ALLEGED DEFAULTERS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 25 May 1917, Page 6

ALLEGED DEFAULTERS.

HOW THEY ARE MISSED

When a list is published of men who Lave failed to respond when drawn in the ballot there are always several claims that men have been wrongly included. Indignant relatives, who have not hitherto troubled themselves, write to the papers condemning the Defence Department for callous negligence in not making proper enquiries before publishing broadcast the a\legation that a man is. a. "deserter." A Wellington Post reporter recently made enquiries regarding the procedure generally adopted before names are gazetted, and was given proof that all reasonable steps are taken to guard against the inclusion*of men for whose silence there is an explanation. In the first place all men drawn in the ballot are notified by telegram, to be followed almost immediately by a registered letter. Registered letters must be signed for, and if the notification is accepted by the. Reservist himself in this way the proof of service is sufficient. Following this comes an order from the Group Commander to the Reservist, to attend for medical examination. If this letter also is returned the Group Commander notifies the Adjutant-Gen-eral's branch, which has charge of this department of the, work, stating in his notification that the Reservist has failed to attend, but he is not of opinion that the failure is wilful. If the letters are received by the man and he does not report himself, a warrant for his arrest is issued in due course. If, however, the notices are not accepted, further steps are taken to trace the man. First of all the Government Statistician is applied to for information as to any change of address. Should no change have been notified, the Base Records are asked if any man corresponding to the Reservist wanted has become a member of the Expeditionary Force. Simultaneously a similar application is made to the four military camps —Tre.ntham, Featherston, Narrow Neck, and Awapuni. Finally, if no trace of the Reservist is obtained by these means, application is made to the Internal Affairs Department to see if the Reservist has been granted a permit to leave New Zealand. If any of these enquiries shows that a man of similar

iiame has enlisted, or left New Zealand, by permission, special and particular enquiries are made, the case I being marked "doubtful" in the mean- j time. But in all cases where no doubt j appears to exist the name is gazetted. \ The system, it is therefore claimed, is not haphazard, and though mistakes may occur they are not many, and every care is taken to avoid them. ( The Department's only desire is to find the Reservist (the Post goes on to say). That is the reason for publishing the Gazette when all other means have failed. "Where there is no proof of service of the original notices a man is not arrested as a deserter until the Gazette has appeared, that being the legal substitute for the individual notice which cannot be served. Very often the Gazette will elicit information which has not been obtained previously. As has been stated, relatives who have not hitherto troubled themselves, become interested and indignant when the Reservist has been p&sted as a deserter. If such relatives woiild only assist the authorities by giving them information when the ballot list first appears, they would avoid the gazetting. Most people, however, appear to regard Government Departments as omniscient, and presume that there is no need to tell them if a Reservist is elsewhere than at.the address given in the Register. Finally they do give the information, and the Department willingly does the best it can to rectify the error by notifying it in a subsequent Gazette. An example of how such mistakes . occur is provided by the case of Stanley V. Masters, baker, Reed street, Island Bay, whose name appeared in the last Gazette, and whose father wrote to the Post subsequently, staging that Masters hnd been serving for some time as a baker on transports. and the registered letter in Masters' case was returned marked ''Gone to address," but with a further pencilled note, "Left with 19th Reinforcements as baker." This information was conveyed by the Defence Department to Base Records, with a request for confirmation. Base Records replied that no man named Stanley V. Masters w9s a member of the 19th or any Reinforcements. The Department of Internal Affairs stated also that Masters had not received a permit to leave New Zealand. The other enquiries having been duly, made, the name was gazetted. Then came the father's ■statement, not that Masters was a member of the Expeditionary Force, but that he was a Baker on the transport. Had this information been given in the first place it could have been verified by reference to the articles of the transports, and this would certainly have been done.