THE SACRIFICE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3006, 17 February 1917, Page 10

THE SACRIFICE

MILITARY BOARD PRINCIPLES

DEFINITION OF "UNDUE HARDSHIP" SOUGHT

A KNOTTY PROBLEM

'A plea for a definition of the term "undue hardship," which has become so familiar and so important since the Military Service Boards commenced operations, was made before the Third AVellington Military Service Board yesterday by Mr. A. AA r . Blair, solicitor. Tho point raised by; Mr. Blair concerns hundreds of men in all parts of tho country. Mr. Blair was appearing for a painter who had worked up a good business at Petono, and was unable to dispose of it except at total or considerable loss. This man had dependants whom ho had kept in a certain degree of comfort, his immediate leaving for camp would (seeing that the income of tho business would be gone and that there would be no capital from the sale of it) entail hardship upon them. Those were the circumstances, and Mr. Blair raised the question of whether the hardship was "undue hardship" within the meaning of the Act, and also strongly urged that tho board should either define the meaning of the term or secure an authoritative definition of it. . Mr. Blair said that it seemed to him that the board looked at £ho matter in tlie light that ovoryono had to make tho supromo sacrifice, and ho submitted that that was not a. question for tho' board to decide. What the Act said l that the board had to decide was whether the sending of a man to tho war would be a causo of undue hardship to himself and others. "The question in other words is: 'AA 7 hat is the standard?' Tho standard 1 liliat this board has set up is that it is the duty of every man to mako tho supremo sacrifice. I say tho Legislature has not made that standard. Tho Legislature has put men into _ two classes. Certain men it has put into the First Division, and certain others it has put into tho Second Division. Is the hardship that the man in tho First Division is asked to suffer qs great as tho hardship the man in the Second Division has to hear? If circumstances bring a man who is actually in tho First Division within the category of tho Second Division, I submit that though that man is not married ho is practically put into tho Second Division by tho Act."

There is no standard. ' Mr. Blair said that there were degrees of hardship, and that sometimes the necessities of war fell more severely on those who had been comfortably ott than on those who were accustomed to pour circumstances. Mr. M. J. Mack (a member of tho board): You say that- if a mau has to reduco his standard of living from£6 a week to £3 it would be a hardship. ! Mr. Blair: Yes, hut not an undue hardship. Captain Baldwin (military representative) : Take this case: Supposing a woman was accustomed to keep a maid, would it bo hardship if she had to do without her? . Mr. Blair: It might bo. I submit it would. , . , Mr. Blair; There is no standard, and the hoards must ho seriously hampered by that fact. I have had the honour to appear before Mr. Cooper's board, and I do suggest that this board has set up a very different standard to that adopted by his board. Mr. Mack: You suggest that it would be a greater hardship for a man getting £6 a week to go to the front than for a man getting £2? Mr. Blair: No. Not for tho man, but for those dependent on him- Take the case of a solicitor's wife. If her husband went to the war. she -would suffer far greater hardship than the wife of a man who was intermittent in his work and who spent much of his money in beer. Captain Baldwin: Yes, of course. She would not feel it at all, probably, because she would be no worse off. Mr. Blair: You must take the circumstances into consideration. If a man lived carefully and saved, that should bo considered. Mr. Mack: What the Act should have said was, "Undue hardship in the future." That is what we are trying to prevent. . Mr. Blair: I say that tho Legislature contemplated :i man's financial circumstances, and that it was not intended that n man should bo ruined. Captain Baldwin: Take the case of the man whom you suppose, . spends much of his money in beer. Do you say that there would bo hardship in that case? Mr. Blair: No, I don't. Captain Baldwin: Not oven to tho publican ?

A Definition Thought ImpossibleMr. Blair: However, tho words "undue hardship" have never been defined. That is the difficulty I am in, and I think a : definition would be valuable generally as an indication as to tho principles upon which tlio board has to act. Wo have 110 principle at all. If the thing is that any sacrifice at all has to be made, and that a man's business is to be disregarded, I say that the Legislature has never enacted anything of the kind. Tho chairman of the board (Mr. \V. H. S. Moorhouse): Undue hardship and extreme hardship are two different things. Mr. Blair: Yes. Mr. Blair: 1 have scon a good many cases reported in the Press which came before this board, and that I thought were eases of unduo hardship. But I don't know of a case which this board would consider as one of uhduo hardship- , , -i The chairman: Wo have let a good many off. * ..it 'Mr. Blair: No one has got absolute exemption. . ' Captain Baldwin: Exemption is a very roundabout kind of thing, after all. If you exempt a man,' ho goes back into tho ballot. The chairman: Also, if a man was giving his wife £10 a week, and you exempted him, there is nothing binding him to continue to do that. He might row with the family tho next day, and cease paying them anything. Mr. Mack: And there would not bo a man in tho country that would not bo paying his wife at least £8 a week. jit Blair: When I prove that a man js virtually in tho Second Division, I think that he should bo regarded by this board as such. Captain Baldwin said that it was a difficult matter altogether. Mr. Blair: There are a number of 'cases which I havo been connected with, and had I tho benefit of a ruling 011 this question of principle I would probably ho able to save the board considerable time and trouble. Tho chairman said ho thought it would be almost impossible to get a definition of tho words' ''undue hardship." Mr. Blair: Well, the words used in tho Act arc very mild. The-Act had practically put all men who aro in cortain circumstances Into tho Second Division, and inasmuch as it has done that I think it has practically sot a standard.