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The Military Service Boards' Operations in The Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. ‘Should He Serve?’ The Military Service Boards’ Operations in the Wellington Provincial District, 1916-1918 A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University David Littlewood 2010 Contents Page No. Abbreviations iii Map Boundaries of North Island Provincial Districts in 1921 iv Charts v Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Chapter One Setting the Parameters: 10 Government Decisions prior to the Boards’ Operations Chapter Two Keeping a Tight Rein: 26 Government Direction during the Boards’ Operations Chapter Three Equality of Sacrifice: 43 The Attitudes of the Board Members Chapter Four Reality or Pragmatism?: 55 The Attitudes of the Appellants Chapter Five Assessment over Hostility: 75 The Treatment of Conscientious Objectors Chapter Six Firm but Fair: 90 The Boards’ Verdicts Conclusions 104 Appendix Definition of Occupational Classifications Used 108 Bibliography 110 ii Abbreviations AD Army Department AP Sir James Allen Papers AJHR Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives EP Evening Post FS Feilding Star MES Manawatu Evening Standard MP Member of Parliament NEB National Efficiency Board NZG New Zealand Gazette NZH New Zealand Herald NZS New Zealand Statutes NZT New Zealand Times NZPD New Zealand Parliamentary Debates PH Pahiatua Herald WDT Wairarapa Daily Times WC Wanganui Chronicle iii Boundaries of North Island Provincial Districts in 1921 Source: 1921 Census. The boundaries of the Provincial Districts were the same in 1921 as they were during the Military Service Boards’ operations iv Charts Page No. 1. Likelihood of a Farmer Receiving a Positive ‘Concrete Verdict’ 40 from the Different Wellington Boards 2. Total and Final Status of Appellants 58 3. Rate of Appealing by Ballot 59 4. Occupational Classification of Wellington District Appellants 62 5. Representation of Occupational Classifications Amongst Wellington 62 District Appellants 6. Percentage of Wellington District Appeals in which the Grounds were 64 Cited 7. Percentage of Wellington District Appeals from each Occupational 69 Classification that were Lodged by Employers 8. Percentage of Wellington District Appeals from each Occupational 71 Classification that were only for Time 9. The Wellington Boards’ Verdicts in Appeals Lodged by Conscientious 84 Objectors 10. Likelihood of a Farmer Receiving a Positive ‘Concrete Verdict’ from 91 the Wellington Boards by Comparison with all Sample Appellants 11. ‘Concrete Verdicts’ Delivered by the Wellington Boards 98 12. Changes in the ‘Concrete Verdicts’ Delivered by the Wellington 99 Boards 13. ‘Concrete Verdicts’ Delivered by the Wellington Boards Compared to 101 those Delivered by All Boards v Acknowledgements This thesis is not the work of an individual; a great deal of emotional, intellectual and administrative assistance went into its completion. Much of the former has come from my fiancée, Kat, who always kept me smiling and reminded me that work is far from the only thing in life. Thank you to my parents for their support and confidence building, and to my brother for helping to advance my knowledge of statistics beyond the rudimentary. I would again like to express profound gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. James Watson, both for his immense guidance and for always encouraging me to take my work one step further. Massey University has been extremely generous with its financial support, which played a vital role in giving me the time to undertake such detailed research. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the assistance rendered by the staff at the Massey University Library, particularly Anne Hall and Jane Leighton in the Documents Supply Service. My thesis is dedicated to the memory of the members of the Military Service Boards, and to the men and women who appeared before them. Whatever their beliefs or actions, each of them was forced to make difficult decisions in the midst of an unimaginable catastrophe. I only hope I have portrayed them all fairly. David Littlewood 2010 vi Introduction At Wanganui on 23 March 1917, Alexander Phillips explained why he should be exempted from conscription into the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Phillips argued that he was running his mother’s farm in place of his father, who was 78 and crippled by rheumatism. As well as carrying out general farm work, he helped to milk 50 cows. Phillips claimed that, without the benefit of his assistance, there would be no option but to sell the holding, as his mother had been unable to secure any replacement labour. Thankfully for Phillips, the hardship evinced in his appeal was sufficient for him to be awarded exemption on that occasion, and several others thereafter, meaning he spent the rest of the war at home. In the