MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1916, Page 7

MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

ENROLMENT OF THE RESERVE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, August 20. As already 'announced, the enrolment of the first and second divisions of the Expeditionary Force Reserve will be proclaimed on Friday, September 1, and Saturdaj', September 2, respectively. A period of fourteen days thereafter, namely, until Friday, September 15, foi the first division, and until Saturday, September lli. for the second division, is allowed by the Act to all men of military age, who have, not registered under the National Registration Act, to become 3nrolled. Military age means not less than twenty years, and under forty-six years. This applies equally to men who have failed to register, and to those who had no opportunity to do so, through not being resident in the Dominion when the National Register was taken. The Act also directs that every man who hereafter becomes a member if the reserve, either by attaining the age of twenty years or by becoming a resident in New Zealand, or in any other manner, to make application foi enrolment within fourteen days of becoming a member of the reserve. AD applications for enrolment must be sent through the post "by registered letter to the Government statistician, who will thereupon make the necessary additions to the district registers affected. Addressed and stamped' envelopes will be obtainable at every post oiliee for this purpose on and after Friday, September 1. A vigorous publicity :ampaign, by means of advertisements, posters, placards, and lantern slides, will be conducted during the enrolment period in order to bring homo to the men concerned, as well as to all employers of labor, the obligations imposed on them by law. It lias already been made abundantly clear that the roll is the only instrument by which the compulsory provisions of the Act cur. be enforced, therefore every man- of military age must bo on the roll if that compulsion is to operate with justice and fairness to all, and particularly to those who have loyally done their duty by registering'. It should never be forgotten that the absence of every man who should be ill the reserve increases the chances of the enrolled men being called up for service whenever a ballot is taken. The Legislature lias made very complete provision in the Act to ensure a complete -oil, and these stringent measures, quite apart from the additional check resulting from the work of heal rccru ig committees, justify the prediction that no man will be able to escape his obligations to the State in the present great crisis. It can be stated with equal certainty that it will not pay any man to attempt to evade enrolment or to neglect to notify any change of abode fov the purpose of escaping service. 1 Failure or refusal to comply with the ex. press directions of the Act entails serious consequences tt the individual oi individuals concerned, and this important difference between the National Registration Act and the Military Service Act should be carefully considered by anyone .who has failed to register, and imagines that because he has not so far been proceeded against he is, and will be, immune from prosecution under the Military Service Act. Whereas the National Registration Act threw the onus on the Government statistician of proving that a, man did not register, the Military Service Act specifically throws on the individual the onus of proving that he did registci, or in cases where the proceedings are taken against an employer for continuing to employ a man who is not enrolled the onus is on the employer of proving that he or she had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her employee was enrolled. The reserve consists of every male British subject of military age resident in New Zealand, excepting members of the Expeditionary Force and soldiers who have been discharged from such force in consequence of disablement or ill-health after service beyond the seas in that force. For instance, members of the first Samoan Force or of the main Expeditionary Force who have been discharged at their own request, and members 0 of the Expeditionary Force, discharged either in the Dominion or abroad, because of their refusal to he inoculated or vaccinated, must enrol in the reserve. Every man who is required to enrol should, therefore, think well before he fails or refuses to comply with the precise and clear directions of the Act, because in addition to the substantial penalties to which he thereby renders himself liable, he can, on conviction for this offence, be called upon forthwith for service in the Expeditionary Force without having any chance of the luck of the ballot. He will simply find himself enrolled as a member of the force, without further option. The Government Statistician is preparing a certificate of enrolment undei the Military Service Act, to provide every man of military age with a ready proof that he is in the reserve. This certificate will be issued only on application by each reservist. Application forms, addressed to the Government Statistician, will be obtainable at every post office in the Dominion, and flic certificate will be forwarded as soon as practicable thereafter to the postmaster for personal delivery to the reservist. This certificate should be carefully preserved, and should always be in the personal keeping of the individual whose name it bears, for this important reason: The Act empowers a constable to stop and question any man who may reasonably be supposed to be of military age as to any matter relevant to his membership of the reserve, and the production of this certificate of enrolment will be a sufficient answer by every man so ques--1 tioned.

