MILITARY SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 October 1916, Page 6

MILITARY SERVICE.

FARMERS' SERVICE STATEMENT BY MINISTER; By Telegraph.—Press Associat'on. Dnncdin, Oct. 25. The Minister of Defence lias been asked during his visit to the south whether farmers, single and eligible foi military sprvice, who have their, own farms, have to go to the ballot and whether.if their name is drawn, they have to leave their farms and go into camp. It has been represented to the Minister that in many cases farmers have great difficulty in securing managers during their absence or, as an alternative, selling their properties owing to the nature of the tenures. Mr. Allen replied definitely that in the event of the Compulsion Act becoming operative every single man, whether the owner of a farm or a business, would be subject to the ballot. • He points out that every reservist has the right of appeal, the specified grounds including these especially: (1) That by reason of his occupation his military service would be contrary to the public interest; (2) that for domestic or other reasons military service would cause undue hardship to the reservist or others. The Minister emphasised the provision that the Military Service Boards will deal with each case on its merits and grant exemptions as it considers desirable. He calls particular attention to the fact that in many parts of the country farmers are communicating with one another and endeavouring to arrange for the management of their farms in the event of their enlistment. He suggests that farmers as a whole should consider this phase amongst themselves.

THE COMPULSORY MEASURE?. DELAY UNAVOIDABLE. (From Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, October 23. Tlie delay that has taken place ir the application of the compulsory clauses of the Military Service Act has been attributed in some quarters to a desire on the part of the Government to ascertain the result of the referendum' of the conscription issue in Australia. The Minister for Defence is reported to have referred to this subject in Dunedin today, when he said that the delay had not been deliberate, and that "if representative local bodies desire to oecome apprised of the real difficulties in preparing foi conscription they only need appoint someone to take part in the work." When your correspondent made some enquiries on this point at Defence Headquarters he was assured that there had been no unnecessary delay. The Military Service Act did not come into operation until the beginning of August last, and steps had to he taken then to define new recruiting districts, prepare rolls and devise machinery for the administration of the Act. The enrolment of the. Expeditionary Force Reserve was proclaimed on September 1, and a fortnight was allowed the men of military age to take the steps required of them to see that their names were properly on the roll.' Since the period expired, the Government Statistician and a large staff have been engaged in the preparation of the roll and the completion of certificates of enrolment, which are to be issued to all members of the Reserve. The roll is not yet complete, and until it is ready for use the Defence Department cannot enlist any men compulsoriiy. Obviously, it would be very unfair to select men for compulsory service from an incomplete roll. When compulsion was applied in the United Kingdom, tile men were called lip "in classes. All the unmarried men between certain ages formed a class, for example, and a complete roll was not essential. The mobilisation of the class was proclaimed, -and after the main body of the men had come forward it was ■comparatively easy to collect the stragglers and shirkers. The position in New Zealand is different. The Defence Department wants a fixed number of men per month, and the only fair method of selection appears to be iby ballot. The summoning of. a whole class would not give the desired result. The preparation of a roll, therefore, has been an essential step, and a premature ballot would place a premium on shirking, since the man who had been slow to enrol, or who had evaded enrolment, would not figure in the ballot at all. The Defence authorities hoped last month that clause 3.> of the Act, dealing with the "family shirker," was goin to provide some hundreds of conscripts quickly. A long list of names had been prepared, largely from information supplied by recruiting organisations, and nreparations had been made for dealing witii them. But the Department was anxious to be perfectly fair in its dealings with the men, and some preliminary enquiry showed that in very many eases the men whose Mames had been .recorded had already volunteered for • service or . had some good reason for not doing so. The fact that a family 'contains two or more Eons, not one of whom \Vears khaki, does not prove that the sons have not offered their services, and the position has been complicated by the fact that the wearing of armlets has never become general in New Zealand among the men entitled to display "the Empire's badge of honor." The Defence Department proceeded to investigate the cases brought under its notice, and probably it will be ready this week to despatch ' the first lot of notices under clause 35. The date of the first ballot under the Act has not yet been fixed. The authorities do not expect now to be able to take a ballot this month, but the roll of the members of the First Division may be ready in November, and it will lie 'possible then to take into camp enough unmarried conscripts to fill any gaps that may exist in the Reinforcement drafts. If clause 35 provides a tew hundred men, to be added to the supplementary drafts that are to enter camp to-morrow, the first ballot probably will be taken after the 23rd Reinforcements have been mobilised, in order to cover the expected shortage in the draft. The mobilisation of the 23rd Ueinforcements will begin on November 14.