C2 MEN

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3180, 3 September 1917, Page 6

C 2 MEN

Sir,—Now that the National Government's proposal to call up boys of 18 and 19 for military servico has been rightly turned down by an indignant public, this latest dodge of the Government, in the shape of -the re-examination of C 2 men, cannot be condemned in too strong words. There seems to be no finality about these examinations. These (J2 men nearly all .volunteered, in the first place, and were rejected. Their names, however, on the introduction of conscription, were put in the ballot-box, and they wore called up by the ballot, and underwent a second examination, this time before a Medical Boaxd consisting of two or more eminent doctors. Now tho Government has the checj? to say that they are to be put througn the null for the third time. It is quite easy to see what the drift of all tiiis means. The "Jovermnent, afraid of the great voting power or tho Second Division (who have hundreds or thousands of votes, counting wives, etc., etc.). is obviously either afraid to call them up or is scared of th« cost or Now what is the good of tinkering with tho question like this, by running a tine comb, as it were, over theae lirst Division men? Someone in Parliament, whoso intelligence cannot be very ltiginy rated, was amazed that out of the roei so far examined (40,000 to aO.OOO) some 20,000 had been classed Homo Service. Let me tell him (perhaps he did no. know it before) that tens of thousands of men —single . men—did not wait • lor but voluntarily enlisted years ago, and have been at tho front ever since the first lot of men sailed away. Aaturally this left a huge proportion of unfits in New Zealand. The writer of this letter is in the samo position-enlisted voluntarily, turned down; then caught rn ballot, turned down again to his bcrrojv. Hut still the wheel goes round. Ilie Second, or Married, Divisions turn approaches, and—another examination of unmarried men! It is things like this that bring the Government into disrepute, and give a shaft ti> their detractors to hurl at them. We sneer at the Hun, sneer at l.is broken pledges, scraps of paper, etc., etc., ad nauseam. But what about 'lour own New Zealand? What about the statement when conscription was introduced ia this Dominion that all were to go in the ballot—the previously rejected volunteers and the cold-footed ones who waited for conscription and made it necessary ? It was distinctly understood tlip.t or.co a .mtin. went before tho Medical Board he would know his fate. lie would be acceptcd or rejected. No one cavils at tho Government for getting as many men as it can out'of the First Division (or of the Second for that matter). Tho men classed Cl are men who "might be niado fit for active service after further training." So far so good—no one objects to that, for if they can be made fit, well and good. But why, in the namo of common sense, wera men put in the C 2 class if they could be so made "fit"? Their proper class was Cl! This is a glaring example of the inepitude that characterises the examinations, or rather, I should say, the system. The annoying part of it is that single men are put'to all this trouble and worry through this crassly stupid way of classification. It will cost tho country, too, hundreds and hundreds of pounds to reexamine these C 2 men, who, if they could have been "made fit" (as is now alleged) might and should have been put in the Cl class at first. And these doctors could have been left free for the Second Division's requested pre-ballot examinations. But it is palpable that the authorities, in their desiro to savo the pensions, money, eto., that tho Second Divieion do-

inand, are going to reduce the standard, of fitness (of which wo have heard so much, although they may deny itj. In the beginning of tlio conscription era, tho authorities passed 47 per cent, ot tho men balloted for, according to a recent official statement. That is to say, ouvv of every two men called up, ono waf; passed. This, as you will recollect, was; u ghastly failure, men being tumid down, in camp and thrown, out in such gieat. numbers that the patriotic societies (to. whom the men appealed for help) rtse on. their hind legs, protested, and bir JamesAllen said: "Veil, if .we av ® too elastic in the examination, perhapswe had better make toi- a statement to this effect. In W ballot (the ninth), the proportion alloweu for was, I believe, five to men turned down out ot every hve is equal to 20 per cent, as against the. original 47 per cent. Therefore reduction; of standard of fitness did not, aid obviously cannot, work. And now tlie UOV--crnment, after the warnings it has liaa. of sending unfit men to camp, men from past experience are quite unsuitea to the strenuous active service lire (.as some are unfitted); after wastiiy tnousands of pounds in this respect; lot putting all these unsuitable unfit men. to tho trouble and expense 9f sellLllg uPithe loss of'disposing of their businesses# and so forth;.after all these after all this experience, after men onoe, or of-tener in many cases Wn£u. they voluntarily enlisted); twice ttna second time being when they > in the ballet)—l saw tho now gravely proposes calling on tDera again—l am, etc., ANTtmBtBTjG . Wellington,- August 25, 1917. ' P.S.—To'sum up: If a man could be "made" fit he is, and should be, in oi class. Therefore the Government's proposed re-examination of C 2's is tentamount (and it is useless to deny Jt) to reduction of standard of fitness;—A. *n.