SHEARERS' APPEALS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2994, 3 February 1917, Page 11

SHEARERS' APPEALS

PERSONAL APPEARANCE NECES-

SARY. 'A report regarding the attitude of the Third Wellington Military Service Board towards the appeals of shearers -has been made by the military repre-

sentative in a letter to the Minister of Defence. "11, is quite time," writes Captain Baldwin, "that the Third Wellington Military Service Board dpsircd to summon the appollauti; to appear personally, and it offered tn transfer the appeals to tho Boards adjudicating in the districts in which the men reside, in order to put the latter lo as little incohvenionce as possible. The general secretary staled that, owing to the nature of tho mon's employment he was unable to personally get into contact with them, and that with regard to the majority of the men he could not undertake to get into touch with them at all.

"The attitude of tTifi Military Service Board was that as the shearing season was practically ended, and as the season of 1917-18 would not commence until somewhere about. October, if these men wore granted suspension from military service in the meantime there wonld be no certainty either that they would be available for shearing next season, or that they would, in the. meantime,, follow an occupation that was in the public interest, as construed by the Board. The Military Service Board considered that service in any industry in connection with farming or food production, or in the coalmining or other essential industry, should render these men exempt from military service until the ensuing shearing season, and offered to grant exeraptjan on receiving an undertaking to this effect.

"The general secretary of the union could not give such an undertaking because he could not bind the individual. The Military Service Board therefore considered it was necessary that the appellants should appear in person in order that such an undertaking-could be imposed before exemption from, military service was granted. It should be noted that the general secretary had apparently lodged appeals on behalf of men without any knowledge of their circumstances. This was shown by the fact that eight out of seventeen appeals were withdrawn, by him because he had had no communication with the men at all, and so far as'he knew these men had gone into camp. "Owing to the unsatisfactory manner in whioh the appeals had been placed before the .Board, the Board thought it necessary in justioe to tho appellauts to hear _the_ latter i themselves rather than fa> dismiss the cases because of insufficient evidence."