COMPULSION BILL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1564, 15 June 1916, Page 4

COMPULSION BILL.

SUMMARY OF THE MEASURE,

Following arc the principal features of the Military Service Bill as it passed the House of Representatives : Establishes a Reserve called the Expeditionary Force Reserve. This Reserve consists of every male natural-born British subject of military age (20 to 40 years), except those already serving, discharged from the Expeditionary Force or from any other portion of His Majesty’s Forces after service beyond the seas, men of unsound mind, those serving sentences of one year or more, and Natives within the meaning of the Land Act 1009. The Reserve consists of two divisions, distinguished as First Division and Second Division. The First Division consists of all Reservists who are — (a) Unmarried men ; or (b) Married men whose marriage took place subsequent to Ist May, 1915, unless they have children by a previous marriage under 10 years of age ; or (c) Widowers with no children under 16 years of age ; or (d) Men whose marriage has been dissolved or who are judicially separated from their wives and who have no children under 10 years of age. The Second Divison consists of all other Reservists. The Oovernor-in-Oouncil may from time to time divide the Reserve, or either Division of the Reserve, into such classes (if any) as he thinks fit.

Complete Registers of both divisions are to be prepared.

At iiny time after the Governor lias proclalined and direeled the enrolment of either divisions of the Reserve or of any class or classes thereof, the Minister of Defence may require the Commandant of the Forces to call up from such division, plass, or classes for service with the Expeditionary Force such number of men as the Minister thinks necessary. The Commandant shall cause the number of men specified to he selected before a Stipendiary Magistrate by lot from the men whose names appear in the register of the division, class, or c-lasses concerned. The Minister shall thereupon publish in the Gazette the names (together with the abodes and occupations so far as known) of the men selected, and declaring those men called up for services with the Expeditionary Force. In addition the Minister shall, as farms practicable, give notice to every man so called up by registered letter addressed to him at his last known place of abode, that he has been so called up. A man may appeal on the ground that at the time when he was called up he was not a member of the Reserve or of that division or class from which the-selection was made.

Every man failed up for service, or who has voluntarily enlisted and taken the oath of allegiance, shall he subject to military law. Men declared permanently medically unfit may be : (a) Discharged from the Expeditionary Force and from the Reserve ; or (b) discharged from the Expeditionary Force, in which case they shall be deemed to be retransferred to the division or class of the Reserve from which they were called up ; or (c) exempted from foreign service, in which case they shall remain members of the Expeditionary Force liable for service in Xew Zealand.

Every man guilty of deserting shall, in addition to liability under the Army Act, be guilty of an indictable offence and liable to live years’ imprisonment with hard labour.

Special Military Service Boards are to be established, to which men called up may appeal for exemption or postponement of being obliged to serve for various reasons, such as causing undue; hardship to themselves or others, and their service being contrary to the public interest.

The Military Service Board or Boards shall consist of three; members appointed by the Governor, who shall appoint one of them as chairman.

In appeal cases if shall be sufficient evidence of undue hardship if the appellant is the sole surviving son of his parent’s, and that at least one of his brothers has served with some portion of His Majesty’s Forces in connection with the present war, and has lost his life by that service.

District Registers may be prepared, and to enable the carrying out of the quota system the Minister may authorise the ealling-up of men from any one or more recruiting districts to the exclusion of the others.

Every man failing to enrol in the Reserve when the enrolment of any division or class is directed shall be liable to imprisonment for not less than one month and not more than thi’ee months, or to a line of not less than £lO and not more than £SO. If any man is convicted of such an offence the Commandant may call upon him for service with the Expeditionary Force, and he shall thereupon become a member of the Force. The onus lies on the maw in proving his case. Every person is liable to three years’ imprisonment who wilfully deceives or attempts to deceive the authorities, offers a, bribe, or incites, conspires or commits any act with intent to avoid service of the accused himself or of any other person liable. „ Heavy penalties arc provided for persons employing non-enrolled men who should be in the Reserve, or men who have deserted from or art* absent without leave from the Expeditionary Force. Every Reservist is obliged to notify any change in his address. Reservists using false names are liable to three months’ imprisonment or a line of £SO. The police are empowered to question all men of apparent military age relative to military service. The Governor may, by Proclamation, extend the provisions of the Act to the Native Race. The authorities may at any time proclaim that voluntary enlistment of Reservists over 21 years of age shall cease throughout New Zealand on in any recruiting district or districts, and may revoke such proclamation. The Governor may, by Order-in-Council gazetted, make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to the Act.