MUST ENROL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21205, 30 August 1940, Page 8

MUST ENROL

GENERAL RESERVISTS MEN OF FIRST DIVISION RECEIPT OF CERTIFICATES (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Friday The responsibilities of those who qualify for membership of the First Division of the General Reserve were outlined in a statement to-day by the Minister of National Service, the Hon. R. Semple, who emphasised the legal obligations of both reservists' and their employers. The work of preparation, checking and despatch of certificates of enrolment of members of the first division, said Mr Semple, was a task of some magnitude. They numbered some 93,000, but a staff of over 100 typists and approximately an equal number of other workers was able to complete the job between the morning of Wednesday, August 21 and the end of that week, and the great bulk of the certificates should be in the hands of the reservists concerned. Exclusion From Ballot It was found necessary to hold more than 100 back, however, said Mr Semple, because of insufficient or illegible addresses, while a number had also been returned by the postal authorities because the addressees could not be found. The Minister stressed the fact that an employer committed an offence if he employed for more than seven days a reservist of an enrolled class who was not duly enrolled, and any reservist of the first division who was not enrolled was liable not only to severe penalties, but might also, on prosecution and conviction, be transferred to the armed forces without participation in a ballot.