EVADING SERVICE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1854, 18 July 1918, Page 3

EVADING SERVICE.

“LAST MAN ON THE FARM,”

The Acting-Chairman of the First Wellington -Military Service Board (Mr 1). Al'Larei!) made an important statement at the sitiint*' of Die Board at Welling ion on Tuesday with reference to "the lasi man on the farm,” and Die attitude ol the hoard in regard lo appeals. Mr M’Larcn (Acting-Chairman) said: “Before 1 open the ordinary business of Die Board to-day, I want to refer lo a communication with regard io Du* Hindi-debated question of "|be last man on the farm.’ It has been a matter Avhich has misled a great many people throughout Die country, and avc have thouglit it right to refer to the matter, as avo find that certain designing individuals are taking advantage of Du* Government's declaration that production must be kept up. In a provincial paper there* appeared the following advertisement :‘A sound proposition. Be Die last man on the farm. Married or single, you are pie on. 300 acres, 20 miles from town, not much Avork, grows 20 hales of wool; Maoris shear sheep; yon collect chorine and walk on velvet. Don’s be shortsighted. Buy noAV. Price £IOO acre. You know it’s Avorth twice the amount. Land Agency.’ I do not knoAv whether the individual who concocted that and sent it forth had the impression that it avus going to mislead any Military Service Board. There is one thing certain, and that is the person Avill be very foolish indeed who thinks he is going to mislead this Board hy any appeals to selfish interests such us that. Our Board from the commencement has been guided solely by Avhat is our order of reference, Avhich is Section 18 of the Military Service Act. There avc have our statutory directions. We have carefully considered the matter of keeping up production. There are two things necessary in this period of Avar, and those two things are to find lighting forces and at the same time keep up as far as possible the production of the Dominion. A great many people have been disposed to set the one thing against the other. It is not a question of production or military service, hut it is production and military service Dial we have jo maintain. The Empire has got to maintain both. Therefore we have viewed this question of the last man on the farm from the standpoint of the actual conditions which exist. There have been numbers of cases that have come before us where there was one farm at tin* outbreak of Die Avar, but that farm has been four or live farms by the lime the appeal reached us. Thai tells ils oavii story. Then \v(* have had numbers of instances where people have only recently bought in farms; and from the evidence wc have taken it is quite clear they have* done so —lo use a colloquialism —in order to ‘get in out of the wet,' and to protect themselves from giving (heir services to (he Empire. This hoard is not disposed to he misled by any of these things. As far as possible avc arc acting Justly and equitably to Ihe .whole body of the citizens, and we hold that that is Du* only way to retain the confidence of the people of New Zealand in Die -administration of Die Military Service Act."