THE DEFENCE ACT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 5 September 1913, Page 3

THE DEFENCE ACT.

AN INTEEJ&STLNU ivhJ. 1 ; ivN

LAID BEFOJttE T',hv H;>: .-ii.. /*S? Ttltgraph- .-ueGt-Mt^ofi.; WELLLN'UTOS, Wnlutrday. The lion. James Aik-n. Miiusl'ur of Defence, this afternoon laiil <;u die tab It--of the Hoxise oi Repr.-soiuaiiv os a return giving the following in connection with the o Aci-; —Those liable for wr-jibvr'd 83,189; those enrolled won.- 2s),UUi ; medically unfit, 00;;U ; :;un!!i!Oucd for breaches of. the Act, 42,'Sj.v. Mr G. Laurenson said figures showed that at least ill per cent, of the youths liable to servo wero being proseouted, and that fact !•■(.! him to think that the system w;\ • not as successful as many people M-pposed. Mr G. W. Russel said the figures presented showed that b.venty-nine thousand had registered hi addition to those wlio are senior cadeUs, and ;si. thousand had been treated as medically unfit, which left 48,000 between the ages of 18 and 25. The question the Minister had t-o solve was how far the universality of the system was possible. Tho responsibility was on the Minister to see the system through or say it had failed, and to bring down some other system. It was unfair and un-British. that a portion of our . youths were doing their duty bo the country, and others went scot-free. Messrs J. G. Anderson, Witty and Payne also spok®. The Hon. James Allen said Mr Russell had assumed that the 83,000 wex-o liable for service. That was. incorrect. Those who were now 23, 24, and 25 should be* deducted from the 83,000. Something like 23,000 or 25,000 were of those ages, making the total eligible 60,000. The senior cadets registered between 14 and 13 years on June 13, 1913, were 41,935. Those were not included in the figures given in the return.