MILITARY SERVICE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLII, Issue 90, 19 May 1916, Page 2

MILITARY SERVICE.

A COMPREHENSIVE MEASURE. MARRIED MEN MUST PREPARE. WELLINGTON, May 16. With the introduction of the Military Service Bill New Zealand will establish history as being the first considerable portion of the Empire outside of Great Britain to propose general compulsory service till the end of the war. The BUI is not a particularlyi long measure, but it is most comprehensive, and may be expected to lead to a very full discussion. It provides in the first place that military service shall be compulsory on men between the ages of 20 and 4o for the period of the war. No limit is to be set to the number of men that New Zealand is to send beyond the limit of capacity. The definition of men in the first class liable for service is single men without dependents, men who have been married but subsequently legally separated, and those men who have been married since the outbreak of w r ar. It had previously been proposed that this should extend for a period of onlyi six or eight months, but the Bill goes^right back to the outbreak of war, and makes all such men liable for service in the first class. -The other men—married and with families —are graded progressively. Following the example of Britain, exemption tribunals will be set up in each district, presumably on the British model of having the State, the military, and industry represented on the board. This board will decide applications for exemption with the guiding principle of making them as few as possible and retaining only those men whose special knowledge is of value to the country from a war point of view. As emphasising the aim oi' reducing exemptions to the lowest possible limit, it may be mentioned that the dairy industry has alreadyi been asked to consider the employment of female labor so far as possible. Exemptions in the civil service are on a very low scale, only specialised men being exempted. The Bill is obviously aimed at putting the country's power upon an organised basis and enabling the authorities to assess its strength as the war progrosses. The big point, however, for the whole community to realise is that the authorities are in earnest and that fit married men are to be called upon for service after the single men have been exhausted. The carrying out of this policy will have very far-reaching effects upon the economic and social body, not the least being that wives and families in comfortable homes and with fair incomes will be required at the call of the Empire to face life on a soldier's pay and a wife's allowance. The Bill does not propose any change in the rates of pay or allowances. The onus of proving conscientious objections to service will be thrown on the applicant. The Bill provides for voluntary enlistment in conjunction with compulsion, as there will be no compulsion if sufficient volunteers come from any one district. If, however, there is a nest of shirkers in any one district who are escaping service ' by reason of the patriotism of others, the Government may take steps to compel these shirkers to do their duty.