EXEMPTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1916, Page 7

EXEMPTION.

UNDER MILITARY SERVICE ACT. WORK 01 THE APPEAL BOARDS. (From Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, October 3. The operations of the eompulsorv clauses of the Military Service Act will begin during the next week or two, when notices are served on certain members of the First Division of the Expeditionary Force Reserve under clause 35, which deals with the "shirking families." It may bo taken for granted that many of the men who receive these notices will wish to claim exemption for one reason or another, and it will be the duty of the recently constituted Military Service Boards to hear these claims and adjudicate upon them. Steps have been taken already to lay down lines of policy for the boards, in order that a. reasonable uniformity of practice may be secured in dealing with the appeals. The grounds of appeal allowed any man who is summoned for service as a conscript are wide. The man may object to being taken into camp or apply for exemption on any of the following pleas: (1) That when called up lie was not a member of the Reserve; (2) That when called up he was a member of a division or class that had not been summoned for service; (3) That" by reason of his occupation his calling-up is contrary to the public interest; (4) That by reason of his domestic circumstances- or for any other reason his calling-up for military service will be a cause of undue hardship to himself or others;

(5) That he was, on August 4, 1914, and has since continuously been a member of a religious body the tenets and doctrines of which declare the bearing of arms and the performance of any military service to be contrary to divine revelation, and also that according to his own conscientious religious belief the bearing of arms and the performance of any military service is unlawful by reason of being contrary to divine revelation. The Act further provides that any person who may be exempted on the grounds mentioned in paragraph five shall be liable to perform non-military work in New Zealand at the direction of the Government.

Paragraphs one and two deal with matters of fact and the Military Boards are not likely to have any difficulty in settling claims made in those respects. But the other paragraphs present difficulties. Claims for exemption under paragraph three will be made by men engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, who will urge that their enlistment would be "contrary to the public interest" since it would tend to reduce production. They will be able to point to the serious shortage of competent farm workers and to the necessity for maintaining the Dominion's export trade. Paragraphs three and four may both be invoked by employers of labor, wlio may argue that if they go into camp their businesses must close down and their hands be thrown out of work. Many claims of this nature have come before the appeal boards in the United Kingdom and exemption has been granted in a largo number of cases, either permanently or for a limited period. Paragraph four will cover also the case of the man who has dependants with special claims upon him. He may have a very large family of young children, a sick wife, or a widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters to support. A member of the First Division may he worse off than a married man in regard to dependants, since he cannot count upon separation allowance except in the case of a mother.

The general rules laid down for the guidance of the boards will be few in number and will be designed rather to secure uniformity in dealing with broad issues than to provide guidance in solving the various knotty problems that are sure to arise. The boards will be warned by the experience of the United Kingdom, where the tendency in the early stages of the compulsory system Was to make exemption for too easy. Just how the religious objector will be treated remains to bo seen, but it may be noted that the provision made by Parliament does not cover the mere "conscientious objector." The objection must be based on religious belief if it is to be valid in the eyes of the Military Service Boards.