BALLOTS FOR OVERSEAS SERVICE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 183, 5 August 1941, Page 6

BALLOTS FOR OVERSEAS SERVICE

TO-MORROW there will be published the final list of unmarried men whose names have been drawn in the ballot. Later in the year there will be drawn in the ballot the names of the first draft of married men. Whether these will be sent overseas is a question which no doubt will be influenced by war developments, especially if there should be any in the Pacific, but the Dominion, of course, accepts the obligation of maintaining and reinforcing the N.Z.E.F. Before the day comes in which married men are drawn in the ballot, the public should be furnished with a precise account of the number of single men still in the country and their various classifications. There have been a considerable number of appeals against service abroad, and these have been dealt with in various ways. Points on which there is keen interest include: The total number of conscientious objectors to date, and the manner in which their appeals have been treated; the nature of "alternative service " if any, which has been provided; the number of men for whom the Minister of National Service has appealed, and the grounds of the appeals- the total number of single men of military age retained in Government Departments; the number of officers and men of "overseas" age retained in the army and air force in New Zealand, and the reasons for their retention. In general, the calling up of married men occasions hardships in greater degree and wider variety than is the case with single men. it also has its financial consequences, in which the State, as tax collector is concerned. The public should be satisfied, before any married man is called, that the utmost use is being made of the unmarried More than this, there is need of a much greater effort than is now visible to prepare against the labour shortages which are developing and will increase. Appeal boaros, when faced—as they will be faced increasingly —with the plea that the appellant is indispensable in his occupation are entitled to expect that employers, both public and private, will have made efforts in advance to train substitute employees—whether women elderly men, or youths. Unless this is explicitly required, the unavoidable hardships associated with the sending abroad of married men will be embittered by knowledge of anomalies and inequalities in sacrifice