SENDING OUT THE NOTICES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 11

SENDING OUT THE NOTICES.

| NOTIFICATION OF APPEALS. From a Qpeeial Correspondent. WELLINGTON, November 24. The dispatch of the formal notices to the men summoned for service in consequence of last week's ballot will begin to-day, but the preparation of the notices has been in progress for some days past. The work is in the hands of the recruit(ing branch, known officially as A.G. 12, at Defence Headquarters and it | has entailed strenuous labour on the part of a large stalF. Originally the staff contained three members, but it has grown until it now contains 47 persons. Its size at present is limited only by the difficulty of securing extra assistants. There is work waiting for additional expert typistes if they can be found. The recruiting staff has moved from the headquarters buildings at Mt. Cook to the Buckle Street Barracks, in order to secure additional space for its operations and its records. These records will grow rapidly in bulk and complexity as compulsory recruiting proceeds. Some thousands of names have to be handled already. A card index system enables the staff to trace any particular recruit in a few moments, and then there is an arrangement of pigeon holes that will permit of the classification of the recruits belonging to each recruiting district, as the men pass through various stages. A recruit's appears cannot reach a final resting place until he has entered camp or has been rejected, exempted, or assigned to home service. The formal notices to the men summoned for service will be posted from Wellington. The telegrams which are to go to the men in advance of the printed notices will be sent out by the district staffs, which will be provided with lists of their recruits by telegraph. The official notice, sent out in the name of the Adjutant-General (Colonel R. W. Tate) bears the name, address, and ocupation of the reservist, and runs as follows: "By direction of the Minister of Defence, I hereby inform you that by a notice published in the 'Gazette' on the 23rd day of November, 1916, pursuant to the provisions of section 10 of the Military Service Act, j 1910, you have been called up by i lot for service with the New Zealand 1 Expeditionary Force, as being a re- j servist of the First Division. "If you desire to appeal to a Military Service Board you may do so | by posting a registered letter ad- j dressed to the Commandant of the j Defence Forces at Wellington, and' containing a notice of appeal stat- j ing your name, occupation, and pos-j tal address, and the grounds of your appeal. A form of notice of appeal ! is sent to you herewith. You may j send to the Commandant along with j that notice of appeal any documen-j tary evidence or statement of facts which you desire to bring to the j knowledge of the Military Service j Board. \ "Your notice of appeal must be I posted within 10 days after the day | on which the notice calling you up, for service was published in the | 'Gazette' as above mentioned, other-1 wise the board will not hear your! appeal unless it is satisfied that the delay was no! due to your negli-1 gence. Due notice of the time and* place for Ihe hearing of the appeal will be given to you. "If you claim to be medically unfit I for service, this is not a mailer for a Military Service Board but for a Medical Board. II is not necessary for you to give notice of a claim ' for exemption on this ground, and

you will receive due notice of the lime and place at which you arc required to present yourself for medical examination. You are bound to present yourself for examination accordingly, whether you have given notice of appeal or not." The form of appeal, enclosed with the notice, slates the grounds on which a man may appeal under the Military Service Act. The recruit has merely to indicate what ground or grounds of appeal he wishes to bring forward, insert his name and address, and post the form to the commandant. He will then be advised when and where to appear before a Military Service Board for the hearing of his case. The defence authorities have taken extraordinary care with the object of preventing mistakes occurring in connection with the classification of reservists and the dispatch of notices. But they are prepared to admit the possibility of errors having occurred in the course of a work of such magnitude, and this is one reason why the procedure for appealing has been made as simple as possible. If a man who is not a reservist of the First Division, or who for some other reason is not liable for service, receives a notice that he has been selected, he need not assume that an injustice is being perpetrated against him. He has merely to state his case on the form of appeal sent to him, and if his claim is sound, the authorities will put the matter right as quickly as possible, with a minimum of trouble to the man himself.