THE SACRIFICE

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 February 1917, Page 3

THE SACRIFICE

MILITARY BOARD PRINCIPLES, ' DEFINITION OF "UNDUE \fLA&D- j SHIP" SOUGHT. . / ] A KNOTTY PROBLEM. _."'.,-, A plea for a definition of the term , "undue hardship,'' which h?ia become so | familiar and su important ."since . the ( Military Service Boards commenced op- ] erations, was made before the Third Wellington Military Service Board on Friday (says the "Dominion") by Mr. ) A. W. Blair, solicitor. The point raised ( by Mr. Blair concerns hundreds of men in all parts of the country. 1 Mr. .Blair was appearing for a painter j who had worked* up a good business at < Petone, and was unable to dispose of j it except, at total or considerable loss. ] This man had dependants whom he'll'(J E kept in a certain degi'ee of comfort, and his immediate leaving for camp would (seeing that the income of the business would be'gone, and that there would be no capital i 'from the sale of it) entail hardship upon them. Those were the circumstances, and Mr, Blair raised the question of whether the hardship s was "undue hardship" within the meaning of the Act, and also strongly urged that the Board should either deiine the meaning of the term or secur an authorativo definition of it. Mr. Blair said that it seemed to him that the Board looked at the matter *'n the light that everyone had to make the supreme sacrifice, and he submitted that that was not a question for the ! Board to decide. What, the Act said that ! the Board had to decide was whether the j sending of a man to the war would he a cause of undue hardship to himself and . others ."The question in other words it: • 'What, is the standard?' The" standard that this Board has set up is that it is ; the duty of every man to make the gup- : reme sacrifice. I say the Legislature 1m not made that standard. The Legislature has put men nto two classes. Certain men it lv-s put into the First Division, ; i>d certain others it has put into the ' ■Second Divison. Is the hardship that '< the nuiii in the First Division is asked to suffer as great as the hardship the ; Uit-.ii in the Second Division has to bear? If cirenmstances bring a man who is . actually in the First Division within the eatejoiy of the Second Divison, I submit that though the man is not married lie is 'practically put into . the Second Division by the Act." THERE IS XO STANDARD. Mr. Blair said that there were degrees of hardship, and that sometimes the necessities .of war fell more severely o*l those who had been comfortably qIT than on those who were accustomed to poor circumstancesMr. M. J. Mack (n member of the Board): Von say that if a man has to reduce his standard of living from £b a week to £3 it would be a hardship. Mr. Blair: Yea. bnt'iiot an undue haul ship. Captain Baldwin (military representative) : Take' this • case: Supposing _ a woman was accustomed to kefp a maid, would it be hardship if she hud to do without her? Mr. Blair: It might be. I submit it would. Mr. Blair; There is no standard, and the Boards must be seriously hampered by that fact. I have had the honour to appear before Mr. Cooper's Board, and I do suggest that this' Board has set up a very different standard to that adopted by his Board . Mr. M.ick : You suggested that it woiiitf b*e a rrrenter hardship for a man getting £6 a week to iro to the front than for a man getting Mr. Blair: No. Not for the man, but those (dependent on him. Take the case of a soldier's wife. If her husband went to the war, she would suffer far greater hardship than the wife of a man who whs intermittent in his work and who

spent much of his money in beer. Caotain Baldwin: Yes. of course. She would not feel it at all, probably bycause she would be no worse off. Mr. Blair : You must take the circumstinces into consideration. If a man lived carefully and saved, that should bo , considered. • J Mr. Mack: What the Act should have j said was, "Undue hardship in the fut- ( ure." That is what we are trying to , prevent. , i Mr. Blair: I say that the Legislature contemplated a man's financial circumstances, and that it was not intended . that a man should be ruined. Captain Baldwin: Take the ose of the man whom you suppose spends , much of his money in beer.-Do you say that there would bo hardship in ihat case? Mr. Blair: No. I don't. Captain Baldwin: Not ev ° n to the < publican. ' 1 \ DEFINITION THOUGHT IMPOS- 1 SIBLE. Mr Blair: However, the words'"undue hardship" have never been defined That is the difficulty 1 am in, *nd 1 think a definition would be valuable generally n s an indication as to the principles upon which the Board has to act. We have no principle at all. it the thitVff is that any sacrifice at all has to be made, and that a man's business is to be disregarded, I say that the Legislature lias never enacted the kind. The chairman of the Board (Mr. W. H S Moorhouse): Undue hardship and extreme hardship are two different things. Mr. Blair: Yes. Mr Blair: I have seen a good many cases' reported in the Press which came before this Board, and that I thought were cases of undue hardship. But 1 don't know of a case which this BoaTd would consider as one of undue hardship. » . , , l The chairman: We have let a good many off. 'P\ . Mr. Blair: No' one has. got absolute exemption. '..'' ' . Captain Baldwin: Exemption is jft very roundabout kind of thing. After all, if yon exempt a man, he goes back into the ballot. The chairman : Also, if a man was giving his wife £ ,ri a week, and you ex. empted him,. there is nothing binding him to continue to do that. He.night row with the family" the next day, ana cease paying them anything.

Mr. Mack: And there would not li<> a man in the couiiv.y that would not, he Wing his wife at lease. £8 a week . Mr. Blair iWiioii I prove that a man is virtually in the '.Second Division, I, thing that he should be regarded by the Board as such. - 1 " - Captain Baldwin said that /it wa 3 a difficult matter altogether. Mr. Blair: There are a number .of oases when I have been/connected ■,.with, and had I the benefit of a ruling on this question of principle I would probably be able to save the Board considerable j time and trouble, ' t The chairman said ho thought it would j be almost impossible to get 'a definition , of the words "undue hardship". Mr. Blair: Well, the words used the Act are very mild. The Act had c practically put all men who are in cer- ( tain circumstances into the. Second Div- s ision and inasmuch as it has done that I think it has practically sot a stand- • ard. i