NEW DEFENCE ACT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 238, 13 February 1911, Page 8

NEW DEFENCE ACT

01 ILK JATI OX TO SERVE. J KK.\IIXI)Ei: TO SEW' ZEALAND ! 01/TIIS. The l.overnment has approved the issue of large posters setting''out that there is an obligation upon everv male resident of .New Zealand between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five to undergo a course of military training The poster quotes the Defence Act, 1!)()!), which provides for compulsory training, and no doubt the nearest area officer will ue named when the posters are distributed in various localities. Physical unfitness is the first cause of exemption provided for in the statute, but the following will al.so be exempt from service:— Members of the Permanent Staff and Permanent Force. Persons who qualify by examination as ofiiccrs or instructors to the junior cadets while thev so act. Those who have been convicted of any disgraceful crime, or found by any court of justice to be of notoriously bad character. The decision of any Dominion court of justice and any military court martial will be accepted on this point. ISOLATED SETTLERS. The (iovemor nas power by proclamation lo exempt in time of peace all or any persons residing within any particular area, or to vary or extend the area. The object of this provision is to meet the case of outlying settlers who on account of distance cannot, without great expense and loss of time in travelling to and fro, carry out the obligation to undergo training. Should they move into an uncxempted area, they mast within Unity days report to the area officers. The burden of proving exemption from service lies upon the person claiming exemption. ■ Training in the general training section | slnilll. according to the Act, be fourteen days in training cpmp and twelve halfi days at drill in the area in which the individual resides, except in the Artil- ! lery and Engineer branches, in which the training shall be fourteen days in camp ! and twenty half-days or their equivalent.