MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 827, 4 October 1916, Page 3

MILITARY SERVICE ACT.

CALLING UP THE RESERVE.

WORK OF THE APPEAL BOARDS. [Special to The Sun.] WELLINGTON, October 3. It is expected that many of the men who receive notices under Clause 35 of the Military Service Act will claim exemption for one reason or another. It will be the duty of the recently-constituted Military Service Boards to hear these claims and adjudicate upon them. Steps have been taken already to lay down the lines of policy for the boards in order that reasonable uniformity of practice may be secured in dealing with appeals.

The grounds of appeal allowed to any man who is summoned for service as a conscript are wide. The man may object to being taken into camp or apply for exemption on any of the following pleas:— "That when so called up he was not a member of the Reserve.

'"That when so called up from any division or class of the Reserve he was a member of some other division or class the calling up of which had not been authorised by the Minister of Defence.

"That by reason of his occupation his calling up for military service is contrary to the public interest.

"That by reason of his domestic circumstances or for any other reason his calling up for military service will be a cause of undue hardship to himself or others."

The first sections deal with natters of fact, and Military Boards are not likely to have any difficulty in settling claims made in those respects, bul the other sections present difficulties. Claims for exemption will be made by men engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits who will urge that their enlistment would be "contrary to public interest," since it would tend to reduce production. They will be able to point to the serious shortage of competent farm workers and to the necessity for maintaining the Dominion's export trade. Employers of labour may argue that if the men go into camp their business must close down and their

hands be thrown out of work. Many claims of this nature have come before the Appeal Boards in the United Kingdom, and exemption has been granted in a large number of cases, either permanently or for a limited period. The general rules laid down for the guidance of the boards will be few in number, and will be designed rather to secure uniformity in dealing with broad issues than to provide guidance in solving the various knotty problems that are sure to arise. The boards will be warned b# the, experience of the United Kingdoip where the tendency in the early stages of the compulsory system was to make exemption far too easy.

Just how the religious objector will be treated remains to be seen, but it may be noted that the provision made by Parliament does not cover the mere "conscientious objector." The objection must be based on religious belief if it is to be valid in the eyes of the Military Service Boards.

LABOUR MEN ON BOARDS. | A VERY OPEN MIND. I Press Association. WELLINGTON, October 3. "With regard to the appointment of the Military Service Boards," said the Hon. James Allen (Minister of Defence) to-day, "some people seem to have an idea in their minds, especially in Auckland, that the reason why no gentlemen of the Labour Party, or gentlemen suggested by the Labour Party in Auckland, were appointed to the boards was because of the attitude of the Auckland Lai hour people themselves after they met me up there. I want to disabuse their minds of any such notion. So far as the names submitted to us were concerned, the altitude of these people at that meeting made not the slightest difference. We considered ! those names just as we considered [the other names, and as a mailer of ! fad il is almost certain that one i gentleman whose name was submit- | led to us would have been appointed ! but for the fact that he was under 45 years of age, and therefore did not comply with the rules laid down for our guidance, that no man of military age could be a member of a ! Military Hoard, in fact, two Labour men (Mr Edward Phelan, secretary of the Timber Workers' Union, and Mr George Davies), who were very highly recommended to us, were very favourably considered, but both were ineligible on thai account.

a request for a newspaper story, Mr Wilkie received him without any fuss or protest.

He started out on his earthly! career some 38 years ago, and de-j veloped an early ambition to be an actor. It was in the Comedy Thea-' tre, London, that he got his first i chance, being cast in 'A Lady of Quality," a play by the author of! "Little Lord Fauntleroy." Then he j played various Shakespearean characters in London and the provinces,! being during this period in associa-1 tion with Sir Herbert Tree, Sir F. I R. Benson, Fred Terry, and Julia' Neilsen at different times. When 27 years of age he embarked upon the tempestuous seas of theatrical management, being then the youngest actor-manager in England. He had the distinction during his first managerial year of giving a special command performance of "Othello" in Dublin before the Earl of Aberdeen and the Vice-regal Court. After i touring continuously in the pro-! vinccs for six years he took a full! English Shakespearean company to' India at the time of the Delhi Dur-! bar in 1911. The season of three j months was so successful that it was] extended to two years, and took Mr! Wilkie and his company ail over: Asia. In addition to Shakespearean! plays such well-known ones as those by Pinero, Grundy, Wilde, and Shawwere produced in India, China, Japan, Ceylon, the Malay Stales, the I

plays, such classical productions as "The School for Scandal," "She Stoops to Conquer," and "The Bells" will be included in the company's repertoire, the plays being varied on the occasion of each visit. As he journeys through New Zealand, Mr Wilkie says, he finds that the people labour under a misunderstanding by reason of the low prices charged for admission, and are apt, before the company's advent, to place a valuation on the players' merits in keeping with the prices. The reasons for such reasonable charges were (1) that the company expected to return to the various centres repeatedly, and (2) that with a big repertoire of standard plays it was thought desirable to give everyone a reasonable opportunity of seeing the lot. This misunderstanding was always banished when people saw what the company could do. It was an obstacle that had been overcome only by keeping faith with the people and by surprising them with the standard of merit reached. Australasian audiences were delightful from a player's point of view. Though they were not overdemonstrative, they followed with closest attention, every line of a play, and showed intelligence and a discrimination that were encouraging and stimulating. The present tour had been highly successful, and Mr Wilkie expressed the hope that he would soon again be given an opportunity of renewing acquaintance with New Zealand audiences.