APPEAL BOARDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24636, 15 July 1943, Page 4

APPEAL BOARDS

REDUCTION IN NUMBER "AUCKLAND APPOINTMENT (P A ) INVERCARGILL, Wednesday The Minister of National Service, the Hon. A. McLagan, in a statement to-day announced changes made in the establishment of the Armed forces Appeal Boards. These changes became effective as from Monday last. A reduction is made in the number of boards from 25 to 19, and the opportunity Ims been taken to remove certain administrative and other anomalies which arose in consequence of the change in the status last year of the former manpower committees when they were specially appointed as appeal boards with a jurisdiction parallel with that of the original boards. Under the re-establishment six boards onlv, at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Napier, Greyinouth and Dunedin, will deal with appeals on grounds of conscientious objection. For this purpose they will require to travel over extended areas. The reason for limiting the jurisdiction over appeals on this ground to a few boards is to ensure the maximum uniformity. Decisions in this class of appeal present peculiar difficulties. A Difficult Task Although a reduction in the number of boards has been found practicable, it is anticipated that for some time to come the remaining boards will be kept particularly busy. There is yet a great deal of work to be done in keeping under careful review the very considerable number of postponements, and, while the volume of new appeals may not be considerable, a systematic review of the postponements is a task which is becoming increasingly difficult. In the Northern Military District there will be five boards in place of the former seven. For the Auckland military area there will continue to be two boards, one under the chairmanship of Mr. C. ]{. Orr Walker, S.M., and the other under Mr. H. A. Anderson. There is no change in the existing personnel except that, owing to the pressure of work arising from his other duties, Mr. I. J. Goldstine deputvchai nnan of the second board, has asked to be relieved of hk duties, and Mr. C. A. Sneddon, solicitor, of Auckland, has been appointed in his stead. In Auckland the board presided ovef by Mr. Orr Walker will retain the name of No. 1 Appeal Board, and that presided over by Mr. Anderson, at present known as the No. 2 (Auckland) Appeal Board, will be the No. 1A Appeal Board. Cases of conscientious objection will be dealt with by the No. 1 Appeal Board, which will take in the Auckland, Whangarei, Hamilton and Paeroa districts for this purpose. Members of New Board In military area No. 2 (Paeroa) no change is made in the personnel of the board, which is presided over by Mr. E. Edwards. In area 3, the former board under the chairmanship of Mr. E. T. R. Coates has been reappointed, while the second board has been disbanded. In area 4 the two former boards have been disbanded. A new board has been established, with Mr. It. Coulter, of Te Aroha, as chairman, and Mr. Mackay as deputy-chairman. Mr. V. W. Simms, of Otorohanga, is a member, representative of the employers, with Mr. A. E. Manning, of Hamilton, as deputy. Mr. R. P. Smith, of Hamilton, is a member, representative of the employees, and Mr J. W. Neate, 'of Ngatea, is his deputy. "The reduction in the number of boards ; " said the Minister, "has unfortunately made it impossible to reappoint all previous personnel. In addition some members have business and other reasons and have asked to be relieved of further duties. It is much regretted that the services of experienced and competent personnel will be lost." Tribute To Personnel Stipendiary magistrates who have been chairmen, Messrs. S. L. Paterson, Hamilton, F. F. Reid, Christchurch, and J. R. Bartholomew, Dunedin, will be returning to their magisterial duties, and the Minister expressed appreciation of the action of the_ Justice Department in having made their services available. The Minister also paid tribute to the excellent work done by the appeal boards and by the former manpower committees «i" Th , eir tas . k '" sa id Mr. McLagan, has been difficult and made a verv heavy demand on their time, particularly during the past 18 months. I am most appreciative of the good "work that has been done and for the services which they have rendered." NEW DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN MR. C. A. SNEDDEN'S POST The new deputy-chairman of the No. 1A Armed Forces Appeal Board, Mr. Cyril A, Snedden, has practised as a barrister and solicitor in Auckland for the last 22 years. He served with the artillery in Egypt and France during thejast war and was invalided home in 1917. Educated at St. Mary's ConventSacred Heart College and Auckland University College, Mr. Snedden qualified as a barrister and solicitor after the last war. He was a member of the Auckland branch of the Retufned Services Association at its inception and has been a vice-president for the last two years. With Mr. H A Mildon he represents the R.S.A. on the Services Welfare Patriotic Sub-commit-tee. At present Mr. Snedden is serving his third year as a member of the Takapuna Borough Council. Mr. Snedden has been activelv intei ested in sport in Auckland for many years. For 10 years he was Dominion piesident of the New Zealand Rugby League, and from 1924 to 1927 he served on the Auckland Rugbv Leao-ue judicial committee. He also played representative cricket for Auckland, and on two occasions was on the management committee of the Auckland Cricket Association. STATE AND COMMUNITY FARMERS' UNION VIEWS (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday Emphasising as a plank in its platform the right of free speech, the Dominion conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union to-night unanimously adopted resolutions that radio be removed from political control and placed under a corporate body elected from the principal sections of the community and that abuse of censorship be terminated and censorship be used only to prevent publication or dissemination of news likely to be of use to the enemy. The following policy statements were approved: "The Farmers' Union holds that it is desirable that the State should operate certain public services, especially where by their nature they must be of monopolistic character, such as railways, telegraphs and electricity, but the union is definitely opposed to the policy of Stato ownership and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange. "That except in regard to lands held for specific purposes the holder be entitled to acquire the freehold from the State under fair and reasonable conditions. That the Government facilitate the taking up of land by suitable settlers with small amounts of capital, but only after requirements making the full recovery of farm costs possible, have been met. "We regard it as essential that this be done before any large-scale settlement under the rehabilitation scheme is attempted. That for rehabilitation purposes the Government should provide advances on special terms of payment to those ex-soldiexs wishing to purchase private land."