states •that he was in camp for four months .-.with'the Btli Reinforcements, but. was rejected as medically unfit. Conscripted Soldiers. The popular impression that the First ' Division consists only of "shirkers" is quite erroneous, and-the_ first ballot gives - some good illustrations of this 'fact. The First Division comprises all /.unmarried iuen between 20 and 46 years-of age, and among those included aro many men who are in the servico of the (Defence Department, and who have been desirous of service ." abroad from tlio outbreak of war, but . whose services. wero such' that they could not bo relieved here up to the .present time. Tho'present ballot has : picked up some of these men, including Staff Sergeant-Mnjor Ryan, N.Z.P.S., and Gunner A. AV. Johnson, R.N.Z.A. The permanent or regular soldiers ' employed by the Defence Department are not given the opportunity of volunteering .for scrvice abroad, but are : ordered to perform such duty as may be' required of them either here or ' abroad. For this reason their names are not starred as having volunteered. They are a class apart, and do not need . to volunteer, but are" expected to be ready to start at any moment on any . duty anywhere. So rar as tho ballot is concerned the Defence Department is in exactly the same position as any other employer, and if it cannot aparo n man who has the luck to draw a win- . ning marble, it has to go boFore the .j Military Service Board and make its ■" case good if it desires to retain him in New Zealand. Defence Headquarters does not desire > to deny such men as have tho luck to 1 draw a winning marble the opportunity of service abroad which they have been awaiting for so long, and will not exer- • eise its right .te-apneal, -'as., an,,employer, jifor these men to be v retained:' in" New •iZealand if it can possibly spare-them. : The two men now drawn will be diffi- ; ault to replace, but as Fortune has deseed that they should go, .and as they .. gve the first of the staff to draw the

lucky marble, the authorities have decided not-to appeal in their cases, but to let them have the opportunity of service. The Appeal Boards. Reservists who have been summoned in Group 5 (Wellington City and Suburbs) will have an opportunity to appear before tho Military Service Board, if they wish to appeal, in tho near future. The Defence authorities wish it to he understood clearly that any man wlio thinks ho has a grievanco will have full opportunity to state his case before the board, with or without tho assistance of counsel. The grounds of appeal as set forth in the form sent to each recruit appear to cover all contingencies, and the board has wide powers in dealing with tho cases brought before it. The right of appeal is not confined to tho reservist himself. An employer may appeal against the enlistment of his employee on the ground that the services of tho reservist are essential to tho maintenance of an industry. Tlio heads of the various churches have the right of appeal in the case of ministers of religion, and tlio officers controlling public departments may appeal on behalf of members of tlio Public Service. The final decision in all cases will rest with tho Military Service Board, which will hear the evidence and deal with the applications accordingly. The Second Ballot. Voluntary rdcruiting for the Twentyfifth Reinforcement, mobilising early in January, will close on December 9, If there is a -shortage of volunteers, a ballot will bo taken'during the. following; week to provide tho men required to fill the draft. It is not certain that a ballot will bo required. Many men aro enlisting for the Twenty-fifth Re-' inforcements now and a certain number of recruits will bo supplied by tho operation of Clause 35 of the Military Service Act.