HOME GUARD DUTY

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXII, Issue 8872, 12 February 1943, Page 2

HOME GUARD DUTY

QUESTION OF EXEMPTION MINISTER TO DECIDE CASES BEFORE WAIHI COURT Whether mine workers in Waihi should he exempt from Home Guard duty as are workers in some coal mines is a matter that is being considered by the Minister of Justice, but men liable to serve have an obligation to their country and their fellows to do what is required of them. This was made plain at the monthly sitting of the Waihi Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, when Mr W. H. Freeman. SAL. considered the eases of three men who were charged with having failed to attend parades. They were Claude Harold Ritchie, Albert Osborne and Archibald Millar Moffat. First case to he dealt with was that of Ritchie, which had been adjourned from the December sitting for further consideration. The magistrate. before giving his decision, said he would like to hear any other cases of failure to attend parades; but, if his memory served him right, he had formed the opinion that defendant Ritchie, who had given certain excuses for his failure to attend, was

something of a humbug. Adjournment Sought Asking that the cases should be adjourned, Mr F. C. V. Clark, who appeared for Osborne and Moffat, said the position was that the liability of mine workers to serve the Guard had been referred to the Minister of Defence and in the circumstances it would he wrong for him to enter a plea until the pleasure of the Minister became known. If the Minister decided that Waihi mine workers were liable to serve, then, he understood. many more cases would be bought before the court. So that the position could lie clarified, he sought an adjournment. The Magistrate: That, I suppose, is the only sensible thing to do. Sergeant Bisset agreed. Need To Be Prepared The magistrate pointed out that because certain classes of workers were exempted from service there was no reason why alternative duty should not be done. “I think all of us should make ourselves as efficient as possible in case anything does happen,” he said. “Because the position eases from time to time there is no reason why we should not train ourselves to

be soldiers able to meet an emergency. ’’ Mr Freeman added that many of those who considered Home Guard duty unnecessary would he the first to ask why people had not been trained, were an emergency to occur. "So far as Ritchie is concerned, I just regard him as a straight-out humbug." he said. Ritchie was fined £5, and the other cases were adjourned until the decision of the Minister is given.