FIRST BALLOT

Grey River Argus, 10 September 1940, Page 7

FIRST BALLOT

FOR TERRITORIALS 1 New Regulations t I 'Per Press Association] 1 WELLINGTON, September 9. Further importarit amendments to - the National Service Emergency Re- ‘ gulations, which have been gazetted, 1 were explained by Hon. R. Semple, ’ in a statement to-day. He said that it was necessary to ■ take a ballot in the near future, to - secure the necessary number of men ■ to bring the Territorial Force up to war establishment. To enable the men to be drawn and despatched to , camp with the least delay, it was found desirable to alter the original regulations, and provisions were now contained in an amendment for arranging separate ballots for the Territorial Force and the Expeditionary Force. The register of the first division is now..nearly complete, and, following the ballot, full use will be made of the District Manpower Committee, including a new one to be established at Palmerston North, to expedite the procedure. They will deal with all appeals by persons drawn in. the ballot for the Territorial Force, while the Armed Forces Appeal Boards, provided for under the main regulations, will deal with appeals of men drawn for overseas, and with all appeals on -account of conscientious objection. Neither the Manpower Committees nor the Appeal Boards will be empowered to grant exemption , from military service. Such appeals will either be dismissed or adjourned. and kept under periodical review.

UNFIT MEN. Mr Semple added, that after thp first ballot, it was hoped to arrange that persons permanently unfit, such as cripples, would be excluded from later ballots. The amendments further provide that reservists may be required to provide honorary service, where it can be performed without undue interference with their normal occupations. Those whose. overseas service is postponed may be required to do Territorial training. \ Included in the first division of the National Reserve, said Mr Semple, there would be many reservists who were obviously permanently unfit for service with the armed forces. In this class, there would be men who had already volunteered for service, but had not been accepted on account of medical unfitness, men suffering from permanent disabilities, such as infantile paralysis, persons who nad lest a limb, etc., and many other cases. Up to the present there had been no authority to exclude such persons from the ballot, but power had now been taken in the amending regulations to enable a properlyconstituted Medical Board to certify that a person is permanently unfit for service in the armed forces, and, in such circumstances, the reservists will be transferred to' the third division of the reserve, and will not be liable to be called up for military service. Unfortunately, it will he impossible to deal with any of these cases prior to the first ballot.

COMPULSORY HONORARY SERVICE. Power had also been taken, said Mr Semple, to enable the Minister of National Service to require reservists to perform honorary service, either within any scheme under the Emergency Precautions Regulations, or otherwise. This will enable some obligation of service other than in the armed forces to be performed, where such honorary service can be performed without undue interference with normal occupations. Mr Semple paid a tribute to the work of the Manpower Commitees in maintaining a commendable balance between the requirements of the armed forces, and the efficient production of primary and secondary industries, and said that, with the knowledge and experience gained, these committees would be in a position to handle expeditiously the large volume of work entailed in the examination of classes of men called up in the ballot for Territorial service who are due to go into camp in October. The Minister added that, in order to co-ordinate the decisions of the Appeal Boards, and also to enable the Government policy in regard to the need for reserving skilled workers in the more-important industries to be given effect to, the Director of National Service has been authorised to give a certificate to the Appeal Boards and Manpower Committees, that it is contrary to the public interest to call certain classes of reservists up for service with the armed forces. MEDICAL BOARD REJECTS.

WELLINGTON, September 9. In a further statement to-day Hon. R. Semple said that considerable misunderstanding existed regarding the issue of certificates of enrolment to First Division Reservists who had volunteered for overseas service and had been rejected on medical 'grounds. Such, men, said the Minister, remain members of the First Division, and as such, ar? liable to be called in the ballot and required to undergo a further examination by a Medical Board. Many of these men wilj have previously been rejected for comparatively minor defects, some of them definitely of a temporary nature. It would obviously' b e unfair to exclude them from the ballots when by the time they were drawn they may have regained perfect health.

NO DISTINCTIONS. The Minister also said that the Government had decided that a departure would, be made from the procedure followed during the last war with regard to the gazetting of names of men drawn in the ballots. Procedure was then to indicate the men who .had previously volunteered by inserting a star before their names in the printed lists. This will not b e don e on this occasion, as it is not desired to make any distinction between those who have volunteered and those who ,are selected for service by means of the ballot. The "Gazette” notices however, contain a statement that the names appearing in the list include men who have volunteered and have been found to be medically unfit