COMPULSORY UNIVERSAL SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 118, 12 February 1940, Page 8

COMPULSORY UNIVERSAL SERVICE

Various local bodies throughout the Dominion have been discussing the question of introducing conscription as the fairest, most earn - able and most effective method of building up the country s mt i ary forces to meet the war emergency with which the Empire is tacea. The issue as between voluntary recruiting and conscription has bee brought into immediate prominence by the action of the New Zealand Defence League in circularizing local bodies with the view to enlisting their support for a policy of universal compulsory national service. In some instances the full intent of the Defence League s proposal ha not been realized and the discussions have been confined to the question of conscription for military service. The Defence League goes much further than this in seeking to impress on the country the ui gent need for a truly national effort if New Zealand is to use the ful strength of its resources in the present life and death struggle The purpose of the Defence League is expressed in the following paragraph taken from the circular it has issued. “We believe,’’ the circular reads, "that, personal service for national safety should be as universal as the liability to taxation, or as the privilege of the franchise. We, therefore, invite jo as, a representative body to express an opinion on the subject of i ci sal compulsory national service whereby all citizens may beallotted the tasks to which they are best suited in wartime, whetieas combatants or otherwise, so as to ensure, as far as is humanly possible, equality of sacrifice on the part of all the peop e. It will be noted that the League advocates that universal compulsory national service should be enforced to ensure that the man-power o the nation shall be used to the best advantage whether in the ranks of the military forces or in production or in any task affecting the common welfare. Under the voluntary system of military recruiting the willing and public spirited are making personal sacrifices tor then country which others with equal obligations are shirking. But m addition to the inequity and injustice of this voluntary system it lias the further weakness that many of those who volunteer for mihtaiy service would be better employed from the point of view ot the effectiveness of the country’s war efforts in their normal occupations. The League is performing a valuable service in keeping before the public the realities of the situation. The voluntary system ol service, quite apart from its inequity, under modern conditions, cannot possibly ensure the most effective use of the national resources which is the vital need throughout the Empire today.