APPEAL BOARD.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 882, 7 December 1916, Page 8

APPEAL BOARD.

SITTING IN WELLINGTON. A CURIOUS CASE. Press Association. WELLINGTON, December G. The first Wellington sitting of the Military Service Board was held todav. Mr M. J. Beardon representing the Slaughtermen's L'nion asked the board to make a general statement as to how essential industries would be dealt will), and stated that he could satisfy the board that there were not sullicient slaughtermen in the Dominion at present to carry on with - , ~ . The chairman intimated thai no statement could be made at the present stage. A conference of chairmen would be held shortly and pro-1 bablv a universal policy as far as essential industries were concerned j would be announced. I John Alexander McKay forwarded ] a birth certificate showing that he: was 4$ years old. Exemption granted. s William Whilefield, a marine officer, employed on a troopship, was j also exempted while he remains in his present occupation. Considerable interest Was taken in the appeals by Walter Gilbert Short and Ernest Ebenezer Short, ol Kimbolton and Feilding, respectively. They had been called up under section' .15. Waller, 22 years old, stated that he had already volunteered, had gone into camp, and had been i discharged on the evening before the departure because of illness. He had recently taken over a farm which he was improving, and could not get anybody to manage it even if he could affaord it. He had married since his discharge from camp and had one child. He appealed on ! the ground of his occupation and uni due hardship. I Counsel slated that the appellant had never been discharged from the I forces, probably owing to faulty rei cords, and was, and is, de facto a 'member of the Expeditionary Forces. ! He was one of the first to enlist, and yet he was branded by the authorities as a shirker without any inquiries being made. Counsel said he should never have been brought up. He was prepared to go into camp with the next draft, and he asked Captain, Walker, the military representative, to agree to drop proceedings. Without coming to a decision the board decided to hear the second appeal, that of Ernest, 20 years of age. This was lodged on the ground oi' occupation, and undue hardship, and stated he had the sole management of his father's farming business. His father was suffering from a decayed bone in the head, and j would shortly have to undergo a j second operation. The appellant jwas the one person who could proiperly run his father's special fanning ! business during the latter's incapacity.

The boarcLdecided that the case of Walter Shorr should be adjourned to a date not fixed, conditional on his going into camp and reattesting. Ernest Short's appeal was adjourned sine die, so long as he remains in his present occupation. If the lot falls on him in a future ballot, his case to come before the board again.

Francis Joseph Proctor, school teacher, and Charles Edward Proctor, draper, brothers, of Island Bay, appealed on the grounds of undue hardship and permanent unfitness. Both cases were adjourned till tomorrow to enable medical evidence to be called.

Alfred Henry Barnett, barrister and solicitor, of Wellington, appealed on the grounds of occupation, undue hardship, and religious objections. Barnett said he would be over the military age next June.

The chairman remarked that if appellant went into camp he would be too good a physical specimen by that time to be discharged on the ground of age. Appellant then said he had taken the place of a man who had gone to the front, his partner was in delicate health, and it was difficult to get qualified men. \

The board reserved its decision for one month to allow appellant to secure someone to take his place. At the end of that period the appeal would be disallowed.

Henry B. Harrison, officer-in-charge of the wireless station, was granted exemption. B. J. Denton appealed on behalf of Arthur Coupland Harding, engineer's apprentice, on the grounds of hardship. Harding had special knowledge necessary for the handling of an acetone welding plant, which was often required for military work.

The case was adjourned for a month to allow Harding to make a personal appeal. The board adjourned till to-mor-row.

THE CASE OF "BLEEDERS."

WELLINGTON, December 7.

The Military Service Board has decided in the case of the Proctor brothers, who appealed on the ground that they were "bleeders," to hold over the decision until May, 1917, but, if either brother was drawn in the ballot, another appeal will be necessarv.

OTAGO SITTINGS. DUNEDIN, December 6. The Military Service Appeal Board sat at Roxburgh. Frank Armstrong applied for four months' exemption to give him lime to wind up the estate of his late father. Appellant managed ihe farm. Win. Armstrong, a brother, appealed on the ground that his enlistment

\\m. Hornier, engaged on his mother's farm, appealed for the same reason, and John Homier appealed on conscientious reasons. The appeals of Wm. Armstrong and Wm. Homier were adjourned sine die on condition thai appellants remained in their present positions, and Frank Armstrong and John Honner were ordered to report for camp on January 4. At a silting al Lawrence, John and Samuel French, farmers, al Forsyth, appealed on the the grounds that their enlistment would he contrary to the public interest. They had a brother al the front, and they managed their widowed mother's farm iii conjunction with one owned joint-

The appeals were allowed, Captain Free slating thai the men should not have hcen called up under Seclion 35.