MILITARY SERVICE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 September 1940, Page 2

MILITARY SERVICE

BALLOTS FOR MEN

AN ASSURANCE OF FAIRNESS. STATEMENT BY MINISTER I (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. I An assurance that the most elaborate precautions had been arranged to ensure the absolute fairness of the drawing in the ballots for men for military service was given by the Minister of

■ National Service, Mr Semple, in an acl- ! dress last night. He said that anyone appealing against being called up had 1 the right to be represented by counsel. The effect of the National Service Emergency Regulations was explained by the Minister, who said they represented a great advance toward New Zealand's “all-in” policy. The regulations, said Mr Semple, established the general reserve, which consisted of all persons, male or female, who had reached the age of 16 years. In brief the idea was to make a blanket mobilisation of all the manpower in New Zealand, and manpower, of course, included woman-power. “What we have achieved here is worth living for, worth fighting for and worth dying for, if needs be,” Mr Semple continued. "What we are doing now is to marshal our human assets, our treasure of living citizens. It is a planned mobilisation of every human activity.” The various divisions and classes of the general reserve were explained by Mr Semple. A proclamation, he said, had been issued directing the enrolment of the three classes of the first division, which comprise unmarried men fom 19 to 45 years of age inclusive. It was up to every man of this division’to see that he was enrolled. It was his plain duty to do so. Reference was made by Mr Semple to the Home Guard. This, he said, was a well thought out scheme to find an outlet for the energies of men over 16 years of age who were not doing , anything active in the military forces. It was inspiring to see how the Home ; Guard movement was gathering momentum.

“The spirit of New Zealanders, the long-range planning so carefully done, the nobility of outlook of our people, our natural genius for co-operation—-these will surmount every difficulty, these will smash through all obstacles, these will bring us to a world made better by the fire of tribulation through which it is passing,” said Mr Semple. “In the after years, we shall be able to look back and thrill with pride at the devotion, the energy, the steadiness of purpose, and the cool British resolution with which New Zealand carried out her war effort.”