The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1916 THE MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 51, 27 September 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1916 THE MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

If .the, significance of the Military Service Act] with its far-reaching but at the same time fully justified powers, is not yet fully realised by the public it ought to be, for the fullest publicity has .been given to its provisions and the duty of all eligible persons has been fully pointed out. No blame, either, can be placed on the Government for failing to give due warning, forlthe authorities have taken quite unusual steps to make tiie position clear to the people throughout the land, and consequently the only explanation that can bo given is that a section of the community has shown too little interest in the, measure to make itself acquainted with the requirements or at any rate with tbe provisions applicable to the individual. One very important, point is certainly that the day of the evasiouist volunteer is almost over, i The Wellington Post remarks that, this sham used to volunteer for some! remote reinforcement draft, or for, some arm of the service he suspected i to be over-stocked; or, if he did eu-| list for some more practical service, ■ he trusted to medical rejection, or, inj the last resort, ignored the call. Audi to this abuse the old system lent itself. A man who enlisted received a ! badge and the publication of his name 1 in the paper; in return, he gave no 1 binding contract —merely his word of! honour. Should he break the latter, 1 he still continued to enjoy the glory I of the above-mentioned publicity and of the badge upon his arm, the face value of which, was unaffected by the betrayal. But after September there will be no more of this. Men may still volunteer, and thus lift themselves out of the compellable reserves, but if a man volunteers he will on

registering he sworn in as a member of the Expeditionary Force, ami will

thus become at once a soldier, liable

to arrest as a deserter if lie does not parade when required. Also, he will

be sworn in for general service only ; that is to say he cannot impose ns a

binding condition his inclusion in a particular arm of the service; be may propose one, but the military authorin'- will dispose according to military in > icy. Again, he may not stipu-

■ late for inclusion in a rcintorcement ‘ draft other than one of the next three. The old voluntary enlistment J was merely a promise to service; the ! new one is a contract to serve, with I a deserter’s penalty for any breach.

j Obviously, the difference is immense. In order to 1 1 ring all volunteers under tho now system, tjmse now registered will bo required to swear m, ami, it llmv do not, will bo removed from the lei mid I'lsrui d bar-k intu the rompellable reserve. “As a result oi : i

these changes,” the Wellington journal

concludes, “volunteering will uvome a real thing. For tin- great majority it was always a reality, but there ttas a minority which used it as a cloak and gained an unfair advantage over non-volunteers. The cutting out of this abitso is one of the advantages arising from the new system, which makes for action and has no time to

waste on mock heroics.”