POLITICAL NOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 110, 10 May 1916, Page 8

POLITICAL NOTES

NATIONAL SERVICE PROSPECTS OF THE BILL. The Bill which is intended and designed to ensure a. full supply of men from New Zealajid, in accordance with the promises of the National Government, has now received its ' finishing touches at the hands of Cabinet, and will I be brought down in a day or two. Its main. provision will be on the following lines. Each district will be informed of the number of men that it is expected to. supply, and the district will be responsible for carrying out'that obligation. The measure does not aim at conscription in the ordinary sense of the term; but it is understood that the system devised and put forward in the Bill is of a much simpler nature and more adapted to present requirements. At the same time, it is of a drastic nature, and will, when in operation,. absolutely ensure that the manhood of the Dominion capable of serving is either persuaded or forced to serve. The methods of compulsion devised will be aimed first at the single man. without responsibilities; next at the single man With responsibilities, and then through various degrees of married men. It is not expected that there will be a.ny considerable volume of opposition to the proposal, although lobby gossip suggests that a direct attack on the Defence Department's administration will be made by a section of the House.