process, he was quite possibly saved from becoming one of the casualties of the First World War.1 The Military Service Act that introduced conscription to New Zealand in 1916 has been labelled ‘the most important legislation passed during the war’.2 Yet many studies of the home front, in addition to general histories of New Zealand, have downplayed or ignored a critical aspect of its implementation.3 By focusing on outright resistance, these works give the impression that opposition to being called up was limited to a distinct minority of the population; militant workers, conscientious objectors and certain Maori iwi and hapu.4 It is rare to see equal significance placed on the fact that, like Alexander Phillips, thousands of balloted reservists appealed that their domestic situation or the importance of their occupation meant they should not be expected to serve. Each of these appeals was heard by a Military Service Board, whose verdict on whether a man should go to the front would have the same 1 WC, 23 March 1917, p. 4. 2 Paul Baker, King and Country Call: New Zealanders, Conscription and the Great War, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1988, p. 86. 3 In their introduction to a recent collection of articles, the editors describe the home front during the First World War as ‘a black hole of New Zealand historiography’. John Crawford and Ian McGibbon (eds), New Zealand’s Great War: New Zealand, the Allies and the First World War, Auckland: Exisle, 2007, p. 25. 4 James Belich, Paradise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders from the 1880s to the Year 2000, Auckland: Penguin, 2001, pp. 100-103. Barry Gustafson, Labour’s Path to Political Independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party 1900-19, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1980, pp. 108- 119. Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand, Auckland: Penguin, 2003, pp. 301-302. Elsie Locke, Peace People: A History of Peace Activities in New Zealand, Christchurch: Hazard Press, 1992, pp. 52-62. Ian McGibbon, ‘The Price of Empire’ in Bronwyn Dalley and Gavin McLean (eds), Frontier of Dreams: The Story of New Zealand, Auckland: Hachette Livre, 2005, pp. 239-240. W.H. Oliver, The Story of New Zealand, London: Faber and Faber, 1960, p. 171. Jock Phillips, A Man’s Country? The Image of the Pakeha Male - A History, Auckland: Penguin 1996, pp. 162-163. Philipa Mein Smith, A Concise History of New Zealand, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 133-134. Matthew Wright, Reed Illustrated History of New Zealand, Auckland: Reed, 2004, p. 266. 1 life-or-death implications as they had for Phillips. The operations of these Boards in the Wellington Provincial District are the subject of this thesis. The primary focus here is on analysing the verdicts delivered by the Wellington Boards and how these decisions were reached. This revolves around four key areas, the first being the extent to which the Boards’ operations were directed by the Government. The attitudes that the Boards’ civilian members, and the attached Military Representatives, adopted towards the appellants is a second concern. A third point of investigation is the proportion of men who appealed and the grounds they cited in support of their cases. Finally, the likelihood of the Wellington Boards granting exemption, and whether they favoured appeals from men employed in certain occupations, will also be looked into. Although this is the first specific study of the Military Service Boards, they have been considered as part of other works, invariably in a rather negative light. The most significant such work is Paul Baker’s thesis on conscription, which forms the basis of his later book.5 His main contention is that a belief that the Boards would only gain public confidence if they were seen as impartial led the Government to ‘de-politicize’ them and place them outside of its control.6 Baker maintains that the Government came to regret this decision, as certain ‘maverick’ Boards provoked extensive criticism by refusing to follow the executive’s directions, particularly over the exemption of Catholic clergymen and the ‘last man’ on the farm.7 Other historians have differed. John Martin and Gwen Parsons agree with Baker that the Government initially gave the Boards little guidance over who should be exempted.8 Yet they go on to assert that the Boards closely adhered to the formula set out in the classification of industries once it was published in mid-1917.9 James Belich moves further from Baker’s argument; the Government sought to neuter antagonism towards conscription by making the exemption of the strategic unions 5 Paul Baker, ‘New Zealanders, the Great War, and Conscription’, PhD Thesis in History, University of Auckland, 1986 and King and Country Call. 6 Baker, King and Country Call, p. 117. 7 ibid., pp. 119-129.
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