Reference ha? already been made to the responsibility of employers of labor with respect to enrolment. One of the most important provisions in the Act in this connection is the section which prevents any man of military age receiving or continuing in employment in the Dominion unless 'he is able to prove that he is enrolled in the reserve. _ Here again the production of hi* certilicate will be sufficient proof of enrolment. This section makes every employer of labor of any hind whatsoever, who, after the enrolment of the reserve has been proclaimed, engages in his or her service or continues in his or 'her employment a man who should be, but is not, enrolled therein, guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine of not less than £2O nor more than £IOO. The widest publicity will 'be given to the grave responsibility of all employers, and to the onus which is cast upon them of satisfying themselves by the production of the certificate of enrolment that every man they engage or employ is properly enrolled in the reAs'the preparation, of between 200,000 and 300,000 certificates is involved, it will be aome little time before they can all be forwarded to but due

notico will be given through the press to all employers so soon as these :ertifieates are ready for issue, and thereafter any employer w'ho engages or employs a reservist without satisfying himself that such reservist is enrolled will do so at the risk af the heavy penalties provided in the Act. Severe penalties (including a period of imprisonment not exceeding three months l ) will also be imposed on any person ivho employs or retains in his or her service a man who has deserted or is absent without leave from the Expeditionary Force. Here again the onus is on the employer to prove that he or she did not know that the man so employed or retained in service was a deserter or absent without leave. But in addition to the foregoing provisions dealing with enrolment, the Act has delinite instructions with respect to changes of address after enrolment. New Zealand is noted for the migratory character of its people, and needless to say, therefore, the number of men who are affected by this section of the Act constitute quite an army in themselves. It is the duty of every man who has changed his abode since furnishing his personal schedule under the National Registration Act. or who changes his abode after enrolment in the reserve, to himself notify the Government Statistician of such change of address by registered letter. A registered letter form, fully addressed and stamped, will be available on and after September 1 at every post office in the Dominion for this purpose. This notification must be sent before Saturday, September lli, in the first case, or within fourteen days of changing f his abode in the second instance. Liability to a fine not exceeding £2O for failure to do so is the direct penalty imposed by the Act, but neglect of this duty may, and in many cases will, entail much more serious consequences. As has already been stated, the district registers will be finally closed fourteen days nfter the gazetting of the enrolment of the reserve, namely, on Saturday, September HI. Every man will remain on the district register in which his name appears at that date, no matter how often or to what other district he may remove. If, for instance, a man is registered for the 'North Auckland district, and subsequently removes to the Bluff without notifying his change of address as .directed by the statute, the lot may fall on'him in any ballot that is taken to make good a shortage occurring in the quota for the North Auckland district. His name will thereupon be gazetted as one of the men in that partiular district on whom the lot has fallen, and a registered letter will be addressed to ilis last-known place of abode advising him of the fact, if he then fails to present 'himself at the time and place notified, the excuse that he had changed his place of residence, and was not aware that the lot had' fallen on him in the district in which he formerly lived will be of no avail, mini he may be called upon to stand his trial on a charge of desertion, which is an offence punishable on indictment before a civil court by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. As an alternative it may be dealt with as a military offence by court-martial. Finally the enrolment mesh is drawn still tighter by the provision which renders any persons liable on summary conviction to a line not exceeding £SO, who, having in his or her possesion any. information relative to the circumstances of a man who is or may reasonably be supposed to be of military age, or which may be of use in enabling any such man to be found, refuses to disclose such information on a request from the Government Statistician or a constable or a defence officer. It is to the .interest of every man oi military age, and particularly of the married men, to furnish the fullest particulars with respect to himself and his family, because the Act specifically directs the Government Statistician, if in doubt as to whether a man is, a -eservist or not, to enrol him in the reserve, and if in doubt as to whether a man belongs to the. first or second division of the reserve, to enrol him in the first division thereof.

A further statement will he' prepared explaining exactly in what manner the compulsory .provisions of the Military Service Act will be brought into operation whenever and wherever the necessity arises, for it must always he remembered that the decision as to whether the voluntary system is to continue or is to be superseded or supplemented by compulsion is left entirely to the men 'of military age in the several recruiting districts of the Dominion.