MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1594, 5 August 1916, Page 3

MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

NEW RECRUITING DISTRICTS. BOUNDARIES FIXED. PREPARING FOR COMPULSION. The Military Service Act empowers the Minister of Defence to divide New Zealand into recruiting districts, and it directs the Government Statistician, so soon as these districts have been constituted, to prepare district registers of the first and second divisions of the reserve, and to enter on each district register the names of the men of military age belonging to the respective divisions who are resident in that district at the date of its constitution, or at any later date at which they become members of the reserve.

This is the first stage in making for compulsory service. Pursuant to this authority, the dominion has been divided into recruiting districts now, and the work of preparing registers of the men in the First Division of the Deserve for each of these districts will he at once commenced. It has been further decided that these new districts will henceforth he the group districts for all territorial training and departmental purposes. Under Ihe Defence Act this decision means, of course, an increase of three in the present number of groups, with a corresponding increase in the number of groups, commands and staffs. In constituting (he new districts it was not deemed desirable to adhere to the present group boundaries, as these are more or less arbitrary, and in several instances arc not easily ascertainable, and it is necessary that every man who is of military ago, and therefore liable for service, should know clearly and definitely the recruiting district to which he belongs and for which lie may he ballotted. It is also essential to have a well defined boundary to each district to enable the Government Statistician to place, with certainty and exactitude, each reservist in the District Register to which he belongs. For this reason county boundaries have been in every instance selected as the boundaries of the new group recruiting districts in the constitution of which care has been taken to preserve, as far as practicable, community of interest. Each group recruiting district under the Act, therefore, will comprise so many counties and, of course, all boroughs, town and road districts situate within those counties. The Post and Telegraph Guide shows tlie county in which each post office in the Dominion is situate, and thus provides every man of military age with an easy and ready means of ascertaining the county and, consequently, the recruiting district in which he resides. For the purposes of the Military Service Act twentyone group recruiting districts have been constituted as follows: —

No. 1. —Auckland, comprising Eden, Wailemata, (iron!; Barrier, Alanakau and Franklin Counties, / with heaqnarters at Auckland. No. 2. —ITanraki, comprising Coromandel, Thames, Ohinemnri, Pinko, and Mataimita. Counties, with headquarters at Paeroa. No. 17. —Bay of Plenty, comprising Opotiki, Whakatane, Tau-rang-a, Rotorua and East Tan))o Counties,' with headquarters at Rotorua.

No. 3. —North Auckland, comprising Mangonni, Whaugaroa, Hokianga, Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Hohson, Otamalea, and Rodney Counlies, with headquarters at Whangarei. No. 4. —Waikato, comprising Waikato, Raglan, Kawhia, Awakino, Waipa, W aitomo and West Taupo Counties, wilh headquarters at Hamilton. No s.—Wellington, comprising Hutt and Makara, Counties, with headquarters at Wellington.

No. (i. —Manawatu, comprising Horowhenna, Manawatu, Kairanga, Oroua, Rangitikei, Kiwitea, and Pohangina Counties, with headquarters at Palmerston N,

No. 7. —Hawke’s Bay, comprising Hawke’s Bay, Waipawa, Waipukurau and Patangata Counties, with headquarters at Napier.

No. 18. —Wn-irsmipa, comprising Peatherston, Masterton Wairarapa South, Custlepoint, Manriceville, Bketahuna, Pahiatuy, Akitio. Weber, Woodville and Dannevirke Counties, with headquarters at Masterton. No. Ml. —Poverty Bay, comprising AAairoa, Cook, AVaikohn and AVaipu Counties, with headquarters at Gisborne.

No. 8. —Taranaki, comprising Patea, Hawera, Bit-ham, Stratford, Wai unite AN es L Egmont, Taranaki, Clifton and AVhangantomona Counties, with head- ’ quarters at Hawera.

A T o. 20. —Wanganui, comprising Wanganui, Waitotara, AVaimarino, Kaitieke and Olmra Counties, with headquarters at Wanganui. No. 9.— Christchurch, comprising Waimari, Heathcote, Paparua, Halswell, Mt. Herbert, Akaroa, Wairewa and Chatham Island Counties, with headquarters t at Christchurch.

No. 10.—South Canterbury, comprising Ashburton, Geraldine, Levels, AA r aimate and Mackenzie Counties, with headquarters at Timaru.

No 11. North Canterbury, comprising Amuri, Cheviot, Waipara, Ashley, Kowai, Kangiora, Oxford, Eyre, Tawera, Malvern Springs, Ellesmere and Selwyn

Counties, with headquarters fit Kaiapoi.

No. 21. —West Coast, comprising Westland, Grey, Tnangahua, Bnller and Murchison Counties, with headquarters at Greymouth. No. 12. —Nelson, comprising Collingwood, Takaka, AYaimea, Sounds, Marlborough, Awatore and Kaikoura. Counties, with headquarters at Nelson. Xo. 13.—Dunedin, comprising Peninsula, Waikouaiti and Taieri Counties, with headquarters at Dunedin.

No. 14. —Southland, comprising Southland, AYallace, Stewart Island, Lake and Fiord Counties, with headquarters at Invercargill.

No. 15. —North Otago, comprising AYaitaki, Waikino, Maniotolo and Vincent Counties, with headquarters at Oamarn. No. 1(>. —Ciutha, comprising Clutha, Brace and Tuapeka Counties, willi headquarters at Milton.

Advantage has been taken of the present opportunity to number the groups that have hitherto had other than a plain number. For instance, old No. 7a District, Wairarapa, now becomes No. 18, and No. 11a, A\ est Coast, now becomes No. 21. The other new districts have been numbered 17, 19 and 20. This method lias been followed in order to preserve the existing number of the groups that already had a plain number, and so disturb defence records iiud files as little as possible.

It will he observed that the new districts are Bay of Plenty, heretofore attached to No. 2 Group, Poverty Bay, which has been separated from No. 7 Group, which latter group in turn, has been enlarged by the inclusion of the counties of AYaipawa, AYaipukuran and Pa(angata from No. IS Group, and AYanganui, which lias been formed by taking one county from No. (> Group and the remainder from No. S Group.

It will also bo noticed that the group recruiting districts for the cities of Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin have been enlarged to include the adjacent counties, which now, in fact, form what are commonly regarded as the greater metropolitan areas as these centres. Maps of the Dominion, showing the county boundaries and groups of counties forming the several group recruiting districts arc now being prepared, and when ready those will be distributed to each local authority for whose district a roll of men of military age was compiled under the Kecrniting Board scheme. By this means all recruiting committees will be able to see at a glance the precise district in which they are now placed. For the purposes of the Military Service Act it is hoped that the existing local body recruiting cornmil tees in such of the now districts where no organisation of the kind already exists, will take steps to form a strong central executive, or in the ease of the larger group recruiting districts, one or mure executives, as circumstances may determine, not only for the purpose of controlling recruiting as heretofore, but to assist and advise with respect to matters (bat may arise, from time to time.

In the administration of the Military Service Act a direct append is being made by the Recruiting Board to each local body to lake steps, in conjunction with its neighbours, in each gremp recruiting district, le> bring such central exee-ulive e>r executives into existence.

In thus emphasising the m*ed for a continuance of labours which have been arduous and exacting, the* Board desires t<> express its grateful appreciation eif the valuable assistiitie-e* that has heem so cheerfully given over practically the whole Dominion.

It is proposed in the immediate future to proclaim the enrolment of the reserve, and actually what is meant by that will he fully explained in a further statement before (lie proclamation is gazetted.