NATIONAL SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24399, 10 September 1940, Page 6

NATIONAL SERVICE

IMPORTANT ALTERATIONS THE TERRITORIAL FORCE SEPARATE BALLOTS SHORTLY (Per United Press association) WELLINGTON. Sept. 9. Further important amendments to the National Service Emergency Regulations, which have been gazetted, were explained by the Minister of National Service (Mr R. Semple) in a statement to-day. He said it was necessary to take a ballot in the near future to secure the necessary number of men to bring the Territorial Force up to war establishment. To enable the men to be drawn and despatched to camo with the least delay it was found desirable to alter the original regulations,. and the provisions now contained in the amendment for arranging separate ballots for the Territorial Force and the Expeditionary Force register of the first division were now nearly complete. Following the ballot, full use would be made of .the district Man-Power Committees, 'including a new one to be established at Palmerston North. Appeal Procedure To expedite the procedure they would deal with all apoeals of persons in the ballot for the Territorial Force, while the Armed Forces Appeal Boards provided for under the main regulations would deal with the appeals of men drawn for overseas, and with all appeals on account of conscientious objection. ' Neither the Man-Power Committees nor the Appeal Boards would be empowered to grant exemption from military service. Such appeals would either be dismissed or adjourned and kept under periodical review. Mr Semple added that after the first ballot he hoped to arrange that persons permanently unfit, such . as cripples, would be excluded from later ballots. The amendments further provide that reservists may be required to provide honorary service where such can be performed without undue interference with their normal occupations. Those whose Overseas service. is. postponed may be. required to do territorial training; Provision for Unfit IVJen .« Included in the First Division of the National Reserve, said Mr Semple, there would be many reservists • who were obviously permanently unfit for service with the armed forces.

"In this class there will be men who have already volunteered for service, but have not been accepted on account of medical unfitness, men suffering from permanent disabilities, such as infantile paralysis, persons who have lost a limb, etc., and many other cases. Up to the present there has been, no authority to exclude such persons from the ballot, but the power, has now been taken in the amending regulations to enable a properly constituted .medical board to certify that a person is permanently unfit for service in the armed forees. In such circumstances the reservist will be transferred to the third division of the reserve, and not be liable to be called up for military service. Unfortunately it will be'impossible to deal with any of these cases prior to the first ballot. Power has also been taken," Mr Semple said, "to enable the Minister of. National Service to require reservists to perform honorary service, either within any scheme under the emergency, precautions regulations or otherwise. This will enable some obligation of service, other than in the armed forces, to be placed on reservists who have been drawn in the ballot, but for any reason have not been placed in j,he armed forces, where such honorary service can be performed without undue interference with their normal occupations."

Reserving Skilled Workers Mr Semple paid a tribute to ; the work of the Man-Power Committees in maintaining a commendable balance between the requirements of the armed forces and the efficient production of the primary and secondary industries, and said, that, with the knowledge and experience gained, these committees would'be in a position to handle expeditiously the large volume of work entailed in the examination of the classes of men called in the ballot for territorial service, who were due to go into camp in October. The Minister added that, in order to co-ordinate the decisions of the Appeal Boards and also to enable the Government policy in regard to the need for reserving -skilled workers i» more important industries to be implemented, the Director of National Service was authorised to give a certificate to the Appeal Boards 1 and the Man-Power Committees that it was contrary to the public interest to call certain classes of reservists up for service with the armed forces.

REJECTED VOLUNTEERS INCLUSION IN BALLOTS EXPLANATION BY MINISTER (Per United Press Association) : WELLINGTON, Sept. 9.' In a further statement to-day, the Minister of National Service (Mr Semple) said that considerable misunderstanding existed regarding the issue of certificates of enrolment to first division reservists who had volunteered for overseas service and had been rejected on medical grounds. " Such men," the Minister said, "remain members of the first division, and as such are liable to be called in the ballot and required to undergo further examination.. by a medical board. Many of these men will have previously been rejected for comparatively minor defects, some of them of a definitely temporary nature. It would obviously be unfair to exclude them from the ballots when by the time they are drawn they may have regained perfect health." • The Minister also said the Government had decided that a departure would be made from the procedure followed, during the last war in regard to gazetting, the names "of the men drawn in the ballots. "The procedure was then to indicate the men who had previously volunteered, by inserting an asterisk before their names in the printed lists," Mr Semple said. "This will, not be done on this occasion, as it is not desired to make any distinction between those who volunteered and those selected for service by means of the ballot. The Gazette notices will, however, contain.a statement that the names appearing in. the list include men who volunteered and had been found to be medically unfit." POSITION OF CLERGYMEN PROVISION FOR EXEMPTION Clergymen will be called up and ballotted for under conscription, but they will be automatically granted exemption on the application of the head of the church. A similar ruling applies to theological students. This information is contained in a letter from Archbishop West-Watson to the Rev. Leslie B. Neale, president of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, which has been published in the Methodist Times. The letter reads as follows: — "The bishops of the Anglican Church met last week in Wellington and passed the following resolution:—

"' That in view of the spiritual nature of the conflict and the necessity for not only maintaining but intensifying the work of the churches, and.on no other ground, the bishops would welcome the exemption of the clergy from military service, but if the Government considers such exemption would be unjust to others each bishop will use his'judgment as to appealina for exemption in each case of a clergyman being called up.' "I have since been informed that the Government has decided that clergymen shall be called up and ballotted for, but that atiDlication may to? made for their exemption by the head of each church. This exemption is to be automatically granted if "asked for. This applies also. I am told, to theological students. "This being so, I do not think that we need trouble about the alternative tasks." .: